724.3415/3946
The Argentine Conciliation Formula96
After laborious explorations this Chancellery has reached the following plan for a solution of the Paraguayan-Bolivian conflict:
Whereas the Governments of Bolivia and Paraguay adhered to the Declaration of August 3, 1932, whereby conquest as a means of acquiring territory is proscribed;
Whereas both Governments signed the American Anti-War Pact, whereby war as a means of settling international conflicts is renounced and in virtue of which differences, whatever their nature may be, must be settled by means of pacific solutions consecrated by International Law;
[Page 141]Whereas independently of these general declarations there is no doubt that questions, whether of boundaries or whether of territories have been settled in America by those means of pacific solution;
Whereas in accordance with these documents which pledge the good faith and honor of its signatories, and also in accordance with the antecedents mentioned above, there is no reason for the Chaco war to exist inasmuch as it is carried on in opposition to the pledges made and to these antecedents, and no object should be pursued through this war not in agreement with legal precepts:
Whereas the Pact to which reference is made has been accepted during the course of the war, without any kind of restrictions, and it must consequently be inferred that the differences which have caused the conflict are not excluded from its application;
Whereas in adhering together to the agreements mentioned above, the American Republics sanctioned ipso facto the principle that they cannot be indifferent to any wars on this continent; and, whether alone, by groups or jointly, they have pledged themselves to exercise all legal means in their power to avoid or check war, a principle strengthened by the fact that they have ratified The Hague Convention for the pacific solution of international conflicts, authorizing the good offices and mediation in any zone of the conflict;
Interpreting the common desire of the American Republics as expressed in the acts mentioned above, the Governments of . . . . . . . formulate the following proposals and submit them to the consideration of Paraguay and Bolivia:
- 1)
- Bolivia and Paraguay signify their readiness to renounce any territorial conquest whatever;
- 2)
- Paraguay and Bolivia declare that in the present war they do not propose to acquire territories belonging to the jurisdiction of either country by just title.
- 3)
- They also declare that any other difference pending which might have caused the conflict must be settled by juridical proceedings.
- 4)
- In conformity with the foregoing statements, the Chaco war must cease within the briefest possible time.
- 5)
- Bolivia and Paraguay declare that within the briefest possible time they will appoint plenipotentiaries to meet in the city of Buenos Aires to discuss the definite cessation of hostilities and the measures of security necessary to ensure such cessation.
- 6)
- The Plenipotentiaries are authorized to form a Commission of Conciliation foreseen by Article V of the Anti-War Pact for the application to the solution of the conflict, of the procedure established therein, in consideration of the fact that the Chaco conflict, owing to its special character, can be settled in a satisfactory manner through conciliation, inasmuch as factors of equity, reciprocal utility and other [Page 142] factors must be taken into account which can hardly be considered in a process of purely legal arbitration.
- 7)
- Bolivia and Paraguay declare that, in case conciliation should prove ineffective, they pledge themselves to submit the question to the arbitration of the Permanent Court of International Justice, it being necessary to agree on the arbitral compromise within three months which may be be extended by agreement on the part of the interested parties.
- Transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in Argentina in his despatch No. 348, July 13; received July 23.↩