710.Consultation (3)/254b: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Argentina ( Armour )
24. From the Under Secretary. Espil yesterday called upon me by instruction of his Government and gave me the oral message from his Foreign Minister which follows.
“We are preparing our voyage to Rio de Janeiro with the full proposal of collaboration and with the desire to act within the bounds of harmony compatible with the high interests of the nation.
We have learned of the signing in Washington of the pact of alliance of twenty-six countries of all continents to fight against the Axis.59 Among these are numbered nine American nations who, without previous consultation, had already individually declared war and which now are entering into an alliance with non-continental nations which would not seem to be in accord with existing commitments, in particular the Declaration of Lima of 1938 and other inter-American peace agreements.
This omission exceeds any regional concept and approaches an almost universal position and in fact raises doubts as to the utility of any consultation in Rio de Janeiro. There is a certain contradiction in inviting us to participate in the study and adoption of measures of common defense at the same time that nine countries proceed without prior exchange of views in defining in absolute form their double position, intracontinental and extracontinental, with the consequent risks and responsibilities of a state of war.
The Argentine Foreign Office could not keep silent with regard to this impression since it is its intention to join in loyal application of the consultative system. It believes that a reservation is imperative in view of that decision, all the more because the pact of alliance remains open for the adherence of other countries, [not?] necessarily American. For any nation jealous of its sovereignty, the procedure which has been observed is objectionable in as much as consultation is undertaken subsequent to the resolution adopted. The system of consultation has as its object the seeking of directives [Page 25] by means of the coordination of wills. In the international order, every state retains its sovereign power and international solidarity can only be admitted through free determination contemplating the gravity of existing facts and their consequences within the unity of views regarding continental defense.
Moreover, this situation is complicated in view of Article 20 of the new Regulations for the Consultative Meeting,60 which establishes majority decisions among the votes of the countries represented in the respective session. In the situation which we are examining as a practical matter, that majority has already been anticipated in the pact of alliance, thus changing completely the exclusively American concept of solidarity.
Please bring to the knowledge of the Department of State the apprehension with which this Government views this deviation from Pan American norms of procedure according to the stipulations of the original agreements of Buenos Aires.
In taking this step, the Argentine Government desires to insure, free from any erroneous interpretations, the conception with which it will accord the Consultative Meeting at Rio de Janeiro in accordance with the continental commitments which it has undertaken and whose application, through the system of consultation, it desires to see duly discussed and agreed upon in Rio de Janeiro.”
I made no official comment merely stating that I would confer with the Foreign Minister as soon as possible after I reach Rio de Janeiro. [Welles.]
- For Declaration by United Nations, signed January 1, 1942, see vol. i, p. 25.↩
- Report on the Third Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, p. 24.↩