722.2315/945

The Minister in Ecuador (Gonzalez) to the Secretary of State

No. 434

Sir: I have the honor to report that the Minister of Foreign Relations has just requested me to call at his office from which I have just returned. He stated that he wanted me to have the first information that last evening at 7:30 p.m., in the city of Lima an agreement was signed by the Ecuadorean and Peruvian Governments under which it was agreed to name delegates and proceed to Washington and arbitrate before the President of the United States, and that said delegates will report to the President of the United States on September 30th next, ready to proceed with the arbitration proceeding.

That all matters in which a controversy may be had are to be decided along legal lines. The delegates named to represent Ecuador are Dr. Alejandro Ponce Borja, Dr. José Vicente Turjillo and Dr. Homero Viteri Lafronte; the Peruvian delegates are Dr. Francisco Tudela, Peruvian Minister to Washington, Mr. Arturo Garcia Salazar, the Peruvian Minister to Ecuador, and Dr. Victor Andres Belaunde. He stated further, that a few days ago and just immediately prior to the return to Peru of the Ecuadorean Minister, Doctor Viteri Lafronte, it was taken for granted that as a result of the activities of Dr. Lopez, President of Colombia, on behalf of Ecuador, matters had become so entangled that Ecuador and Peru would not be able to get together, but that Doctor Viteri Lafronte was requested, upon his return from Ecuador to Lima to make a final effort and that effort had resulted in the signing of the agreement last evening.

The Minister of Foreign Relations stated that he believed, and so did the Jefe Supremo, that the coming Pan American Peace Conference had had a great bearing in persuading Peru to enter into this agreement, since Peru did not wish to have the matter ventilated at the Conference.

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The Minister of Foreign Relations stated that tomorrow he would deliver to me a memorandum setting forth further details concerning the agreement.

I then called on the Jefe Supremo to extend my congratulations and he stated that he was overjoyed with the outcome in the matter and felt that no matter how the arbitration would be settled that a settlement would be reached in the matters before the delegates left Washingon, and that he would appreciate having me convey the message to the President of the United States that both he and his people had implicit confidence in him.

Respectfully yours,

Antonio C. Gonzalez