710 Consultation (4)/11–1344: Telegram
The Ambassador in Mexico (Messersmith) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 14—5:20 a.m.]
1417. I saw Padilla in the early afternoon today for the purpose of delivering the memorandum conveying the text of the Department’s, circular telegram No. 2006 of November 12, 11 a.m., which has been sent to all of our Chiefs of Mission in Latin America with the exception of the Argentine. In my conversation with him I had fully [Page 48] in mind the Department’s telegram No. 2008 of November 12, 3 p.m.,36 conveying a message to me from Armour, and also the circular telegram of November 12, 4 p.m.36 I also had in mind the substance of the telephone conversation with Dr. Spaeth this morning conveying to me the Department’s latest thoughts on the Padilla memorandum.
I opened the conversation by saying that the Department had been giving his memorandum of November 637 careful study when it received information from me concerning the memorandum which he had delivered to the American Chiefs of Mission here for transmission to their Governments and that this had taken the Department somewhat by surprise. Under the circumstances, and as the Department was receiving inquiries from other governments and our Chiefs of Mission, we had deemed it necessary to send a telegram to all of our Chiefs of Mission on November 12 outlining our point of view with regard to the Padilla memorandum and the Argentine request for a meeting to consider its case.
At this point I handed the memorandum conveying the text of the Department’s telegram No. 2006 to the Minister to read it very carefully. His immediate reaction was that it was a well prepared, clear and strong document. We then proceeded to a discussion of the matter. I said he would note that my Government was in very close accord with the ideas expressed in his own memorandum with the exception of the reserves which he had expressed in section II of our memorandum. I said that in certain quarters his approach might be misunderstood as a means of finding a formula for recognition of the Argentine before adequate guarantees and security had been secured. I said to the Minister that we did not wish to go to the point of approaching the Argentine Government with a proposal which would appear to be a preliminary to recognition and that we did not wish to be put into the position of approaching the Argentine regime with a formula which would have the appearance of a promise for recognition.
The Minister said that he was glad that we had stated this point so strongly in our memorandum which he had just read for he did not have in mind in his memorandum the seeking of any formula to make recognition possible but rather a constructive procedure through which the Argentine could attend a meeting of Foreign Ministers and through which she could be permitted to participate and that recognition was a secondary and probable later consideration.
I will not in this telegram go into the full detail of the conversation, but at the close thereof, Dr. Padilla agreed that I could say the following to the Department.
[Page 49]- 1.
- He considered our memorandum a very constructive contribution to this problem as clearly expressing the thought of our Government and it was, in his opinion very well worded and effective.
- 2.
- He wished it to be clear that the matter of recognition was not and is not a primary purpose of his memorandum and that he was not looking for a formula of any kind, but that he was seeking for a substantial definition of the Argentine position and there was no better way of defining it than to go to her people and get an expression of the will of her people. He did not consider that there was any essential difference between the Department and himself either as to principle or as to procedure.
- 3.
- As matters stood there were two principal points which stood in the way of a solution, the first being the obvious reluctance and so far, abstinence by the Argentine regime to carry through the commitments undertaken at Rio, and second, lack of confidence in the Argentine regime which in no way expresses the will of the Argentine people and which is a purely arbitrary military regime. The Minister said his memorandum was purposely couched in such a way as to constructively overcome these two obstacles.
- 4.
- There was definite need to follow out consultation energetically among the other American Republics with the exception of the Argentine. He said that he considered that the Department’s memorandum and his had adequately defined the situation and provided an excellent basis for further consultation.
- 5.
- In his opinion it was necessary to proceed with quick, continuous and energetic action before every Foreign Ministry of the Americas, so as to stop any misinterpretation of any aspect of the situation and to overcome any weakness in the attitude of any of these ministries with respect to a firm attitude concerning the Argentine. He said through this consultation it was necessary to find a way to reconstruct American unity.
The Minister said that he would prepare a further memorandum which he would present to me and to the other American Chiefs of Mission here, he hoped, tomorrow. He would be able to proceed in this memorandum on the basis of his own original memorandum and our reply, which was the first which he had received, and which would be most helpful.
He went on to say that he felt certain that his memorandum and ours which he had just received disposed of any possibility of a meeting of the American Ministers of Foreign Affairs to discuss the Argentine situation as the Argentine had proposed.
He felt that a meeting of Foreign Ministers to discuss these postwar problems was of the utmost importance and if the Argentine took appropriate action she could be there, and if she didn’t she couldn’t be there. He had put forward the possible date of February 1st for the meeting so as to provide ample time for adequate developments to occur to make this possible.
The Minister said that he had always been concerned by this thought which was being put forth so actively by some that your [Page 50] government was not really interested in getting the Argentine back fully into the American picture. I assured him that there was no doubt about our own desires in this connection and our own recognition of the desirability of making the Argentine a fully cooperating member of the American community. The Minister said in that case the question was to find a procedure by which this could be accomplished and he thought the consultations which could now take place by him and by us with the other American Republics would bring understanding and agreement and adequate pressures on the Argentine. He stated that he hoped that there would be the fullest consultation and constant communication between him and us, as he wished to work in the closest harmony with us as he was confident there was no difference between our fundamental points of view, and that therefore there would be no fundamental difference in our views as to procedure.
He was particularly pleased to know that the Department was contemplating sending, if it had not already sent, a telegram to our Chiefs of Mission emphasizing that on the whole there was little difference between our telegram and his memorandum with the exception of our reserves expressed in section II of our telegram.
I am preparing a despatch to supplement this telegram which will go forward by the first airmail.