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    "localId": "559236013",
    "label": "Spain Vol. I thru February 1970 [1 of 2]",
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    "id": "559236013",
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    "title": "Spain Vol. I thru February 1970 [1 of 2]",
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        "National Security Files (Nixon Administration)",
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    "seq": 141,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
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    "ocrText": "MEMORANDUM\nPain\n327\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nWASHINGTON\nLIMITED OFFICIAL USE\nACTION\nApril 28,\n1969 NY\nMEMORANDUM FOR MR. KISSINGER\nFROM:\nDonald R. Lesh\nDK\nSUBJECT: Desire of Spanish Minister of Public Works to See You\nThe Spanish Minister of Public Works, Mr. Federico Silva Munoz, arrived\nin Washington late on Sunday, April 28, for consultations with Secretary\nof Interior Hickel and Secretary of Transportation Volpe. Minister Silva\nexpects to stay in Washington through Thursday, May 1; he will return\nto Spain on Friday, May 2.\nWe hav e been informed by the office of Mr. Douglas Coe (Congressional\nLeadership Group) that Minister Silva would like very much to pay his\nrespects to you during his visit to Washington. According to Mr. Coe's\noffice, this message also was delivered to you personally by Otto von\nHapsburg of Austria, together with some background on Minister Silva's\ninterest.\nIt is of course curious that the request for an interview did not come through\nthe Spanish Embassy in Washington. A possible explanation lies in the\nfact that Silva as a member of a right-wing Christian Democratic faction\nwhich is close to, but not a part of, Opus Dei is reported to be at odds\nwith Foreign Minister Castiella. Shortly after the inauguration, a Spanish\nbusinessman named Osorio -- a close friend of Silva's -- was invited to a\nWhite House prayer breakfast, where his picture was taken together with\nthe President. The photograph was widely reproduced in Spain, and there\nwas some consternation in the Foreign Ministry that the first Spaniard to\nbe photographed with the President was not the Spanish Ambassador or an\nofficial of the Foreign Ministry, but a representative of a group politically\nunpalatable to the Foreign Minister.\nUnless you have compelling reasons for wishing to receive Minister Silva,\ndagree\ntherefore, I believe that his meetings with the Secretaries of Interior and\nTransportation should constitute a fully appropriate audience within the\nUS Government. In the absence of a request from the Spanish Embassy,\na meeting with Silva might further perturb our current bilateral relations\nwith the Spanish.\nLIMITED OFFICIAL USE"
}