123 Patterson, Richard C.
Memorandum by Mr. Edward W. Clark of the Office of Middle American Affairs to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Miller)1
Ambassador Patterson phoned this morning from an island in the Bahamas to check in with the Department and to inquire if the Department needed him back here at this time. He also desired to know [Page 877] if the situation regarding himself had changed perceptively since last week end.
I told the Ambassador that it would not be necessary for him to return to Washington at this time. I told him also that the situation he referred to had undergone no substantial change since he left.
The Ambassador inquired as to whether or not the Department had talked to the Guatemalan Foreign Minister and I told him that it had not done so. I explained that for various reasons it had been impossible to arrange a meeting with the Foreign Minister.
The Ambassador informed me that if he did not hear to the contrary from the Department he would spend next week in Florida and return to Washington the following week.2
- Addressed also to Willard F. Barber, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Mr. Mann, and Mr. Bennett↩
- Memoranda of May 3 and May 9, from Mr. Barber and Mr. Mann, respectively, to Mr. Miller, not printed, indicate in part that it was Departmental policy that Ambassador Patterson should not speak publicly on the Guatemalan situation. (123 Patterson, Richard C.)↩