722.2315/767
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Latin Amercian Affairs (Wilson)
The Ecuadoran Minister, Captain Alfaro, called on the Secretary this morning to advise him, under instructions from the Ecuadoran [Page 582] Government, of the reply made by Ecuador to Peru in relation to the boundary dispute between the two countries.
Captain Alf are said that Peru, in a note to Ecuador on October 18, had invited Ecuador to negotiate on the basis of the Ponce–Castro Protocol of 1924, but to hold the negotiations in Lima and not in Washington as provided in the Protocol. He said that Ecuador had replied in the last few days, stating that she was prepared to appoint her delegation to negotiate in Washington and to ask the permission of the United States to that end, in accordance with the terms of the Protocol. Captain Alfaro said that his Government would appreciate anything which our Government could do, through our Ambassador in Lima, to support Ecuador in an effort to have the negotiations take place in Washington.
The Secretary thanked Captain Alfaro for the information and said that he sincerely hoped the two countries would be able to reach a satisfactory settlement of their difficulty. While he would be glad to see that our Ambassador in Lima was informed of the present conversation he felt it would be a very delicate matter for this Government to suggest to Peru that it should come to Washington for the negotiations and he did not feel that this Government could appropriately take such action. He reiterated, however, his hope that the two Governments would be able to work out some mutually satisfactory solution.