File No. 822.00/184.]
The Secretary of State to the American Minister .
Washington , January 17, 1912 .
Your telegram of January 2, via Bogotá, regarding closure of ports to commerce. You will state to the Government of Ecuador that this Government must regard proclamations closing ports not in the possession of the regular Government as utterly nugatory unless, and only as long as, such ports are effectively blockaded. State further that this Government reserves on behalf of citizens of the United States, and their vessels and other property, all rights to which they may be found entitled under the law and the facts in any case that may arise. See Moore’s Digest, Sec. 1271, particularly pages 808 et seq., for the general principles of international law applicable to such cases.