473. Editorial Note
A commission of military attachés of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the United States stationed in Lima and Quito reported to the [Page 958] Organization of American States on September 13, that it had found no evidence of Peruvian troop concentrations on the frontier with Ecuador. An undated summary of the military commission’s report of September 25, prepared in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, states in part:
“Although the innermost intentions of individual officials can never be determined with certainty, there appeared to be no danger of imminent war between the two countries. The enlistment system, the tranquility of the civil population, the location of the Peruvian Navy in port, and the disposition and status of the Air Forces of both countries indicated no belligerent intention. The commission comments that Ecuador over-estimated the number of Peruvian effectives in the frontier zone and it expresses the view that the speed with which the commission arrived on the frontier and made aerial reconnaissances of the frontier probably did not give time to either country to effect withdrawal of troops. The commission mentions that recent reorganization of the armed forces of both countries carried out at the suggestion of the U.S. Military Missions could be one of the reasons for arousing suspicion when combined with the recent acquisition of war matériel obtained by both Peru and Ecuador.” (Department of State, Central Files, 622.233/9–2555)
Copies of this summary were sent to the Office of South American Affairs, the Office of Regional American Affairs, the Assistant Legal Adviser for Inter-American Affairs, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Embassies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. For additional information on the subject, see “Situation between Ecuador and Peru,” Annals of the Organization of American States, Volume VII, 1955, page 290.