856B.01/43a

The Department of State to the French Embassy

Aide-Mémoire

The Department of State has learned that some time ago French troops were landed in the Netherlands West Indies, specifically on the [Page 744] Island of Aruba. It is understood that the purpose of these military dispositions is to assist the local authorities of the Netherlands Government in protecting these possessions.

The Government of the United States reserves until a later date its comments on the bearing which the foregoing military dispositions have upon certain long-standing and well-known views and policies of the United States Government.