710.Consultation(2)/120a: Circular telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chiefs of Diplomatic Missions in the American Republics
In connection with the proposed consultative meeting of Foreign Ministers at Habana, it is desirable to avoid any confusion with regard to the nature of the meeting or of the delegations which may be sent to it. You are therefore requested to approach the Foreign Minister [Page 207] of the country to which you are accredited and ascertain tactfully whether he is aware of the terms of Article I entitled Delegates of the regulations which were adopted at Panama and which will presumably apply in the case of the Habana meeting. The article in question reads as follows:
“The delegates shall be the Foreign Ministers of the respective American republics or such representatives as may be designated, who shall meet for the purpose of consultation under the Inter-American agreements of Buenos Aires and Lima. In order to advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs or their representatives, their respective delegates may attend the meetings of the conference, without voice or vote. The Minister of Foreign Affairs may designate a delegate to substitute for him when he cannot attend a meeting in person, provided the Secretary General receives prior notification thereof.”
It would therefore appear that the delegations should consist of the Foreign Minister or of his specifically designated representative together with such advisers, specifically designated as such, which the Foreign Minister may desire to appoint. The character of the delegations would thus be quite different from those which are appointed for regular Inter-American Conferences. The delegation of the United States at the forthcoming Habana meeting will consist of the Secretary of State together with a number of advisers et cetera.39
- For complete list of persons comprising the delegation, see Second Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, Habana, July 21–30, 1940: Report of the Secretary of State, p. 38.↩