723.2515/358: Telegram
The Ambassador in Argentina (Stimson) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received 8.30 p.m.]
Your December 8th, 3 p.m. I called upon the Minister of Foreign Affairs this morning and conveyed to him the contents of the Department’s instruction. He made no comment thereon and merely expressed his gratitude for the Department’s message. Upon the occasion of my original interview with him concerning this affair on December 5, the Minister had asked me whether the communication made to the Argentine Government had been addressed to other countries as well and I replied that I was not informed; this morning, however, when I advised him that other South American countries had received similar communications from the United States he expressed no surprise and made no inquiry as to which countries they were.
In conversation it appeared that the Minister was of the opinion that it would be advisable for the United States and the Argentine Republic to propose mediation conjointly with one other South American nation, preferably one near by, presumably meaning either Brazil or Uruguay, but he was opposed to the idea of a general council of South American Republics on the ground that such a council would be too cumbrous. He further added that the Argentine Government could not propose or suggest which countries should intervene in the event that arbitration were agreed to, but that they would rather have to be selected by Chile and Peru and he was of the opinion that submission of the matter to arbitration will be far more readily agreed to [by] Peru than by Chile.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs assured me that his Government had acted exactly in the manner outlined in my telegram of December 7, 4 p.m., that is to say, informing the Argentine diplomatic representatives at Santiago and Lima that the Argentine Government had been requested by the United States to do what they could to counsel moderation in the conflict threatened; that the Argentine Government was glad to follow the suggestion of the United States in this matter and to offer to that end the good offices of Argentina if they were desired. He gave me to understand that the note of the Argentine Government to Chile and Peru is almost identical with that of [the United States].
The Peruvian Charge d’Affaires called upon me yesterday afternoon by instruction of his Government to express their thanks for the Embassy’s action in this matter.