this by simple presidential action, for the act provided that the United States could supply "any defense article Lauthorized in the act for the government of any country

whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States. "8

In an effort to resolve the question of how to supply the Latin American countries with the $400,000,000 in aid recommended by the Joint Advisory Board (a committee of Army and Navy officers) after a careful study of Latin American requests for assistance, 9 Laurence Duggan, State Department Adviser of Political Relations, on 7 April outlined the plan that was to be followed in subsequent weeks. Along with the plan, Duggan presented the draft of a letter to be signed by Secretaries Hull, Stimson, and Knox (after the contents had been reviewed by "proper" War and Navy

10

Department officers). In the letter, which the three

Secretaries subsequently signed and forwarded to the

11

President on 22 April, they recommended that the "Secretary

of State be authorized to inform the governments of the

American republics that the President considers their

defense vital to the defense of the United States under the terms of Public Law 11 the Lend-Lease Act and that the

Secretary of State may initiate negotiations with each of

the American republics to prepare a program of munitions

totaling $400,000,000 to be supplied to these countries by the United States, in accordance with the plan elaborated

by the Joint Advisory Board.

"12

While the President considered the proposals, Under

Secretary of State Summer Welles, between 28 April and 20

May, explored the subject of lend-lease assistance with the representatives of each of the Latin American countries except Panama. 13 Since these discussions once again

revealed the well-known fact that the financing of the purchase of large quantities of defense matériel was obviously beyond the resources of most, if not all, of the countries, it was necessary for the President to adopt the suggestion of his Cabinet members and to declare that he considered the defense of those nations "vital to the defense of the United States under the terms of Public Law 11. This decision by the President permitted the United States to negotiate with the different countries on the specific amount of dollars each of them would have to pay (usually less than 50% of the cost) as reimbursement to the United States for the supply of arms and ammunition and other war matériel under lend-lease assistance. 14

the ensuing four and one-half years of World War II and

In

the postwar period to 30 June 1950 the United States made available to its southern neighbors military matériel and services to the value of some $460,000,000.1 15 Of this

amount almost one-third ($141,404,194.86) was in aircraft and aeronautical matériel. 16

In return for this commitment the United States counted itself fortunate in attaining its major policy objectives in the Latin American area. In addition to securing political cooperation from most of the powers (Argentina was the major and most prolonged exception), it gained the active assistance of the Latin American nations in (1) establishing a system of political and military unity within the hemisphere, (2) stabilizing political affairs in the region for the duration of the war, (3) gaining maximum access to Latin American raw materials, (4) eliminating Nazi capabilities for subversion, (5) employing naval arms of several powers in hemispheric defensive roles, (6) winning the active participation of Brazilian forces in the European theater, and of a Mexican Air Force unit in the Pacific theater, and (7) the use of

a large number of air and naval bases as far south as Peru and Uruguay.

With the ending of World War II in September 1945 the United States halted the commitment of new lend-lease defense aid to Latin America. 17 After that date, except for the delivery of defense aid already committed for delivery at war's end, 18 and except for the continuation

of the mission program, the United States had no effective program for supplying military assistance to its Latin

American neighbors until 1952.

20

Although the Truman

Administration, endorsing an Inter-American Defense Board recommendation of October 1945, asked in both 194619 and 1947 for authority to implement a "continuing program of inter-American military cooperation," Congress failed to act on the requests. and plans for the standardization of arms among Latin American countries long cherished by U. S. policy-makers, 21 whose fears were soon confirmed when some nations began to 22 purchase arms and equipment from European sources.

This failure frustrated the hopes

The first postwar legislation designed to make U.S.-made arms available to Latin American nations was the Mutual

Defense Assistance Act of 1949, which permitted these powers to acquire arms in the United States, but only on a

reimbursable basis. In the subsequent period to 30 June 1951,

purchase "light cruisers, training aircraft, ground force

arms and ammunition and spare parts" to the value of $26,435,061 and filed requests to purchase additional matériel to the value of $108,496,742. Even though they availed themselves of the opportunity to purchase this matériel, the purchasing nations were not altogether pleased with the policy of the United States, for they early discovered that the latter could not or would not make available many of the items they desired, either because of a shortage of supply or because the United States considered that the desired matériel would not be employed in support of hemispheric defense plans.

23

Not until 1951 did Congress place in the hands of the President an instrument to relieve the United States of some of the burden of Western Hemisphere defense. Once created this instrument gave promise of halting the purchase of European arms and thus make possible a standardization of arms among Western Hemisphere powers. After the Foreign Ministers of the American States had agreed to strengthen their armed forces through "self-help and mutual 1124

aid" for the "defense of the Continent, the Defense and

State Departments, confronted by the continuing Communist