710.Consultation 3/598: Telegram
The American Representative (Welles) to the Secretary of State
52. The Chilean Foreign Minister announced at the Plenary Session last night that “without the slightest shadow of a doubt, Japan immediately is going to attack Chile”.
[Page 40]Early this morning the Minister visited me and urged that I sign with him a document of which the text is the following:
“Meeting together, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Chile, Don Juan B. Rossetti, and the Under Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mr. Sumner Welles, have considered the situation created by the conflict in the Pacific with regard to continental defense measures and in particular the defense requirements of Chile whose coasts are notoriously open to attack. In view of the circumstances set forth by Minister Rossetti, the Under Secretary of State, Mr. Welles, declared that the United States would take precautionary defense measures in the waters of the Pacific adjacent to South America and that should some emergency occur, Chile could count upon effective military assistance from the United States and that technical details of such assistance would be agreed upon in the immediate future.”
The Minister has informed me that he has received word from his Government that Chile is now prepared to break without further delay all relations with the Axis Powers. He alleges that he has requested authorization to make an announcement of an actual rupture of relations at the closing session of the Conference on Tuesday.77 He states that he has likewise cabled to the presidential candidate Rios, whose election the Minister tells me is assured, asking authorization by Rios for the making of such an announcement.
In as much as the declarations contained in this proposed statement are in accord with our traditional policy and covered by joint staff agreements already reached, I see no objection.
I beg to request an urgent reply from the Department as to whether I am authorized to sign the proposed joint agreement.
- This rupture of relations took place approximately one year after these assurances were made.↩