724.3415/2493 ½
The Bolivian Legation to the Commission of Neutrals
Acceding to the request formulated by the Honorable Commission of Neutrals, the Government of Bolivia would be disposed to withdraw its troops to the general line of fortin Vargas, Madrejón, Camacho, Platanillos, Muños and Esteros. As may be seen on the attached map,73 this line signifies a more than sufficient withdrawal in order to assure the absolute separation of the opposing troops, which separation, furthermore, would be guaranteed by the supervision of the proposed Neutral Commission. The Paraguayan troops should withdraw in such case to a proportional distance, bearing in mind the inequality in the means of transportation and mobilization. The map indicates also the location of the advanced fortines which Bolivia now occupies and which it would have to abandon in order to withdraw to the line indicated above.
The proposal to reduce the military effectives of the countries in the controversy for a given period is not acceptable to Bolivia whose extensive frontiers require protection. The necessity for guaranteeing its independence, in view of its special geographic situation, oblige it to maintain an indeterminate number of military effectives. Furthermore, an elemental juridical consideration forces it to think that it is not possible to require a country, without the sacrifice of its dignity and sovereignty, to agree to the limitation of its military forces, except in the case of a general or joint agreement, in which [Page 106] may be invoked what the treaty makers call the “auto-limitation” of sovereignty, by a spontaneous decision or due to mutual convenience. It must be borne in mind that Bolivia and Paraguay are not the only two nations which exist in South America whose rights and interests may be found to conflict at the present time or in the future. The fact that the point concerning the limitation of military effectives is a Paraguayan suggestion, according to the statement of the Minister of Uruguay at the meeting of October 27, last, leads one to think that it will not be sustained by the Honorable Commission of Neutrals, in view of the fundamental objections which were opposed at that meeting by the Plenipotentiary of Bolivia and which are confirmed in the present memorandum.
The Bolivian representative hopes that the fundamental good faith with which his Government is proceeding in these negotiations will be duly recognized and appreciated by the Honorable Commission of Neutrals, which is called upon by the nature of its duties to have the other interested party eliminate evidences of distrust which are as unfounded as they are injurious to Bolivia’s dignity. The idea of “demilitarizing” the Chaco, suggested by Paraguay and not favored by the members of the Commission of Neutrals, according to explicit statements formulated at the meeting of October 27, is not only unfair and prejudicial but is included among those demonstrations of distrust which the Bolivian representative would like to see suppressed, in the desire of assuring the success of the present conference.
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