832.857/160a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery)
2460. The Navy Department advises that inquiries have been received from representatives of the Brazilian Navy concerning charges to be claimed by the United States Navy for assisting in the salvage of the Brazilian Naval Cruiser Rio Grande do Sul near Recife.
You are directed to inform the appropriate Brazilian authorities that any rights accruing to the United States Government by reason of the salvaging of the Rio Grande do Sul are waived.
For your own information and not for incorporation in your official communication to the Brazilian Government, this decision was made because
- (a)
- no commercial interests are involved, and
- (b)
- this same exceptional treatment was accorded the Argentine vessel Victoria in April, 1942.
Please communicate with the Department as soon as the reaction of the Brazilian Government is known, since the Navy Department requests confirmation of the waiver.