724.3415/275: Telegram
The Minister in Bolivia (Kaufman) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:40 a.m.]
62. Following instructions from the Department and pursuant to an interview with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, including Mr. Palacios and other members of Cabinet, I have the following to report:
That Bolivia will accept the good offices of the Pan American Conference within 48 hours. This delay is owing to the fact that certain prominent Bolivians are on the way to La Paz and, secondly, Bolivian Government has made inquiries of certain South American Republics asking advice whether to accept the League or the good offices of the Pan American Conference. Bolivian Government has furnished me the plan in advance upon which they would be willing to submit the present differences between both countries to the Pan American Conference.
Plan:
- 1st.
- The good offices of the Washington Conference would be accepted;
- 2nd.
- The Conference would nominate a commission composed of the representatives of the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador and Cuba;
- 3rd.
- The commission of good offices would proceed as follows:
- (a)
- To paralyze immediately the war actions in the Chaco;
- (b)
- Investigation of facts that have occurred so as to fix the resultant responsibilities;
- (c)
- Fixation of an arbitral zone in accordance with the Gutierrez-Diaz Leon pact pointing out concrete points of the arbitration juris;
- (d)
- Fixation of a modus vivendi guarantee by the Conference in order to avoid new clashes during the arbitration;
- (e)
- To put before The Hague or some other tribunal the arbitration matter.
- 4th.
- This plan has not as yet received Government approval. The Bolivian Government unofficially has requested me to ask Department to do all possible to have Brazil, Ecuador and the United States represented on the conciliation commission. They state that this request is made not because Bolivia asks any favoritism but because they desire the assurance of an unbiased judgment of her case.