The Acting Secretary of State to the Brazilian Chargé.1
Washington, August 20, 1910.
My Dear Mr. Chargé d’Affaires: Continuing the subject of my note to you of August 10, in regard to the tripartite mediation between Ecuador and Peru, I beg to inform you that on August 11 our minister at Quito telegraphed that he had received the department’s telegram to him, of which I inclosed a paraphrase in my last note to you, and that he had had a conference with the Brazilian minister, who had not yet received instructions but would telegraph for them. The Brazilian minister at Quito said that the President of the Argentine Republic would reach Rio de Janeiro on the 19th of August and would probably have a full conference with Baron Rio Branco, and that he (the Brazilian minister at Quito) agreed with Mr. Fox in believing that certain foreign influences at Quito had hitherto been largely responsible for the situation at that capital.
On August 12 our ambassador at Petropolis acknowledged the receipt of the department’s telegram informmg him of the terms of our telegram of August 10 to Mr. Fox, and stated that he had seen Baron Rio Branco, who informed him that the same instruction would be telegraphed to the Brazilian representative at Quito. However, such instruction had not been received by the latter by August 19, according to Mr. Fox. It appears that the Argentine representative to Ecuador had received his instruction by that time.
[Page 499]On August 13 Mr. Fox telegraphed that the Ecuadorian Congress had convened on the afternoon of the 12th, that President Alfaro had read a very warlike message, and that the Brazilian minister had telegraphed his Government as follows:
Presidential message presented by Ecuadorian minister of interior with very warlike speech. Although message contains great encomium for the King of Spain personally, it is most aggressive against Peru and the Spanish council of state. It also appears to me that it is not very complimentary to mediating powers. Last night invited by the American minister to his legation. It was agreed to between us that to-day at the same hour we would send to our respective Governments the same paragraphs which most attract our attention. The message contains 18 paragraphs on the subject of the political situation, of which we send 8.
Minister Fox adds that he concurs with Minister Moreira. I inclose for your information the eight paragraphs of President Alfaro’s message referred to.
At Beverly, in the afternoon of August 6, the recalcitrant attitude of Ecuador toward accepting the protocol suggested by the mediating powers was the subject of conversation between President Taft, President Montt, and the Secretary of State. President Montt told the Chilean chargé d’affaires of this conversation, and the latter has informed the department that on August 8 he sent a telegram to his Government, stating the earnest desire of President Taft and the representatives of the mediating powers that Chile use her influence directly with Ecuador to secure the latter’s signature of the proposed protocol.
The Peruvian minister is in Washington to-day. He confirms the news of his Government’s willingness to sign the proposed protocol.
Mr. Arizaga formally presented his letters of credence to the President at Beverly on August 5 and returned to this capital a week ago, after having had a consulatation with the minister of Colombia in in New York. He called to-day at the department and stated that he had received no instructions from his Government but had telegraphed for instructions. He also stated that he was not aware of President Alfaro’s recent warlike message to the Ecuadoran Congress.
In conclusion, allow me to request your kind cooperation in bringing to your Government’s attention the department’s telegram of the 20th instant to our minister at Lima, paraphrased above, so that similar instructions may be sent to the representative of Brazil at that capital.
I am sending a note similar to this one to Mr. Villegas and also a copy to Mr. Riaño.
I am, etc.,
- Same mutatis mutandis to the Spanish chargé and the Argentine chargé.↩