File No. 656.119/400
The Ambassador in Argentina ( Stimson ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6.21 p.m.]
Your April 27, 7 p.m.1 I received last night a reply from the Minister for Foreign Affairs to my notes of March [27] and April 152 relative to the situation of the Dutch vessels taken over by the United States Government. I quote literally the two important paragraphs:
The ships which may come to Argentine waters flying the flag of the United States, voyaging under the responsibility of that Government, are considered as belonging to that nation and consequently enjoy [all] rights and prerogatives which correspond to them as such.
With respect to claims which individuals may make before courts of justice, the situation of those ships is governed by Argentine laws as the code of commerce establishes, section 871:
Foreign vessels anchored in ports of this Republic cannot be detained or embargoed, even if they be unloaded, for debts that have not been contracted in the territory of the Republic and for the benefit of such vessels or of their cargo, or that should be paid in this Republic.
The Department will note that the reply promises no executive interference with the action of the courts and that the first paragraph is evidently written with a view to the reclamation being made by the Argentine Government in the case of the Chaco.3
- Not printed.↩
- See point 4 of the telegram to the Ambassador, Apr. 13, and of his reply, ante, pp. 1749 et seq. ↩
- Supplement 2, pp. 829 et seq.↩