724.3415/4943: Telegram
The Ambassador in Argentina (Weddell) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:10 p.m.]
71. My cable June 9, 4 a.m.47 Following is translation of articles of ad referendum agreement reached this morning between Bolivian and Paraguayan Minister for Foreign Affairs:48
Article I.
To request the mediating group kindly to beg His Excellency, the President of the Argentine nation, immediately to convene the Peace Conference for the following purposes:
- (1st)
- Solemnly to ratify the present pact.
- (2d)
- To settle the practical questions which may arise in the execution of the measures of security adopted for the cessation of hostilities.
- (3d)
- To promote the settling of differences between Bolivia and Paraguay by direct agreement between the parties; it being understood that, should the direct negotiations fail, Bolivia and Paraguay assume through this pact the obligation to settle the Chaco dispute by means of juridical arbitration, forthwith designating the Permanent Court of International Justice of The Hague as arbitrator.
- The Peace Conference will terminate the direct negotiations when in its opinion the moment should have arrived to declare the impossibility of reaching thereby a definite solution; in this event, it will proceed to the question of an arbitral compromise to be concluded between the parties, the Peace Conference being unable to terminate [Page 74] its functions as long as the arbitral compromise is not definitely agreed upon.
- (4th)
- To promote, when it is deemed opportune, the agreement between the parties relating to the exchange and repatriation of prisoners bearing in mind the practices and principles of international law.
- (5th)
- Establishment of a system of transit, trade and navigation, having in view the geographical position of the parties.
- (6th)
- To promote facilities, and agreements, of various kinds, destined to encourage the development of the belligerent countries.
- (7th)
- The Peace Conference will form an international commission which will render an opinion on the responsibilities of any order and any kind arising from the war; if the conclusions of this opinion are not accepted by one of the parties, the Permanent Court of International Justice of The Hague will definitively settle the question. The Governments of the Republics of Bolivia and Paraguay pledge themselves to obtain the legislative approval of the present pact within a term of 20 days as from the date of its signature.
Article II.
The definite cessation of hostilities based on the present positions of the belligerent armies.
The positions of the conflicting armies are fixed as follows:
- (a)
- A 12-days’ truce is agreed upon in order that a neutral military commission, composed of representatives of the mediating nations, may fix intermediate lines between the positions of the belligerent armies. The truce will begin at midnight, meridian of Cordoba, on the day on which the neutral military commission, having already arrived at the field of action, considers itself ready to begin its mission.
- The neutral military commission will hear the belligerent military authorities in order to determine the line of separation of the armies, and it will decide cases of discrepancies; once its mission is fulfilled it will so inform the Peace Conference.
- (b)
- The time limit for the truce established under clause (a) having expired, the Peace Conference will extend it until the final execution of the measures of security provided for in article III.
- (c)
- The neutral military commission will decide as to the modifications which the experience of the line of separation of the armies may make advisable, after hearing the military authorities of the belligerents.
- (d)
- During the truce and its extension, the lines of separation of the armies will be maintained under the guarantees of the Peace Conference, for which purpose the neutral military commission will exercise vigilance and control over them.
Article III.
The adoption of the following measures of security:
- (1st)
- The demobilization of the belligerent armies within a term of 90 days, as from the date of the fixing of the lines of separation of the armies to which reference is made in article II, in the manner to [Page 75] be established by the neutral military commission, after hearing the belligerent military authorities, and up to the limit fixed in the following clause.
- (2d)
- The reduction of military effectives to the maximum of 5,000 men.
- (3rd)
- The obligation not to make new purchases of war material other than that indispensable for replacement, until the conclusion of the treaty of peace.
- (5th) [(4th)]
- In signing the present pact in the presence of the mediators, the parties contract the pledge of “nonaggression.”
The neutral military commission will be encharged with the control of the execution of the measures of security until their total completion. Once these are fulfilled, the Peace Conference will declare the war to be terminated.
Once the execution of the foregoing military securities and guarantees is initiated on the field of operations, which measures must be totally carried out within the maximum term of 90 consecutive days, the study of the differences will also be initiated at the same time, and the Peace Conference will exercise the functions specified in article I.
Article IV.
The declaration of August 3, 1932, regarding territorial acquisitions, is recognized by the belligerents.
Article V.
In homage to humane sentiments of the belligerents and mediators, firing is suspended as from blank.
In virtue of which the present Protocol is subscribed by mutual agreement, jointly with the representatives of the mediating states, sealed and signed on the date and place mentioned above.