Office of the Historian

724.34119/344: Telegram

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

Buenos Aires, January 23, 1936—1 p.m.
[Received 4 p.m.]

9. From Braden. Under present plans Conference will not take recess until after legislative approval of the protocolized act of [Page 40] January 21, although several delegates including the Chairmen of the Bolivian and Paraguayan delegations are leaving within the next few days.

Organization and supervision of early stages of exchange of prisoners and clearing up of other pending details will probably take 4 to 6 weeks, and I feel I should remain here until they are disposed of. Thereafter, I hope to make my contemplated trip to Bolivia via Chile accompanied by Nieto del Río8 for the purpose of much needed exploratory conversations on the fundamental question. My plan would be to return to Buenos Aires after the La Paz trip and then proceed to Asunción, probably with Rodrigues Alves9 and possibly Manini Rios10 for similar conversations.

I believe it would be of assistance if Dawson11 could be ordered to Washington for consultation so as to give you a first hand picture of recent developments and present conditions and receive your instructions as to our future course. If you approve, he could leave here by a foreign vessel February 1, spend a week with Gibson12 in Rio de Janeiro for consultation, and proceed by American vessel arriving at New York, February 25. Use of an American vessel for entire trip would prevent him from stopping off in Rio or delay his arrival at New York 2 weeks. It is my idea that after consultation in Washington, Dawson would return and join me in Santiago or La Paz.

Conference will probably not reconvene before May after elections in Paraguay and Bolivia. Until my departure present staff of delegation will be required. During my absence Hill13 and clerk detailed from Consulate General should remain on duty to provide necessary liaison between the Conference Secretariat and Gibson and me.

Repeated to Rio de Janeiro by air mail. [Braden.]

Weddell
  1. Félix Nieto del Río, Chilean delegate.↩
  2. José de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian first delegate.↩
  3. Pedro Manini Ríos, Uruguayan delegate.↩
  4. Allen Dawson, assistant to the American delegate until June 1936.↩
  5. Hugh Gibson, Ambassador in Brazil; delegate from July to November 1935.↩
  6. Hayward G. Hill, secretary of the delegation.↩