724.3415/2542: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Paraguay (Wheeler)
53. The position of Paraguay appears to be that she requires some guarantee that Bolivia will not attack her again if hostilities are stopped and for that reason she is asking for demilitarization of the Chaco and demobilization of forces on both sides. Bolivia appears to take the position that she will not demobilize unless she has definite assurances that the Chaco matter will be disposed of for good and all and she wants arbitration within defined limits. The two countries have so far not been able to agree on the limits of the Chaco and Bolivia is opposed to so-called double arbitration, that is, submitting to arbitration first of all what are the limits of the Chaco and then within those limits have the arbitrator determine the boundaries between the two countries.
In order to obtain the withdrawal of the troops and the demobilization desired by Paraguay it is necessary to get some definite agreement regarding an arbitral settlement and for that reason we have been working on the basis of trying to find, if possible, limits to the Chaco that will be acceptable to both parties. Paraguay, on account of internal political conditions, is apparently reluctant to define the Chaco except on the extreme limits mentioned in your 156 of November 23, 9 a.m.76 Bolivia, likewise for internal political considerations, can not agree to any such limits but might accept the 21st parallel or the parallel 20° 30'. So far it has not been possible to get Paraguay to agree to such a limitation. In order to find a fair basis which would meet the views of both parties it is hoped that something along the following lines would be accepted by both parties and would be fair to both:
- 1.
- Withdrawal of Paraguayan forces to the Paraguay River.
- 2.
- Withdrawal of Bolivian forces to the line running from Fortín Ballivián to Fortín Vitriones. The line would pass through Fortínes Camacho, Madrejón and Vargas.
- 3.
- South of that line and west of parallel 60° 30' to be policed by not more than 100 Bolivian civilian police and south of that line and east of parallel 59° 30' to be policed by not more than 100 Paraguayan civilian police. The zone between parallels 59½ and 60½ to be completely neutral zone to avoid any possible encounters between the police forces of either side.
- 4.
- The two parties to provide in the same agreement that they will immediately request the American Geographical Society of New [Page 113] York, the Royal Geographical Society of London, and the Geographical Society of Madrid to appoint each one qualified expert geographer and these three will meet and render a decision on the sole point of defining the area of the Chaco after hearing both sides.
- 5.
- As soon as this decision is handed down the Arbitral Tribunal will then immediately take jurisdiction and after hearing both sides will determine the territorial limits of both countries within the Chaco area as defined by the commission mentioned in No. 4.
It is hoped that such a proposal might overcome the Bolivian objections to so-called double arbitration. Please discuss this with President Ayala on the same basis as set forth in second paragraph of Department’s No. 48 of November 18, 4 p.m.77 and endeavor to have this accepted. The advantage of it of course from Paraguay’s point of view is that it brings about virtual demilitarization of the Chaco. Paraguay is now trying to drive the Bolivians out of the Chaco by force of arms. Whether she will be successful or not no one can tell but even if successful it will be at great loss of life and at great cost. It could be accomplished immediately without further cost or loss of life by this agreement. Furthermore, the Bolivians would probably withdraw still further than that line as it would be difficult to maintain their forces there. Some such line has to be specified however in order to appease popular opinion in Bolivia. Paraguay has of course been demanding that policing of the whole territory evacuated militarily be turned over to Paraguay. It would be just as difficult for Bolivia to accept Paraguayan policing of Bolivian civilian groups around Fortín Muñoz, et cetera, as it would for Paraguay to accept Bolivian policing of their Mennonite Colony and other civilian settlements. Under this proposal Paraguay would police all Paraguayan settlements, Bolivia would have the right to police Bolivian settlements along the Argentine frontier and around Fortín Muñoz, and the area where fighting is now going on and has recently been going on, namely around Saavedra, Agua Rica, Boquerón, et cetera, would be made neutral territory.
Paraguay in the past has advocated submission to arbitration of the question of what constitutes the Chaco and then of establishing a boundary between the two countries within that territory. This is accomplished in the suggestion set forth above. The above proposal is eminently fair and it is hoped that President Ayala will promptly accept it in order to terminate the costly fighting now going on. Please cable results of your interview as soon as possible.