824.504/131: Telegram
The Ambassador in Bolivia (Boal) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11 p.m.]
248. For Duggan63 from Trueblood.64 The Mission accompanied by the Ambassador called yesterday on President,65 the Foreign Minister66 and the Minister of Labor.67 These officials expressed satisfaction that the Mission had come, emphasized importance of problems to be considered and offered fullest cooperation in carrying out the survey. The Minister of Labor promised names of members of Bolivian Mission this morning.
President Peñaranda expressed the hope that the survey would not be restricted to mining but that it would take in rubber, petroleum, agriculture and in short all important phases of the country’s economy as affecting the status of labor. The Minister of Labor made this more specific by suggesting three itineraries: (1) a survey of mining to take place from February 11 to February 27; (2) a survey of industrial labor and petroleum from February 11 to February 22; and (3) a survey of rubber, cattle and agriculture from February 20 to March 3. He stated it would be difficult because of transportation and housing difficulties for the entire group to travel together hence for each of the three trips he proposed that our Mission designate two members. He himself proposes to accompany the mining and rubber survey parties and other members of the Bolivian Mission would be distributed among the three groups.
Our Mission discussed the Minister’s proposals at length last night and while we have decided with the Ambassador’s concurrence that [Page 609] it will probably be necessary to accept them in greater part we plan to make certain that the major emphasis remains on the mining survey.
Obviously there will not be time for thorough investigation of the country’s labor problems other than mining. The rapid surveys proposed by the Minister should serve, however, to give the Mission a better integrated view of the whole situation and possibly permit the information [formation] of some preliminary recommendations in these fields. Our plan which we will discuss today with Minister of Labor is as follows: To devote our first week here to interviews with Government officials, labor leaders (including possibly some now in prison), employers and only [other?] persons interested in labor problems (the Minister of Labor has promised full cooperation in arranging interviews with anyone we want to see); the second week we hope to spend as a group in certain mines where we can all be accommodated (this will cover large, medium and small mines); the third week we will split up into two groups and visit smaller mines where the entire party could not be accommodated; about February 22 one group (tentatively Judge Magruder,68 Watt,69 Hook70 and myself) will fly to Beni for 10 day trip to rubber area with intermediate stops and a second group (Mathews,71 Giardino72 and Kyne73) will spend a similar length of time studying industrial conditions and visiting petroleum fields. About March 3 all will reassemble in La Paz and be prepared to devote the next 2 weeks to study of findings and reaching of agreement on conclusions. (Watt and Hook are insistent that they should leave here at end of 6 weeks or about March 16 and Judge Magruder is of a like opinion but prepared to stay on of course if absolutely necessary.)
Judge Magruder hopes the Mission may be able to formulate and transmit after we finish trip to mines (about February 22) certain preliminary recommendations which you might wish to discuss with the Coordinator74 in light of Rockefeller’s letter of January 2.75 If I can advance matters any by staying on in La Paz while the two [Page 610] groups make rubber and petroleum trips I shall do so possibly working with Blelloch.76
We are expecting Kyne on the 8th but would like to know when Blelloch will arrive.
We will see the Minister of Labor again this morning and I will send further report following this interview. [Trueblood.]
- Laurence Duggan, Adviser on Political Relations.↩
- Edward G. Trueblood, Secretary of the Commission of Labor Experts.↩
- Gen. Enrique Peñaranda.↩
- Tomás Manuel Elio.↩
- Juan Manuel Balcazar.↩
- Calvert Magruder, Judge of the First Judicial Circuit, United States Circuit Court of Appeals at Boston, Chairman of the Mission.↩
- Robert J. Watt represented the American Federation of Labor on the Mission.↩
- Charles R. Hook of the Rustless Iron and Steel Company represented employers on the Mission.↩
- Robert E. Mathews, B. E. W. member of the Mission.↩
- Alfred Giardino, Department of Labor representative on the Mission.↩
- Martin J. Kyne, representative of the Coordinator of Information.↩
- Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, a position held by Nelson A. Rockefeller.↩
- Not printed; it was addressed to Under Secretary of State Welles and indicated that the Institute of Inter-American Affairs had authorized the use of $1,000,000 for food and rehabilitation of Bolivian labor (824.504/124).↩
- David H. Blelloch, Adviser to the Mission from the International Labor Office.↩