Minister Sorsby to the Secretary of State.
La Paz, Bolivia, July 14, 1906.
Sir: I have the honor to report that the Perúvian minister here, acting upon instructions from his Government, has protested, orally, to the Bolivian foreign office against the occupation by General Pando, ex-president, and the actual Bolivian delegate (governor) to the Beni and upper Acre regions, of the territory pertaining to the river Heath, a tributary of the Madre de Dios; the said protest being upon the ground that said territory forms a part of the disputed territory under arbitration between the respective countries, and is now being actually considered by the arbitrator, the President of the Argentine Republic.
The Bolivian minister of foreign affairs has stated to me that his Government would retire from the disputed territory provided that Perú would also retire pending the result of the arbitral decision, it appearing, according to the information and belief of the Bolivian Government, that Perúvian forces are also in occupation of the disputed territory. Both the Bolivian minister of foreign affairs and the Perúvian minister here express confidence that an amicable arrangement will be had pending the decision of arbitration.
I have, etc.,