Editorial Note

On October 31, 1952, President Paz Estenssoro signed a decree nationalizing the properties of the three largest tin mining companies in Bolivia (Aramayo, Hochschild, and Patiño). The decree recognized the principle of compensation and set a tentative amount to be paid for physical properties exclusive of the subsoil resources. The text of the decree, furnished to the Embassy at La Paz by the Bolivian Foreign Office prior to its signature, was transmitted to the Department of State under cover of despatch 315, dated October 30, 1952, not printed (824.2544/10–3052).

In a memorandum of conversation between Ambassador Sparks, who was in Washington for consultations during November, Mr. Mann, Mr. Evans, Deputy Legal Adviser Jack B. Tate, and others, by Stanley D. Metzger of the Legal Adviser’s Office, dated November 10, 1952, Mr. Tate is recorded as having stated that the United States obligation to secure just compensation was limited to American citizens affected by the nationalization decree. He further remarked that “Ambassador Sparks’ proposal for negotiation with the Bolivian Government to fix the amount of compensation owing the American interest, and to provide for payment thereof through combination with a purchase contract of tin or other means, appeared to be a feasible course of action to follow under the existing circumstances.” (824.2544/11–1052)