Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1932, The American Republics, Volume V

724.3415/2214 3/15

Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (White)

[Washington,] September 13, 1932.

The neutral representatives invited the representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru, to meet with them on September 13. This memorandum is not designed to cover that meeting but merely one phase of it.

While the Colombian Minister was drafting the telegram which the representatives of the neighboring countries were being requested to send to their Governments, the Uruguayan Minister, Mr. Varela, said that it might be well to consider the possibility of preventing arms shipments to Bolivia and Paraguay; that I had made a very interesting statement to the Neutrals in this regard, and that he would take the liberty of quoting me. He said that I had said that the United States would be disposed to take this action to cooperate with the other countries.

I immediately said that I was afraid the Uruguayan Minister had misunderstood what I had said. What I had told the neutral group was this:

There is no statute which authorizes this Government to prevent shipments of arms and munitions to Bolivia and Paraguay at the present moment. There is a statute which permits the President to declare an embargo on arms shipments to Latin American Governments when he finds a condition of domestic violence exists there. It was on this basis that we had put an embargo on arms shipments to Mexico some years ago and to Brazil two years ago, and to Nicaragua and Honduras, which latter two are still in effect.⁶² The present hostilities between Bolivia and Paraguay are disturbances and violence of an international character and not of a domestic sort and therefore are not, strictly speaking, covered by the statute. It is for this reason that we have no control over shipments to Bolivia and Paraguay but the disposition of this Government was shown by the statement which I made on the twelfth instant to Mr. Edwards of Chile, and some time ago to the Argentine Ambassador, namely, that if those countries should prevent the transit of this material across their territory there would be no complaint or representations made by this Government.

I added that I had further said in a meeting of the Neutrals that I personally, speaking as an individual, and not as representing the American Government, would be willing to recommend to the Secretary of State and to the President, if the other American countries should put on an embargo of arms to Bolivia and Paraguay, that we interpret the existing statute as permitting the issuance of an embargo here. I said that this very liberal interpretation of the statute I thought would be justified if the other American countries wanted to take this action and our failure to do so should make their action fail. Short of that, I was not inclined to think that we would be justified in giving the statute such a broad interpretation. I said that I was still ready to take that action but that they must realize that this means the initiative must come from elsewhere and not from this Government. This Government has no such request before it now.

The Uruguayan Minister said that he would be prepared to make such a request. I told him it would have to come at least from the four neighboring countries as well, indicating that they were prepared in that case to stop shipments of arms through their territory to Bolivia and Paraguay, and not to make any such shipments themselves or permit shipments originating in other countries.

F[rancis] W[hite]

62. Mexico, January 7, 1924, Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. ii, p. 428; removed July 18, 1929, ibid., 1929, vol. iii, p. 432.

    Brazil, October 22, 1930, see ibid., 1930, vol. i, p. 443; removed March 2, 1931, see ibid., p. 452, footnote 16.

    Nicaragua, September 15, 1926, see ibid., 1926, vol. ii, p. 793.

    Honduras, March 22, 1924, May 15, 1924, ibid., 1924, vol. ii, pp. 322, 324.