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Consultative Council had met without the Governor being present. Such a version of events is just plausible even though it creates a very Byzantine picture of Macau's political life.
3.
Separately I have also talked again to the local Portuguese Consul-General, He added another small piece to the jigsaw puzzle by saying that, since the Governor's office depended directly on the President, he was not on the normal distribution for Foreign Office material. The Consul-General had himself only heard about Dr Sa Machado's visit to London about four days ago (after the Governor had left for Lisbon). he had noticed that the Governor vas not on the distribution list for the information. He therefore thought it was very likely that the Governor would not be avare of what Dr Sa Machado had said to Dr Üven.
4.
Rumours that Colonel Leandro will soon be replaced have been rife in Macau for some time. The latest version comes in the form of a news report from Lisbon dated 18 July. This report says that Colonel Leandro was told on his return to Lisbon that he would be replaced at least two months before his present term of office is due to expire in November. According to the report he is to be succeeded by Colonel Maia oncalves, the present Portuguese Military Attache in London, who has served previously in Macau. For what it is worth, the Lobo family say this report is true. Bowever, when I spoke to him last week, Leandro himself gave no hint that he expected such a sudden end to his tour. lie told me that he had not himself suggested an extension, but implied strongly that he would be willing to serve for a further term if asked to do so both by the military and by the resident. Thus far, I treat the news of his replacement as non proven.
5.
One part of the Lobo story about meetings in Macau and their consequence is susceptible to a degree of proof. Dr Carlos Assumpcao did leave Hacau for a short visit to Europe on Wednesday, 12 July. lle returned again on 18 July. So far as we know here, he only went to Lisbon rather than to raris as the Lobo story had it. According to the Consul-General, the purpose of his visit was to find out if the rumours about Colonel Leandro's replacement vere true and, if not, to lobby to make the rumours reality. It is also possible that he wanted to be there to put his oar in with the banking problem, since he is the Local representative in Macau of the liongkong & Shanghai Bank. Roger Lobo, however, sticks to the story that he went to talk about the problem of China raising the status of Macau. In addition, Lobo claims that the result was that the Portuguese have decided not to discuss further the status of Macau during the talks about diplomatic relations and that they have
/contd....
CONFIDENTIAL
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