clear one aspect of these negotiations, in order to avoid any possible
misunderstanding or charge of bad faith that might otherwise arise
in the future. I said that in my conversation with Foreign Minister
Fabrega on February 2626 I had spoken at length on this particular
point, and that I wished to mention it to him. I stated that it was
of course clear that we were negotiating the present lease agreement
on the basis that the defense sites would be made available tempo-
rarily to the United States and that they would be evacuated and
revert to Panaman as soon as conditions no longer warranted their
continued use. I said, however, that the military advisers of our
Government had pointed out that with the development of aerial
warfare and the tendency towards undeclared wars beginning with-
out previous warning, that in their opinion there would always be
a necessity in the future, if the United States Government was to
maintain, operate and adequately defend the Panama Canal, for the
retention by the United States of a certain number of these defense
sites. I said that these military advisers felt that many of the de-
fense sites, such as gun positions and some of the air fields, could be
abandoned, once so-called peaceful times had been restored, but that
in their judgment certain auxiliary air fields and particularly air-
craft warning stations would have to be maintained for all time
hereafter. I said that in my judgment it was very likely that at
the close of this present war, when the United States Government
under the terms of the agreement we were negotiating would prepare
to evacuate these sites, it would be found necessary to request the
Government of Panama, as a result of experience gained in the war
and as a measure required for the effective protection of the Canal,
to lease or make available in some manner on a long term basis cer-
tain of these defense sites. The President made no comment nor
did he raise any objection to what I had said. I might add that when
I expressed myself in the same sense to Foreign Minister Fabrega
on February 26, he said that he appreciated this fully, and that there
was no reason that he could see why the Panamanian Government
at the time contemplated should not consider the matter and under-
take a negotiation for such sites. He stressed that this would of
course be a new negotiation.
  Respectfully yours,                          EDWIN C. WILSON
  'Reported in despatch No. 804, February 27, 1942, from the Ambassador In
Panama, not printed (711F.1914/427).



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