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L.A.T.I. ITALIAN AIRLINES IN BRAZIL *

6)LATI BANNED FROM BRAZIL


The LATI was formally terminated on 27 December 1941 and one by one their offices were being turned off at the same rate at which its aircraft, stationed by Brazilian pilots, failed to work. Soon, the State Department were promptly informed that "all aircraft belonging to LATI had definitely been confiscated by the Brazilian government." Finally, US Ambassador Caffery could report that "at our request, the Brazilian government, by decree, canceled the operation rights of LATI in Brazil."


The Brazilian army ordered the remaining aviation gasoline stocks belonging to the Axis companies, and Standard Oil was authorized to do so. The equipment of the Italian company put on sale, had managed two interested parties: the proper military authorities of the United States and the Argentine subsidiary of Fiat, who also owns an airline in Italy. The Bank of Brazil rejected the offer of Fiat, and the Minister of Aviation has committed to ordering the aircraft to the US after review by a committee of Brazilian Air Force, FAB. If there is agreement on the price, the ownership of the seven aircraft hangars in Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Natal would be legalized.


Hull and DSC, which already had a $ 400,000 assessment made by one of his technicians, sent for this purpose, were quick to realize the flight equipment purchases and negotiate prices. The DSC proposed purchase, for $ 300,000, engines, parts and LATI aircraft to use them as freighters. Later increased the offer to $ 350,000 and the transaction was closed. One was the claim that, if they were not purchased, could be used for purposes contrary to US interests. In the context, the ideological argument could have more weight than purely economic interests, since the war effort could be wielded to justify the most varied actions.


Finally, even in the face of severe opposition within the Brazilian government, the embassy was successful in negotiating the purchase by DSC, of ​​all equipment of LATI here. The price at which the embassy got the equipment was considerably lower than the original assessment by DSC experts, and also the price that Brazil asked initially. It should be borne in mind, too, that the Argentine government, at this juncture, is exerting considerable pressure to get these planes to an Argentine airline that was ready to pay many times the amount for which we got the equipment.


So these state agencies also took the opportunity to do more good business with the spoils of LATI. The Argentine Fiat ended up buying seven aircraft, engines, parts and radio stations, and Varig acquired one of the smallest airplanes of the company. A set of operations, supported by the advertising of a cause and the technical and economic superiority of the United States, reported negotiations with civilian sectors and Brazilian military government. As a result, then "reticent" Vargas not only supported the Allies and later sent troops to Europe. The end of LATI episode did not represent the solution of the problem, since there was still the Condor, bound the German capital, but it was a step towards a new era in which the US airline industry would become dominant in the skies of Brazil .


 

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