Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

738.39/2–1849: Circular airgram

The Secretary of State to the Diplomatic Missions in the American Republics, Except Haiti and the Dominican Republic

restricted

Washington, February 18, 1949—8:40 a. m.

The following is for your information.

At the regular meeting of the Council of the Organization of American States on February 16, there was distributed a letter dated February 15¹ from the Haitian Representative Charles to Chairman Corominas² reporting “certain serious facts” which affect the relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and which may be summarized as follows: The former Haitian Colonel and Chargé d’ Affaires in Quito, Astrel Roland who, the Haitian Government recently concluded, was engaged in a plot to overthrow his government, was in January dismissed from his post and accused before the Haitian courts. Recently he arrived in the Dominican Republic where he made several provocative radio speeches denouncing the Haitian Government. The Haitian Government has evidence showing that Roland is being aided in his revolutionary aims by Dominican officials. The letter concludes saying that Roland’s activities constitute “an aggression of moral order” which endangers the peace. The Haitian Representative therefore requested that the Organ of Consultation of the American Republics be convoked to consider appropriate measures to preserve peace.

In reply to this statement, the Dominican Representative³ on the COAS stated that neither he nor his government had been informed in advance of these charges. However, he rejected them, stating there was nothing in the Haitian letter to indicate that the Dominican Government as such had been implicated in Roland’s activities except to the extent of permitting him to take asylum in the Dominican Republic as a political exile from Haiti, in accordance with a well-established Latin American principle.

The Mexican Representative⁴ expressed the view that the case brought to the Council’s attention by the Haitian Representative was hardly of such a character as to come within the terms of the Rio Treaty.⁵

After approximately 1½ hours discussion, during which no other representatives present expressed any opinions on the substance of the case, it was voted at 2:30 p. m. to suspend the debate. The case will be taken up again by the Council at a special meeting to be called in the near future.

Acheson

1. Text in Annals of the Organization of American States, 1949, p. 218.
2. Enrique Corominas, Argentine Representative to the OAS.
3. Joaquin Salazar.
4. Luis Quintanilla.
5. The text of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, which entered into force for the United States on December 3, 1948, is printed in Department of State Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 1838, or 62 Stat. (pt. 2) 1681.