THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2024 23 and the differences, which most Spanish-speaking countries probably inherited from Spain. The government had control of industry, and certainly of natural resources, and their many minerals, which included petroleum. Such widespread government ownership was foreign to the American point of view, because we didn’t have similar strict controls here. … And one had to explain the differences and difficulties and what the company had to overcome. Americans, by and large, just took for granted those obstacles they had to overcome or comply with and decide whether it was worthwhile for them to be located there. No, there weren’t any adverse feelings. It was just a matter of taking into account and knowing what you had to do in order to become entrenched in the country. There was the Barco concession for oil. Gulf Oil and Standard Oil were already there, and Phillips, with others, all were negotiating to get a slice of the concession. … There were so many products not locally produced; and as tariffs were not too high, a lot of consumer goods could be imported without difficulty. And, of course, we were trying to increase exports from the U.S. … Our office would put an American exporter in touch with a prospective local representative for their products. My category was changed to assistant trade commissioner, which is officer status. It was unusual [for a woman], but I never felt it, really. It was just a job to be done, and I never thought of that aspect of it. I realized that, sometimes, with my credentials, I could get into places that women had not been in. I was never refused at all, although maybe some eyebrows were raised. But anyplace I’ve been I have always made friends with the local people and devoted a lot of time to that. Later, in Brazil, for instance, the things I handled required doing things, and some things I probably didn’t have to do, but I wanted to do, such as going down in the São João del Rei mine. I think it’s one of the deepest gold mines in the world, in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Well, of course I didn’t realize it at the time, but there is a feeling that it’s bad luck if a woman goes down. I … was informed I could go down. Later I realized they were a little bit hesitant about it. But they let me go down that elevator shaft, and it was quite an experience. 1938 Exercising Compassion and Quotas as Jewish Refugees Flood Cuba Arriving in Havana, newly minted Vice Consul William Belton walked into a wave of Jewish refugees who had escaped Europe and were waiting to become eligible for U.S. visas. As deputy chief of mission in Brazil 30 years later, Belton would negotiate the release of Ambassador Burke Elbrick after his kidnapping. Havana was flooded with European refugees. This was just before the outbreak of the war. The city was just full of German Jews who had been unable to get U.S. visas while they were still in Europe; so [they] had come to Havana to wait until their numbers came up on the quota system for the United States. … I never felt there was anything but sympathy for this tremendous problem and the people involved in it. There was a difference between our attitude toward these people, how we handled them, and what the laws enabled us to do for them. Thousands of people were eventually going to get into the United States, one way or another. We knew that. It was a tragedy In Havana, on April 24, 1948, at least 10 years after Jewish refugees first landed in Cuba, the Community Kitchen Restaurant holds a Refugee Community Seder for Passover, funded by the Joint Distribution Committee and organized by the Federation of Ex-Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners. JDC ARCHIVES I never felt there was anything but sympathy for this tremendous problem and the people involved in it. There was a difference between our attitude toward these people, how we handled them, and what the laws enabled us to do for them. —William Belton
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