721.2315/183: Telegram
The Ambassador in Peru (Poindexter) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7:01 a.m.]
15. Your No. 10, March 3, 6 p.m. I greatly fear that the frank challenge to the Peruvian Government as suggested in the last paragraph of your telegram might lead to rejection of the entire procès-verbal or to fatal delay. I have had the greatest difficulty in arriving at the present status, and I am satisfied that negotiations for still further changes would be seized upon by Salomón as an opportunity to delay further as he is unfriendly to the proposition. I have just had a lengthy consultation with the Colombian Minister who agrees with me that to reopen negotiations with the Peruvian Government would be hazardous; he is of the opinion that all parties should seize the opportunity to sign the procès-verbal immediately in accordance with the instructions last sent Dr. Velarde, and that the words “in the sense that” cannot be construed so as to have any material effect upon the agreement. About 1 p.m. he telegraphed this opinion to the President of Colombia.
It is obvious that Salomón has been and is sparring for time.