714.1515/557: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Honduran Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs (Coello)
I have received Your Excellency’s telegram of February 14 concerning conditions in the territory which is in dispute between Honduras and Guatemala. Further information which I have received leads me to hope that the difficulties which you describe are now in a way to be satisfactorily adjusted. It is my understanding that the railway construction which gave ground for protests by the Government of Guatemala has been abandoned and that the Honduran official who is said to have been arrested at Chachahualia has been released.
It is my opinion, and one which I feel sure that Your Excellency shares, that the status quo in the disputed territory should be maintained, and that neither of the disputants should alter the existing situation in any way pending a final settlement of the boundary question. This I believe is also the opinion of the Government of Guatemala. The chief difficulty, however, and the cause for such incidents as appear to have occurred during the past few days, would seem to arise from the lack of a definite understanding as to the exact nature of the status quo and the extent of the territory in dispute. I have noted Your Excellency’s statement that Honduras would be glad to accept a well defined neutral line pending the final settlement of the boundary dispute. You may be sure that the Department of State will be glad to lend its good offices in any way which may be acceptable to both parties to the dispute in an effort to bring about a satisfactory arrangement.