638.39/1–650
Memorandum of a Meeting 1 of the Council of the Organization of American States by the United States Representative on the Council (Daniels)
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3. Communication of the Representative of Haiti to the Chairman of the Council 2
The COAS took up the initiative of the Haitian Government regarding its charges that the Government of the Dominican Republic supported the recent plot against the President of Haiti.3 During the meeting the Representative of the Dominican Republic4 presented a [Page 643] formal note (copy attached)5 reviewing his Government’s charges regarding activities during the past three years said to have been directed against the Dominican Republic, and likewise calling for application of the Rio Treaty. The COAS approved a resolution (copy attached)6 (1) convoking the Organ of Consultation without fixing a date or place of a meeting of Foreign Ministers, (2) constituting itself the Provisional Organ of Consultation under Rio Treaty Article 12 and (3) directing the appointment of a committee to investigate facts and their antecedents on the spot.
In addition to the above, the resolution approved by the Council indicated that the investigating committee would be appointed by the Chairman, but its powers and functions would be fixed by the Provisional Organ of Consultation. All the American governments and the Secretary General of the Organization of American States were requested to give full cooperation in facilitating the work of the committee, which is to begin its task as soon as it is constituted. The resolution also indicated that the UN Security Council would be notified without delay with regard to the actions of the Council in connection with the invocation of the Rio Treaty.
The resolution was approved by unanimous vote of all the members who were present and who were qualified to vote. It was made clear that representatives of states which had not ratified the Rio Treaty and the parties to the dispute presented by Haiti (that is, Haiti and the Dominican Republic) would not take part in the voting. The Panamanian Representative was absent.
The COAS expressed no objection to a suggestion that the Chairman send a letter to the Presidents of Haiti and the Dominican Republic,7 calling upon them to give their full cooperation to the maintenance of peaceful relations between their republics and to the preservation of American juridical order.
No direct vote was taken on the question of whether the Provisional Organ would deal solely with the Haitian case against the Dominican Republic, or would also enter into the matters which were made the basis of the Dominican note calling for application of the Rio Treaty.8 There was considerable sentiment in favor of a general investigation of the Caribbean unrest in its various manifestations.
[Page 644]There was no hesitation on the part of representatives of non-ratifying states to take part in the discussions leading up to the approval of the resolution, and the Chairman indicated that their cooperation in the Provisional Organ of Consultation would toe welcome at all times. He also indicated that persons from non-ratifying states would be regarded as qualified to serve on the investigating committee.
- For minutes of this meeting, held on January 6, see Consejo de la Organizacion de los Estados Americanos, Acta de la Sesion Extraordinaria, OEA/ser. G./II, C–a–40–52 (Pan American Union, Washington, D.C., 1950), pp. 2–89.↩
- Luis Quintanilla of Mexico.↩
- Dumarsais Estimé.↩
- Ambassador Joaquin E. Salazar.↩
- Not printed. For text, see Annals, 1950, pp. 138–141.↩
- Not printed. For text, see ibid., pp. 141–142.↩
- The President of the Dominican Republic was Generalissimo Rafael L. Trujillo Molina.↩
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On January 11 the Council, in its capacity as Organ of Consultation, agreed that the Investigating Committee should consider separately the charges brought by Haiti against the Dominican Republic and those brought by the latter against Cuba, Haiti, and Guatemala. For the Investigating Committee’s working directives, see ibid., pp. 144–145. For minutes of the meeting of January 11, see Consejo, Acta, OEA/ser. G/II, C–a–40–52, pp. 128–285.
For the Department’s press statement of February 10 regarding the situation in the Caribbean, see Department of State Bulletin, February 20, 1950, p. 279.
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