811.24522/10–2744
Memorandum by the Acting Secretary of State to President Roosevelt
I believe that you will be interested in the most recent developments concerning our prospective negotiations for military bases on Ecuadoran territory and for climatological research and wild life preservation in the Galápagos Archipelago.
The Department of State and the Joint Post War Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have agreed on a draft of a bilateral agreement for the leasing of bases on Ecuadoran territory over a period of 99 years. The principal points are: (1) the leasing of three islands (Baltra, North Seymour and Santa Cruz) in the Galápagos Archipelago and of a small area (Salinas) on the mainland; (2) the joint surveillance for security purposes of that part of the Archipelago not leased; (3) the payment of an annual rental to be decided upon in the course of negotiations.
For negotiation simultaneous with the base agreement, the Department has prepared a bilateral climatological research and wild life preservation agreement to be applied to the Galápagos Archipelago. The Joint Post War Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has studied this and offers no objection.
The two agreements are to be transmitted immediately to our Ambassador in Quito with instructions to begin negotiations at the earliest possible moment.73
- See infra.↩