710 Consultation 4/10–3044: Telegram
The Ambassador in Venezuela (Corrigan) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 31—5:38 a.m.]
1029. I presented to the Foreign Minister7 this morning the message in Department’s circular October 28, 2 p.m.8 He offered his views prefacing his remarks by saying that he was going to speak frankly with the freedom that is necessary between friends in such a situation.
- (1)
- Any American Republic large or small has a right to move that a meeting of the Foreign Ministers be called.
- (2)
- Venezuela is ready to take part in such a meeting.
In the opinion of the Venezuelan Government he said there is no question about the juridical status of the Farrell government. Although the Venezuelan Minister to the Argentine9 is here in Caracas there has been no actual rupture. The Argentine Chargé during an informal call on the Director General10 has delivered to the Venezuelan Foreign Office the Argentine communication requesting the meeting. No reply is at present contemplated he assured me. The joint statement on Argentina which was concerted with Colombia stated that “it had not yet been possible to normalize (no ha logrado a normalizar) relations between them and the Argentine Government.”
[Page 30]He said that this present appeal to the other American Republics by Argentina to call a meeting of Foreign Ministers would afford Argentina the opportunity to make the “amende honorable”, and was in effect subjecting itself to the judgment of the other American Republics. To attempt to deny this opportunity to Argentina would surely provoke a division among the American Republics, as there would scarcely be unanimity of refusal and a situation of pandemonium in American relations might follow refusal.
To synthetize his position he is definitely in favor of a reunion of Chancellors at a very early date primarily to unify the American stand on the postwar organization, also to afford a possible road to a solution of the Argentine problem.
His views were that if a meeting of Foreign Ministers is called Habana would be a convenient meeting place.