Office of the Historian

724.34119/178: Telegram

The Ambassador in Argentina (Weddell) to the Secretary of State

Buenos Aires, September 18, 1935—10 p.m.
[Received September 19—12:47 a.m.]

209. From Dawson.

1.
At an informal meeting of the neutrals this afternoon Saavedra Lamas informed us that he was calling a plenary session including the Bolivian and Paraguayan delegations for Friday to discuss (a) Barreda Laos’ proposal for a war responsibility tribunal, (b) a suggestion by the chairman of the Neutral Military Commission that an international police force be formed to replace the Bolivian and Paraguayan enlisted men now used by the Commission in the zone separating the two armies and (c) various angles of the prisoners of war question.
2.
There was some discussion of the possibility of making public the August 14 report of the Prisoners of War Committee to the neutral members of the Conference (enclosure 6 to despatch No. 4484) as to negotiations on the prisoners problem. (A recent Paraguayan communiqué on the subject was answered by Bolivian statement grossly misrepresenting the facts.)
3.
Paraguay has replied to the proposal for the exchange of disabled and incapacitated prisoners accepting it with the significant amendment that decision as to selection of prisoners be left to the medical authorities of the respective armies rather than to the Neutral Military Commission. According to press despatches from Asunción it has already been officially announced there that 200 disabled Bolivian prisoners are shortly to be released. No reply has been received from Bolivia.
4.
Saavedra Lamas said in a conversation yesterday the chairman of the Paraguayan delegation had insinuated that the Conference should take a recess and not make the declaration that the war is at an end, called for by the June 12th Protocol after the completion of demobilization, obviously with the idea that the failure to make the declaration would bolster Paraguay’s grounds for retaining its prisoners. He asserted that he had informed the Paraguayan Government that the declaration would have to be made and had urged that Paraguay modify its opposition to the release of prisoners, pointing out that it was adequately protected by the security measures in the Protocol and that public opinion in neutral countries was turning against Paraguay because of its intransigeance.
5.
In this connection Saavedra Lamas stated that Argentina would abrogate its neutrality decrees after the declaration of the termination of war. The Brazilian and Chilean delegates indicated that they expected their Governments to do the same.
6.
Saavedra Lamas announced that he felt it was necessary for the Conference to cease marking time and to carry out strictly and without undue delay all of the mandates intrusted to it by the Protocol whether it succeeded or failed. His plans however seem as vague as ever.

Repeated to Rio de Janeiro. [Dawson.]

Weddell
  1. Not printed.↩