715.1715/1594
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Adviser on Political Relations (Duggan)
The Ambassador71 inquired what views this Government had with respect to further action in connection with the Nicaragua-Honduras boundary dispute.
[Page 266]He stated that his Government did not think that Honduras had any authority to declare that the labors of the mediation commission had come to an end.
I told the Ambassador that this whole subject was now under review. Our preliminary studies were in agreement with the view of his Government—that the Government of Honduras could not unilaterally declare that the mediation commission had ceased to exist because its work had been terminated. It was our tentative thought that there should be consultation between the Governments either through the usual diplomatic channels or through a meeting of the mediation commission to decide what the next step should be. I expressed my personal doubt that there would be any favorable development if the situation was left to drift since it did not look as though Honduras intended, of its own initiative, to make any proposal and Nicaragua alone was not in a position to bring about serious consideration of any proposal it might make.
The Ambassador seemed to agree that this was a good procedure. He thought that whatever discussions took place should be through diplomatic channels in order not to antagonize Honduras unnecessarily.
- Diógenes Escalante, Venezuelan Ambassador in Washington.↩