Office of the Historian

852.00/2685: Telegram

The Ambassador in Brazil (Gibson) to the Secretary of State

Rio de Janeiro, August 19, 1936—11 a.m.
[Received August 19—10:48 a.m.]

184. Department’s circular of August 17, 5 p.m. After consultation with the President, the Minister for Foreign Affairs informs [Page 497] me that he proposes to reply today to the Uruguayan proposal in more or less the following terms:

1.
An offer of mediation by the American Governments would in fact constitute the recognition of the rebel forces as belligerents and thereby grant them a status which even they have not yet asked for;
2.
The Civil War in Spain has caused such friction in Europe that an offer of American mediation would appear inopportune, particularly as there would seem to be serious doubts of its success;
3.
However, if all the countries of the New World accept the idea of mediation in Spain, Brazil will cooperate.

Gibson