294. Editorial Note
On February 19, 1974, the United States and Peru agreed on a compensation package for expropriated U.S. companies in Peru. The agreement capped nearly eight months of negotiations. Department of State documents on the negotiations can be found in the National Archives, Central Foreign Policy File, for 1973 and 1974. White House documents are ibid., Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Country Files, Box 793, Latin America, Peru, Vol. 3, January 1972–December 31, 1973 and ibid., Box 794, Vol. 4, January 1974.
In the settlement, the Government of Peru agreed to give the Government of the United States $76 million dollars to distribute to the expropriated companies. The Peruvians attached a “unilateral statement,” Annex A, to the agreement “without modifying the provisions of the Agreement.” The statement contained a list of companies which could be indemnified under the agreement. Because compensation for the International Petroleum Company (IPC) was a sensitive domestic issue, the list did not include the IPC. In turn, the U.S. Government attached a “unilateral statement,” Annex B, in which it recognized the Peruvian Government’s position as set forth in Annex A but stated the annex did not change “by interpretation or otherwise, the provisions of this Agreement.” Therefore, according to the U.S. interpretation of the settlement, the IPC could be compensated under the terms of the agreement. For the text and a discussion of the agreement, see the Andean Times, February 22, 1974, pp 3–5. Under the terms of the agreement, the Esso Standard Corporation, a subsidiary of the IPC, received [Page 783] $22 million in compensation. (Telegram 275595 to Lima, December 1; National Archives, Central Foreign Policy File, D740365–0435)