821.61/58
The Ambassador in Colombia (Lane) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 21.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to conversations which Dr. Miguel López Pumarejo, President of the Caja de Crédito Agrario, Industrial y Minero, held last July and August in Washington with Mr. Laurence Duggan, Adviser on Political Affairs of the Department of State, and Dr. Atherton Lee, then of the Board of Economic Warfare, with regard to the possibility of obtaining a credit from the Export-Import [Page 70] Bank in the amount of fifteen million dollars for the development of a general agriculture plan.
The plan as originally drawn up was approved in general terms by Dr. Lee but has since been amended by the Colombian authorities along the lines of the attached memorandum.43 Dr. López Pumarejo has requested that this memorandum be transmitted to Washington so that in case it is found to be satisfactory it may be used as a basis for discussion with the Export-Import Bank.
In general the proposal is as follows: That a corporation be formed as a subsidiary to the Caja de Crédito, financed by a fifteen million dollar line of credit from the Export-Import Bank, the loan to be secured by the shares of the corporation. The Corporation would be governed by a board of six directors, three to be named by the Caja and three by the Bank. The personnel of the corporation would be named by the directors. The directors would be mutually acceptable by the bank and Caja.
The following are the suggested projects as included in the amended plan:
| Irrigation | $2,500,000 |
| Fertilizer plant | 1,000,000 |
| Insecticide and Fungicide | 100,000 |
| Short-term Agricultural credit | 1,000,000 |
| Long-term Agricultural credit | 1,000,000 |
| Parcellation of land | 1,000,000 |
| Small process and distribution plant | 2,000,000 |
| New crops | 4,000,000 |
| Experiment stations | 500,000 |
| Nurseries | 400,000 |
| Exploitation of coal | 750,000 |
| Bagasse | 750,000 |
| Total | $15,000,000 |
Dr. López Pumarejo mentioned that the nitrogen fixation plant, included in the previous plan, had been eliminated and that agricultural experimentation stations had been introduced in its place. He also suggested that one of the following two courses of action be adopted:
- 1.
- —That two representatives of the United States Government, one or both to be from the Department of Agriculture, to be sent to Colombia to discuss with Colombian officials the proposals in detail; or
- 2.
- —That Dr. Miguel López Pumarejo proceed to Washington with an agricultural technician to discuss the proposal in detail with the competent authorities of the United States Government.
The Embassy would appreciate receiving the Department’s comments with regard to these suggestions.
Respectfully yours,
Counselor of Embassy
- Not printed.↩