722.2315/722

The Minister in Ecuador (Dawson) to the Secretary of State

No. 757

Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Legation’s telegram No. 49 of November 16, 9 a.m.,9 reporting the receipt from the Peruvian Minister in Quito of information to the effect that, at the suggestion of the Ecuadoran Foreign Office, his Government had consented to resume negotiations looking to a settlement of the Ecuadoran-Peruvian boundary dispute.

I met the Peruvian Minister, Sr. García, last evening at a banquet in honor of President Elect Martínez Mera. After dinner, Sr. García took me to one side and stated that he knew that I would be interested in learning that Peru and Ecuador were going to discuss a settlement. He went on to say that some days ago the Ecuadoran Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Cárdenas, had broached the question and inquired with some hesitation whether Peru would consider negotiations at this time. Sr. García signified his willingness to submit the matter to Lima and, in so doing, recommended favorable consideration. He informed me that he had just received his Government’s reply consenting to conversations, and that he would so advise Dr. Cárdenas today.

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I asked Sr. García if this meant a resumption of the negotiations broken off after the fall of the Leguía Government, to which he replied in the affirmative. In our further conversation, he said that he had no idea how soon the negotiations would be resumed, where they would be conducted, or what form they would take. Referring to a previous conversation (reported in my despatch No. 726 of October 27, 1932),10 in which he had expressed apprehension lest Ecuador antagonize Peru by an aggressive attitude, Sr. García stated last night that he felt confident that the Ecuadoran pretensions would not be excessive.

With respect to the previous conversations conducted by the Leguia Government, Sr. García said that very little real progress had been made at that time and that the Ecuadoran Government had never formulated concrete demands.

Respectfully yours,

William Dawson
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