722.2315/728: Telegram
The Minister in Ecuador (Dawson) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 10—4:30 p.m.]
1. The Minister of Foreign Affairs informs me that Ecuador is very desirous of being afforded an opportunity to participate in the negotiations to be held in Rio de Janeiro6 in order to protect its interests and settle once for all pending boundary questions in the Amazon region. To this end he desires that Brazil invite Ecuador and Peru to conduct their boundary negotiations in Rio de Janeiro simultaneously with but separately from the negotiations for the settlement of the Leticia conflict unless of course the interested countries prefer that Ecuador participate in round table negotiations. In this connection the Minister informed me that when Ecuador recently proposed to Peru the resumption of boundary negotiations, Peru at first suggested tripartite conversations with Colombia but that Ecuador did not feel that it could make such a proposal to Colombia in view of the latter’s stand that the Leticia incident was a purely domestic question. He believes therefore that Peru will not oppose an invitation to Ecuador. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has taken the matter up with the Brazilian Government through the Brazilian Minister and has instructed the Ecuadorean Minister in Washington to request the good offices of the Department in obtaining for Ecuador an invitation to the Rio de Janeiro negotiations. He asked me to cable the Department along the same lines and stated that he had reason to believe that a word from the Department in Rio de Janeiro, Lima and Bogotá would prove most effective. He stated that if admitted to the negotiations it would be Ecuador’s aim to contribute in every way to a successful issue and to a lasting settlement in the Amazon region. It seems to me that Ecuador’s participation might offer a favorable opportunity for an integral settlement of the Amazon situation and that Ecuador and [Page 563] Peru would be more likely to reach an agreement under the eyes of other interested countries than if left wholly to themselves. Aside from our general interest in boundary settlements the Department would no doubt welcome an agreement between Ecuador and Peru which would make unnecessary the eventual reference of their dispute to our Government. Recent experience indicates that any Amazon settlement reached without Ecuador may contain the seeds of future discord.
- Negotiations between Colombia and Peru regarding Leticia.↩