File No. 812.00/19066
Mr. Arredondo to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary: I have the honor to transcribe below the text of a note which I have just received from my Government with instruction to deliver it to your excellency:
Mr. Secretary: Referring to the notes of the 20th and 25th of this past June, I have the honor to state to your excellency that the prompt liberation of the Carrizal prisoners was a still further proof of the sincerity of the desire of this Government to reach a peaceful and satisfactory settlement of the present difficulties. The Government is anxious to solve the present trouble and any erroneous interpretation given to its attitude would be unjust.
It was also the Mexican Government which earnestly suggested, during the conferences at Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, the plan of establishing cantonments along the boundary. This Government is to-day, as it has always been disposed to seek an immediate solution to the two points which constitute the real cause of the controversy between the two countries, i. e., the American Government, with reason, believes that the insecurity of its frontier is the cause of the difficulty, and the Mexican Government, on its part, considers that the continuance of American troops on Mexican territory, besides constituting an attack on the sovereignty of Mexico, is the immediate cause of the controversy. The two problems, therefore, being the retirement of the American forces on the one hand and the protection of the frontier on the other, their solution should be the direct object of the efforts of the two Governments.
The Government of Mexico is disposed to consider in a rapid, but at the same time practical form and in a spirit of concord, the remedies which may be applied to the present situation.
Certain Latin-American countries have offered their friendly mediation for this purpose, which have been accepted in principle. The Mexican Government, therefore, only waits to know if the Government of the United States would be disposed to accept this mediation for the purpose indicated, or if it still believes it possible to reach the same result by means of direct negotiations between the two Governments.
This Government, meanwhile, intends to use every effort at its disposal to prevent the occurrence of new incidents which might complicate and aggravate the situation. At the same time it hopes that the American Government on its part will use every means to prevent new acts on the part of its military authorities, as well as civil, along the border, which might bring about new complications.
I avail myself of this opportunity to repeat to your excellency the assurances of my very distinguished consideration.
C. Aguilar
Having thus complied with the instructions of my Government, I am happy to repeat [etc.]