816.00/1283
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Guatemala (Long)
Sir: Reference is made to your airgram no. A–210 of April 28, 6:30 p.m., with regard to the action of the American Ambassador in El Salvador in surrendering Colonel Tito Calvo, who had sought asylum in the American Embassy, to the Salvadoran authorities. After careful consideration of your airgram under reference, and of Ambassador Thurston’s telegram no. 128 of April 30, noon, which was repeated to you, the Department sent an instruction to San Salvador25 reading as follows:
“Reference is made to your telegram no. 128 of April 30, noon, requesting an expression of the Department’s opinion with regard to your action in refusing asylum to Colonel Tito Calvo and in surrendering him to the Salvadoran authorities on April 3, 1944. Your action was wholly in accord with the Department’s well-established policy, as set forth in the Foreign Service Regulations.
“The Department realizes that its policy of non-recognition of the doctrine of political asylum may subject it to criticism, especially in its application to individual cases. It is none the less a policy of long standing, based on the Department’s desire to avoid involvement in local political affairs, and the Department does not contemplate any change in it.
“The Department agrees with you that it would be inadvisable to issue any public statement regarding this policy at the present time. The Department’s position in this regard has been made amply clear in the past, at Inter-American conferences and elsewhere; and it would not seem that any useful purpose would be served by a reiteration thereof. Furthermore, any such statement issued at the present time would be subject to partial publication, to distortion and to misrepresentation. The Department feels that members of its diplomatic missions abroad should be able to explain it satisfactorily in any private conversations which might take place.
“In order that they may be adequately informed, however, the Department is forwarding, to its missions in those of the American Republics which maintain resident diplomatic missions in El Salvador, copies of your despatch no. 1448 of April 5, 1944, together with pertinent excerpts from a memorandum of conversation with Mr. Joint, British Chargé d’Affaires in El Salvador, furnishing additional details of the developments on April 3, 1944.26 A copy will of course be sent to you for your information.”
Very truly yours,
- Instruction 562, dated May 9.↩
- Memorandum not printed; the conversation was held in Washington April 10, between E. J. Joint, Robert H. Hadow, British Counselor of Embassy in Washington, John M. Cabot, Assistant Chief of the Division of Caribbean and Central American Affairs, and William P. Cochran, Jr., of the same Division.↩