File No. 812.001H87/40.
The Confidential Agent of the Provisional Government of Mexico to the Secretary of State.
Excellency: In reference to the request of the Governor of the State of Chihuahua, addressed to the Governor of Texas, for the arrest and detention of Victoriano Huerta, a Mexican citizen, now sojourning at El Paso, Texas, for the crime of murder, with a view to his extradition under the Treaty of April 24, 1899, I am instructed by Mr. Diaz Lombardo to state that the Provisional Government of Mexico will, in event of the surrender of the accused to the Chihuahua State authorities, guarantee to him a fair and impartial trial by a duly constituted civil tribunal of competent jurisdiction.
In any event, my Government entertains the hope that the Governor of Texas will find in the precedent by the arrest and detention of Castillo Brito by the United States authorities in 1913, pursuant to the request of the so-called government at that time in control of Mexico City, a sufficient justification for holding Huerta until the question of our right to procure his extradition, by means entirely lawful, can be properly determined.
Please accept [etc.]