Office of the Historian

EC–10. Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom)1

US/MC/102
Santiago, August 16, 1959

SUBJECT

  • Peru-Ecuador Boundary Dispute

PARTICIPANTS

  • United States

    • The Secretary
    • Mr. Rubottom

  • Ecuador

    • Foreign Minister Tobar
    • Ambassador Chiriboga, Amb. to the U.S.

The Ecuadoran Foreign Minister called at the invitation of the Secretary, accompanied by Ambassador Chiriboga. After several complimentary remarks, Foreign Minister Tobar raised the problem of the [Typeset Page 541] Peru-Ecuador boundary. He said that Ecuador wanted to keep the subject quiet between now and the Quito Conference in order to avoid any kind of outbreak and to assure that Peru would attend the Conference. He commented on the bellicose publicity from Peru regarding this question.

The Secretary indicated that the Guarantors in Rio had this subject under continuing review and acknowledged the possibility that a statement might be made by the Guarantors.3 The Foreign Minister expressed the hope that none would be issued.

Mr. Rubottom asked the Foreign Minister whether his Government still intended to invite the Chiefs of State of the other American Republics to attend a meeting in Guayaquil at the end of the Inter-American Conference next February. Mr. Rubottom specifically mentioned the disturbances which had occurred in Guayaquil a few months ago as a factor possibly being considered by the Government of Ecuador.4 The Foreign Minister, ignoring the reference to Guayaquil, reaffirmed their intention to invite the Chiefs of State to Guayaquil [Facsimile Page 2] and indicated that President Eisenhower’s health had been considered in the plan to meet at sea level rather than at Quito.

(Mr. Rubottom had also alluded to the traditional desire of the Government of Ecuador to balance the treatment of the mountainous area of the country with that accorded the coastal region.)

  1. Source: Department of State, ARA/EP Files, Lot 67 D 566. “Peru Relations-Ecuador-Peru Boundary.” Official Use Only. According to information on the source text, Secretary Herter approved this memorandum on August 25. This conversation took place in the Hotel Carrera at 6:00 p.m. Secretary Herter and Foreign Minister Tobar attended the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of Foreign Ministers of American States at Santiago, August 12–18.↩
  2. The designation US/MC/10 stands for the tenth of fourteen memoranda of Secretary Herter’s conversations with Foreign Ministers attending the meeting at Santiago.↩
  3. Reference is to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and the United States, who, as Guarantors, signed the Protocol of Peace, Friendship, and Boundaries between Peru and Ecuador at Rio de Janeiro on January 29, 1942. It entered into force on February 26, 1942. For the text of the Protocol, see 3 Bevans 700.↩
  4. In despatch 542 from Quito, June 5, the Embassy reported that a bloody outbreak began at the funeral of a draftee in Portoviejo on May 29, spread to Guayaquil, June 1–3, and resulted in 27 killed and many more injured. (722.00(W)/6–559)↩