710 Consultation 4/8–1647: Telegram
The Chairman of the United States Delegation ( Marshall ) to the Acting Secretary of State
11–12. Following is first daily summary Conference developments:
Preliminary session heads of delegations held Friday morning at which following matters decided, subject confirmation first plenary session to be held Saturday, August 16: (1) Brazilian Foreign Minister62 unanimously chosen president Conference. (2) Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela elected Credentials Committee. (3) Brazil, Colombia, Haiti and US elected language drafting committee. (4) Following working committees established: First Committee, principles, preamble and protocolary articles; Second Committee, action in case of threats or acts of aggression; Third Committee, procedures and agencies for execution treaty. (5) Order precedence determined by lot, with US and Argentina last. (6) Date closing Conference still undecided. (7) Following Uruguayan resolution approved: “Conference declares that, without any desire to intervene in internal affairs of Paraguay,62a it urges contending parties to lay down arms and accept generous offer mediation, made by Brazil along with Argentina and Bolivia and with support of other governments”.
Inaugural session Friday p.m. opened by President Dutra in essentially formal speech. Mexican Foreign Minister63 made reply laying great stress on necessity increased economic cooperation and help to less fortunate republics as the one way to provide only sound basis for hemisphere peace. Also stressed Mexican proposal incorporating principles adopted this Conference together with concrete economic provisions in overall organic pact of inter-American system to be adopted Bogotá Conference.64
Part 2 first daily summary: At US delegation meeting Friday a.m., all delegates agreed revised US position that decisions of two-thirds parties to take any of measures enumerated in Act Chapultepec65 [Page 36] should bind all parties except that no state required provide armed forces without its consent. Vandenberg66 and Bloom67 originally suggested through prepared statement on US position include reference to necessity “constitutional consent” for furnishing Armed Forces in order make clear that effect of treaty would not be to broaden powers of Executive. It was finally agreed omit reference constitution in statement and that Secretary would make point clear to US press. This was done unobtrusively at press conference Friday evening.
- Raul Fernandes.↩
- For documentation on the situation in Paraguay, see pp. 972 ff.↩
- Jaime Torres Bodet.↩
- Relative to this Conference, see bracketed note, p. 94.↩
- For text, see Department of State, Treaties and Other International Acts Series (TIAS) No. 1543, or 60 Stat. (pt. 2) 1831; the Act of Chapultepec was Resolution VIII of the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace; for the resolutions of this Conference, see Pan American Union, Final Act of the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace, Mexico City, February-March, 1945 (Washington, 1945).↩
- Arthur H. Vandenberg, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.↩
- Sol Bloom, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.↩