840.50/2579: Telegram
The Ambassador in Bolivia (Boal) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2:43 p.m.]
1568. Reference the Department’s circular telegram dated September 21, 9 p.m. and No. 1177 of September 21.19 When the note with the new draft of the agreement for a United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was presented to the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Subsecretary for Foreign Affairs said that he believed it advisable to clarify definitely the position of the Bolivian Government with respect to the agreement. He said that the Bolivian Government was not prepared to sign the agreement if it were to imply any obligation whatever on the part of the Bolivian Government to make expenditures of funds or materials for relief or rehabilitation. He said that if it were only a question of Bolivia’s lending its “moral” support in the Administration, through signature of the agreement, that would change in [sic] the situation entirely and Bolivia would very probably be prepared to sign. Since it would be embarrassing to Bolivia to make a formal reply to the note in the telegrams under reference, without a clarification of the obligation which may be implied by signature, it would be appreciated if the Department could clarify this point completely by telegraph.
With respect to the Department’s circular telegram of September 2320 concerning publication of the agreement, the lengthy chore of [Page 997] translation into Spanish of the revised draft prevents simultaneous publication in Bolivia but the Subsecretary for Foreign Affairs said that the Ministry would try to give a Spanish translation to the newspapers within a few days if the newspapers did not receive it in their own press despatches.