819.796/2–2745
The Department of State to the Panamanian Embassy
Memorandum
Further reference is made to a memorandum dated February 27, 1945 which the Panamanian Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered to the Secretary of State at Mexico City, and to the Department’s subsequent memoranda of reply dated May 590 and September 1, 1945.91 These exchanges of memoranda relate to the development of commercial aviation on the Isthmus of Panama and to the desire of the Panamanian authorities that there be created a new international aviation body whose structure would guarantee both the security of the Panama Canal and the sovereignty of the Republic of Panama
Studies by the appropriate departments of this Government lead to the conclusion that the best method for meeting Panama’s aspirations for the establishment of a cooperative system for the control of commercial aviation operations in Panama is through the negotiation of a new aviation agreement to replace that established by exchange of notes of April 22, 1929. Substantial progress has now been made in the drafting of an agreement which in due course will be proposed to the Panamanian Government. While consideration is still being given to the more recent Panamanian request for assistance in the revision of the civil air regulations of the Republic, it is believed that such assistance should properly follow the negotiation of the aviation agreement referred to above.
[Page 1264]The Department of State will communicate again with the Embassy when a definite proposal for the creation of a new international aviation body has been completed.