823.51/1547
The Ambassador in Peru (White) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 10.]
Sir: Continuing despatches Nos. 8743 and 143, dated April 17 and April 24, 1944, respectively, regarding the conferences between Finance Minister East and Mr. James Grafton Rogers, of the Foreign Bondholders Protective Council, on the Peruvian dollar debt problem, I have the honor to submit enclosures43 outlining the course of the conversations in the third and fourth meetings which were held on April 24th and 27th in the Central Reserve Bank. The memoranda and the statistical tables enclosed are for the most part self-explanatory.
An entirely new development, so far as is known to the officers now serving at this post, is that Finance Minister East, during the meeting of April 24, came to the defense of all former Finance Ministers and Peruvian Government officials responsible for handling the debt question. This, no doubt, emanated from various conversations in recent months in which it was brought out that Peru’s friends abroad naturally look upon the present, as well as any preceding Peruvian Government, as duly authorized representatives of the nation; that the debt problem represents accumulated obligations for which all of the Peruvian people are responsible; and that if we were to adopt any other style of reasoning we could say that all of the recent treaties, conventions and agreements between the United [Page 1575] States and Peru automatically would lapse in the event that the incumbent President of the United States is not re-elected.
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By way of summarizing the first four meetings, reference may be made to Mr. Rogers’ statement in the Embassy’s telegram No. 524, dated April 20, 6 p.m., 1944,44 that the Finance Minister appears to be preparing the way for a very reduced offer of settlement, if any. It is clear that his whole verbal and statistical presentation so far points to the idea of utter impossibility. This, of course, is the Peruvian method of preparing the way. The Peruvian system of negotiating would call for a summation in the final moments of the so-called facts undeniably illustrating the impossibility of doing anything, followed by a magnanimous offer at great sacrifice of practically nothing. After all of this is done, Mr. East then no doubt will recall his initial statement that any tentative understanding reached with him must be submitted to the committee, which Mr. David Dasso45 has now informed us is composed of Dr. Francisco Tudela,46 Foreign Minister Solf, Mr. Pedro Beltrán, Mr. David Dasso, Finance Minister East, ex-Finance Minister Benjamín Roca, and Mr. Clemente de Althaus, Vice President of the Central Reserve Bank. Should the committee agree to Mr. East’s proposal, it would then have to be submitted to the Congress, which does not convene until July 28.
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Respectfully yours,