Laurel incident

The Laurel incident occurred when the United States intercepted a letter of congratulation from Spain's Foreign Ministry to Filipino President José Laurel about the puppet government Second Philippine Republic[1] on 18 October 1943.

[2] Spain was a major producer of tungsten, a crucial material to Germany's war effort.

The United States had launched a program at great expense to buy the entirety of Spain's tungsten production, but some still went to feed Germany's war machine.

The United States used the incident to put pressure on Spain to stop all exports of tungsten to Germany.

The denouncement by the United States and Britain prompted Spain to explain that it was only a courtesy greeting and contained no official recognition on the new regime.