821.12/36a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Colombia ( Lane )
982. Your 1159 of September 7.10 The Department is informed that Mr. Rockefeller11 during his forthcoming visit to Bogotá proposes to discuss with you and with the Colombian Government the possibility of undertaking a program of health and sanitation work [Page 222] in collaboration with the Government of Colombia. While the Department is fully aware of the widespread opportunities for constructive work of this type which exist throughout the hemisphere, the necessary supplies and in particular the trained personnel needed for this type of work are becoming increasingly scarce in this country and would have to be diverted from the immediate war effort or from the already reduced services available to civilians and defense workers in this country. The Department would therefore be most reluctant to approve any project for health and sanitation work unless it is clearly necessary in connection with obtaining strategic materials of prime necessity to the war effort and would have a direct and substantial bearing on the securing of such materials. In its appraisal of the necessity of a health and sanitation program for this purpose the Department would be guided primarily by your views and by the opinions of the agencies of the United States Government most directly concerned such as the Board of Economic Warfare and the Rubber Reserve Company.
In view of the foregoing it is not considered desirable that the Colombian Government be encouraged by formal or informal steps on your part or on the part of other representatives of this government to request that a health and sanitation program be undertaken by this government until the need therefor as defined above has been fully agreed upon by the U.S. Government agencies concerned. Before advising the Department of your opinion in this matter you may wish to discuss the situation with the representative of the Board of Economic Warfare who is to arrive shortly in Bogotá.
You are requested to convey to Mr. Rockefeller and those members of the Coordination Committee who have interested themselves in this proposal the sense of the Department’s views as expressed in this telegram. Please report any further developments by cable.