Quito Embassy Files
Agreement Between the United States and Ecuador Amending That of January 24, 1942, Concerning an Advance Base for American Military Forces at Salinas
Duly empowered by Colonel Alberto C. Romero, Minister for the National Defense of Ecuador, and by the Commanding General of the Caribbean Defense Command of the United States of America, respectively, Colonel Ricardo Astudillo, Superior Commander of the Army of Ecuador, and Colonel Serafín M. Montesinos, United States Army, met to modify and amplify the Agreement which was effected January 24, 1942. These modifications and amplifications, as well as the Agreement mentioned, must be previously ratified by the Governments of Ecuador and the United States in order to be in effect.
Insert a) Articles 1, 2, 3, and 4 remain the same as stated in the Agreement.
Insert b) Article 5 of the Agreement is modified as follows:
He also allows the Commanding General of the Caribbean Defense Command to organize an American police for internal service during the stay of the personnel of the Army, Navy, and Aviation of the United States of America on Ecuadoran soil, the said American police to exercise its functions in the parish of Salinas. This will not prevent the Government of the Republic of Ecuador to maintain its own police in the said zone. In order to put this article into effect, the Commander of the North American Base and the Ecuadorian Commander of the Province of Guayas will determine the norms for its execution.
Insert c) Article 6 of the Agreement is modified as follows:
The constructions and installations authorized may be started immediately upon the signing of the present Agreement. General Lyon agrees to recommend that the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000.00) be delivered immediately to the Government of Ecuador for the expropriation and indemnization for the lands and dwellings of the Municipality of Salinas and of private citizens established on the lands pertaining to this Agreement, and for the demolition of the existing structures that may be necessary for the constructions and installations indicated above.
Insert d) Articles 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 remain the same as stated in the Agreement.
Insert e) Article 12 of the Agreement is modified as follows:
It is understood that the Government of Ecuador does not lose sovereignty over the lands nor the territorial waters gratuitously ceded, and which will be occupied by the Arms and Services [Page 371] referred to in this Agreement, and, therefore, the United States does not acquire ownership of them. Upon the termination of the life of this Agreement the structures erected, excepting armament, machinery, equipment, instruments, etc., will become the exclusive property of the Government of Ecuador.
Insert f) Articles 13 and 14 remain the same as stated in the Agreement.
Insert g) Article 15 of the Agreement is modified as follows:
This Agreement shall be in force and shall continue in effect for the period of the present war emergency and may continue thereafter, if, in the opinion of the two Governments, there still exists the danger of aggression by a non-American power against an American power.
Insert h) To the Agreement shall be added the following Article:
Art. 16. The Ministry of National Defense of Ecuador, through a duly authorized representative, shall have the right to inspect the works and constructions undertaken by the North American troops, and in general all the zone occupied by them, for the purpose of effecting coordination for the mutual defense.
Colonel, U.S. Army
Witness:
Witness:
Ensign, U.S.N.