363/12–1950
The Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Miller) to the Ambassador in Colombia (Beaulac)
informal
Dear Willard: I was sorry that events moved so rapidly toward the end of last week that we were required to announce our intention to convene the Foreign Ministers’ meeting1 before we had time to consult with the other governments. Once we had seen the last draft of the President’s speech, it seemed to us that a Foreign Ministers’ meeting, for which there already had been pressure among the Latinos, would become inevitable, and consequently it was important for us to take the initiative very strongly and immediately. A related factor was the intention which we heard about last Friday2 of the Guatemalan Government to request a meeting on the Haya de la Torre case.3 This would seem to us unfortunate (a) because the general question of asylum appears to us to be a matter for the Inter-American Juridical Commission and not a matter of consultation, and (b) because the specific case of Haya has been resubmitted to the World Court.4
[Here follows a discussion of plans for the forthcoming Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.]
With best regards.
Sincerely yours,
- For documentation regarding U.S. policy in connection with the Fourth Meeting of Consultation of American Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Washington from March 26 to April 7, 1951, will be printed in a forthcoming volume of Foreign Relations.↩
- December 15.↩
- In despatch 623 from Guatemala, December 23, the Embassy mentioned learning from the Department that Guatemala had petitioned at the COAS meeting of December 20 for inclusion of asylum questions on the agenda of the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting requested by the United States. The COAS had approved the U.S. request, but Guatemala had withdrawn its petition after Colombia, Peru, and several other republics had spoken against it. (723.00/12–2350)↩
- On December 13. See Whiteman, Digest, vol. 6, p. 485.↩