Editorial Note
Under date of November 17, 1950, the Chargé in Bolivia (Maleady) transmitted despatch No. 449 (not printed), which summarized the week’s developments in Bolivia. Mr. Maleady reported in part that President Mamerto Urriolagoitia had signed a bill enacted on October 5, 1950, by the Bolivian Congress. This law provided for the conversion, up to December 31, 1953, of a number of Republic of Bolivia bond issues, in default since 1931, into one new series bearing a reduced interest rate at face value. Interest payments were to begin in 1951 from funds to be created by taxes and duties not yet enacted. (724.00(W)/11–1750)
In a letter of March 8, 1951, to Senator Edward J. Thye of Minnesota, Jack K. McFall, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, said in part that the action of the Bolivian Government had been in accordance with an agreement reached in 1948 by [Page 756] the Bolivian Government and the Foreign Bondholders Protective Council and that the Bolivian Government hoped to make an initial payment on the bonds on July 1, 1951. (824.10/3–151) For documentation on the 1948 agreement, see Foreign Relations, 1948, volume IX, pages 329 ff.