819.74/118
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Phillips) of a Conversation with the Ecuadoran Minister (Elizalde)
I sent for the Minister of Ecuador and referred to his inquiry of a week ago in regard to the opening of negotiations by his Government with Panama, with a view to the control of wireless messages between the two countries. I explained to the Minister that in view of the terms of the Treaty of 1903 with Panama, and of Decree #130, issued by the Government of Panama, August 29, 1914, we had certain vested rights in the control of wireless in Panama.
I suggested that it might be preferable to delay negotiations until the forthcoming Inter-American Communications Conference, when the whole subject of electrical communications for this hemisphere would be discussed. I thought that after the conclusion of the Conference, [Page 704] if his Government desired to take up such negotiations, that they might again approach the subject through the Department.
The Minister replied that he had reached the same conclusion and it would be preferable, before taking any action in the matter, to await the results of the Inter-American Communications Conference.55
- Held at Mexico City, May 27–July 22, 1924.↩