Office of the Historian

501.BB Palestine/3–3048: Telegram

The United States Representative at the united Nations (Austin) to the Secretary of State

secret   us urgent
niact
New York, March 30, 1948—6:20 p. m.

349. Please transmit following niact from Austin for the Secretary at Bogotá.1

USUN today submitted two resolutions to SC, one calling for immediate cessation of hostilities and truce in Palestine and the other [Page 775] for convocation of special session of GA to consider problem of future government in that country.2

Argentine delegation has been under consistent instructions from its government to refrain on all motions concerning Palestine. However, Ambassador Arce3 is tonight telephoning his Foreign Minister in Bogota to request permission to vote affirmatively on both our resolutions. Arce is strongly in favor on humanitarian grounds of the US resolution proposing a truce and feels that our suggestion for a special session is only means of making progress at this juncture on Palestine problem.

You may accordingly feel that it would be opportune to suggest to Argentine Foreign Minister our view that calling of special session is indeed worthy of support of all members of SC.

While every indication is that Colombian representative will vote affirmatively on both motions, it might be useful if suitable representations were made to Colombian Foreign Office in order that this vote may be assured when Council meets on Thursday, April 1, at 2:30 p. m.4

Austin
  1. Secretary Marshall was, at this time, Chairman of the United States Delegation at the Ninth International Conference of American States, which met at Bogota from March 30 to May 2, 1948.↩
  2. For the text of Ambassador Austin’s statement, see SC, 3rd yr., Nos. 36–51, p. 246.↩
  3. José Arce, Argentine Representative at the United Nations.↩
  4. Secretary Marshall replied, on March 31, that the Argentine Foreign Minister had authorized Dr. Arce to support the United States position and that the Colombian Foreign Office had advised of the standing instructions to its representative to support the United States position (unnumbered telegram from Bogotá, 501.BB Palestine/3–3148).↩