722.2315/2555: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Peru (Norweb)
469. From the Under Secretary. Your 618, November 18, 1 p.m. The Argentine and Brazilian Ambassadors and I conferred this afternoon with the Ambassador of Ecuador.
We informed the Ambassador that as a temporary measure of convenience it was believed that it would be helpful if we could utilize his good offices in order to communicate secretly to the President and Foreign Minister of Ecuador information received from the three Ambassadors in Lima regarding the present disposition of the Government of Peru with regard to the boundary dispute. We therefore requested the Ambassador to transmit to the President of Ecuador the following information. From authoritative sources in the Peruvian Government it appeared that the Government of Peru desired to negotiate a permanent and complete settlement of the boundary controversy. It further appeared that the Government of Peru would be satisfied to adopt as the basis of negotiations the line of the Zarumilla River–Chinchipe River in the West. It would desire to negotiate on the basis of substantial modifications of the 1936 status quo line in the East, these substantial modifications involving the obtaining by Peru of Andoas and Rocafuerte.
The Ambassador at once inquired whether, in return for these concessions sought by Peru in the eastern part of the status quo line, the Government of Peru would be willing to make offsetting concessions. We replied to the Ambassador that the three Ambassadors in Lima had no official communication from the Government of Peru on this point but that he might inform his Government for its confidential information that an observation to this effect had been made to the Government of Peru by one of the three Ambassadors.
The Ambassador then inquired whether the Government of Peru was prepared to withdraw its troops back to the 1936 status quo line. He was told that this of course was one of the points already insisted upon by the mediatory powers but that the Government of Peru had not as yet given any final answer to the request in question.
It was emphasized that the communication made to the Ambassador of Ecuador today was in the nature of a secret sounding for the purpose of ascertaining what the views of the Government of Ecuador might be with regard to the possibilities mentioned.
[Page 242]The Ambassador stated that he would at once communicate secretly and solely for the information of his President and Minister for Foreign Affairs the communication conveyed to him. [Welles.]