Office of the Historian

724.34119/296: Telegram

The Ambassador in Argentina (Weddell) to the Secretary of State

Buenos Aires, November 30, 1935—6 p.m.
[Received 10 p.m.]

290. From Braden. My 283, November 23, 4 p.m.

1.
Past week devoted to intensive efforts to draw up a plan along different lines covering prisoners and securities questions in a manner satisfactory to both parties.
2.
Under the plan the Conference would adopt a resolution interpreting the June 12th Protocol in the sense that the measures of security covered by paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of article No. 3 of the Protocol shall continue in effect until the Conference definitely adjourns sine die and that the lines of separation shall be “supervised and controlled” by the Neutral Military Commission during the same period. The resolution would also recommend the renewal of diplomatic relations between Bolivia and Paraguay. The parties would accept the Conference’s resolution by formal notes restating its provisions.
3.
At the same time the Bolivian and Paraguayan delegations would sign a formal protocolized act providing for the prompt liberation and return of all prisoners under the supervision of the Neutral Military Commission. While there would be no reference in either document to the other they would in fact depend integrally upon each other and they would be adopted simultaneously.
4.
The text of the documents has been agreed upon by the delegations of both parties except for certain minor details of drafting although the Paraguayan delegation insists that it must refer the matter to its Government before making any formal undertaking.
5.
The one important outstanding point to be solved is the amount of the net payment to be paid by Bolivia to Paraguay for maintenance, et cetera, of prisoners. As a result of informal soundings the Paraguayans claim about 6,000,000 Argentine pesos while the Bolivians are willing to concede only about 500,000 Argentine pesos. We hope [Page 185] in the course of further conversations to be able to split this fundamental difference but do not underestimate the difficulties of our task or the possibility that the entire negotiations may be shipwrecked on this point.
6.
Cipher text repeated to Rio de Janeiro by air mail today. [Braden.]
Weddell