722.2315/784
The Secretary of State to the Ecuadoran Minister (Alfaro)8
Sir: I take pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of your note dated January 31, 1934, referring to the Ponce-Castro Protocol of June 21, 1924, concluded between your Government and that of Peru, with a view to an equitable delineation of their mutual boundary. A note from the Peruvian Ambassador in identic terms, mutatis mutandis, was likewise received on the same date. The Governments of Ecuador and Peru requested the permission of the Government of the United States, under the terms of the above-mentioned Ponce–Castro Protocol, to send delegations to Washington to discuss their boundary matter in a friendly manner in order that, if unable to fix a definitive line by [Page 463] common consent, they may determine those zones which are reciprocally recognized, as well as a zone to be submitted to the arbitral decision of the President of the United States of America.
As the President informed you on February 6, when he received you at the White House for that purpose, the Government of the United States is happy to consent to the request made by your Government and that of Peru and regards their determination to settle their longstanding boundary controversy through friendly discussion as of great importance and a matter of encouragement to the Governments and peoples of the entire Continent.
Accept [etc.]
- A similar note was sent to the Peruvian Ambassador on the same date.↩