428. Memorandum From Ashley Hewitt of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)1 2
SUBJECT:
- Fisheries Dispute with Ecuador, Peru and Chile
Attached at Tab A is a memo to you from Ted Eliot describing the strategy which the Department of State is implementing in its efforts to resolve the fisheries dispute with Ecuador. Essentially the strategy is to use the fisheries agreement recently concluded with Brazil as a lever to pry Ecuador loose from its hardline position on 200-mile territorial limits while at the same time dangling a carrot in terms of potential economic development and military assistance. Unlike the Brazilians and the Peruvians, Ecuador’s position on the 200-mile limit is basically non-rational and, therefore, the best conceived strategy may well come to nothing. However, it is likely that the GOE is beginning to feel a bit isolated as a result of the Brazilian agreement and our resumption of military assistance relationship with Peru at the end of March when the one-year ban on such assistance as a result of a single fishing boat seizure by Peru in 1971 expired.
We will keep you informed on the progress of our talks with the Ecuadoreans.
- Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 793, Country Files, Latin America, Peru, Vol. III, 1/72-12/31/73. Confidential. Sent for information. Tab A is attached but not published.↩
- Hewitt informed Kissinger about the Department of State strategy for negotiating the fisheries dispute with Ecuador.↩