5. THE COSTA RICA-NICARAGUA INCIDENT (1955): Resolution of the Council of the Organization of American States, September 8, 1955 1 CANCELLATION OF THE CALL FOR A MEETING OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TERMINATION OF THE PROVISIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE COUNCIL AS ORGAN OF CONSULTATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITUATION INVOLVING COSTA RICA AND NICARAGUA The Council received the report of the Special Committee 2 (Doc. C-i-284-English) submitted to the Council of the Organization of American States, Acting Provisionally as Organ of Consultation, pursuant to Resolution III of February 24, 1955, and the decision reached at the meeting held on August 4, 19553 and approved the following resolution: THE COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, ACTING PROVISIONALLY AS ORGAN OF CONSULTATION, HAVING SEEN the report of the Special Committee of the Council, Acting Provisionally as Organ of Consultation, presented today, RESOLVES: 1. To cancel the call for a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs that was made, in accordance with the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, in the January 11, 1955, resolution' of the Council of the Organization; and, consequently, to terminate the provisional activities of the Council as Organ of Consultation. 1 PAU doc. C-sa-190; see also Annals of the Organization of American States, vol. VII, No. 3 (1955), pp. 233-235. 2 On Feb. 24, 1955, the Council of the OAS, acting provisionally as Organ of Consultation, considered the report of the Investigating Committee (supra), resolved (Res. III, PAU doc. C-sa-175) to discontinue that committee and to create a Special Committee (Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay, and the United States) which would act provisionally as Organ of Consultation to carry out the provisions of Res. II, especially those relating to designation of members of the Commission of Investigation and Conciliation (in accordance with art. XVII of the Pact of Bogotá) by Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and the effectuation of the bilateral agreement specified in art. IV of the Pact of Amity between the two countries. On Aug. 4, 1955, the Special Committee submitted an oral report to the Council of the OAS; the representatives of Costa Rica and Nicaragua presented additional information; and the Council adopted a resolution requesting a full report from the Special Committee on the bilateral negotiations. • " The Spanish text of the report is in Aplicaciones del Tratado Interameri cano . pp. 202-204. It reviewed the activities of the Special Committee from the beginning, stated that the bilateral negotiations between Costa Rica and Nicaragua were quite advanced, recommended cancellation of the call for a Meeting of Foreign Ministers, and suggested the continuation of the Special Committee to assist with the negotiations. PAU doc. C-d-338. 1 2 2. To retain the Special Committee while the negotiations for the signing of the bilateral agreement provided for in the present Pact of Amity and in Resolution II approved by this Council on February 24, 1955, are in course, so as to enable it to continue to cooperate with the Representatives of Costa Rica and Nicaragua whenever they require such cooperation. The Special Committee shall duly report on this matter to the governments, through the Council of the Organization.3 3. To state that it is pleased that the Commission on Investigation and Conciliation has been established by Costa Rica and Nicaragua and to repeat that it is confident the two Parties will utilize the services of the aforesaid Commission, in accordance with the treaties in force between them. Peaceful Settlements Under the Inter-American Peace Committee 6. SECOND REPORT OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PEACE COMMITTEE, FEBRUARY 3, 1954 (Excerpts)* 5 [a] ESTABLISHMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMITTEE. The Second Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, which was held in Habana in 1940, recommended to the Governing Board of the Pan American Union "that it organize, in the American capital deemed most suitable for the purpose, a committee composed of representatives of five countries, which shall have the duty of keeping constant vigilance to insure that States between which any dispute exists or may arise, of any nature whatsoever, may solve it as quickly as possible, and of suggesting, without detriment to the methods adopted by the parties or to the procedures which 1 Treaty of Feb. 21, 1949; Pan American Union Law and Treaty Series 30. For events leading up to the signing of the Pact of Amity, see supra. 2 Organization of American States, Annual Report of the Secretary General for the Fiscal Year July 1, 1954-June 30, 1955, pp. 7-9. In a report of Jan. 12, 1956, presented to the Council in the meeting of Jan. 18, 1956 (PAU doc. C-a-202), the Special Committee made its final report, pointing out that on Jan. 9, 1956, two agreements were signed between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, one in compliance of art. IV of the Pact of Amity, and the second on the functioning of the Commission of Investigation and Conciliation. The report was accepted by the Council, and the Special Committee was considered dissolved. (For text of report and agreements, see ibid.) Second Report of the Inter-American Peace Committee Submitted to the Tenth Inter-American Conference, Feb. 3, 1954. Ibid., pp. 4-5. they may agree upon, the measures and steps which may be conducive to a settlement".i On December 4, 1940, the Governing Board of the Pan American Union established Washington, D. C., as the seat of the Committee and selected as its members two countries of the north (the United States and Mexico), two of the south (Argentina and Brazil), and one of Central America and the Antilles (Cuba). On September 23, 1947, the Ambassador of the Dominican Republic sent a note to the Director General of the Pan American Union in which he requested him to take the necessary steps for the installation of the Committee. On July 31, 1948, after such steps had been taken and the Representatives of the five member countries composing the Committee had been appointed, it was installed by the Chairman of the Council of the Organization. The statutes of the Committee (Appendix B)2 were approved by it on May 24, 1950, and sent to the Governments of the American Republics. Prior to that time, the Committee had been governed by temporary regulations and, until July 6, 1949, it was called "The Inter-American Committee on Methods for the Peaceful Solution of Conflicts". [b] SITUATION BETWEEN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND CUBA (1948).3 On August 13, 1948, the Inter-American Peace Committee received a special Delegation from the Dominican Republic, which requested the services of the Committee to aid in resolving a situation that had arisen between the Government of that Republic and that of the Republic of Cuba. The Committee immediately informed the Gov 1 Res. XIV; Second Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, Habana, July 21-30, 1940: Report of the Secretary of State (Department of State publication 1575; 1941), p. 71. The Statutes of the Committee, with respect to the competence and procedures of the committee, also state: 7. The Committee may take action at the request of any American State, when the recourse of direct negotiations has been exhausted, when none of the other customary procedures of diplomacy or of pacific settlement is in process or when existing circumstances render negotiation impracticable.... 19. As soon as the Committee has completed the examination of a case submitted for its consideration, it shall suggest the measures or steps conducive in its estimation to amicable settlement of the controversy. 20. If the Parties arrive at an understanding, either with respect to procedure or with respect to the substance for [of] the dispute, the work of the Committee shall be limited to preparation of a record containing a report on the agreement reached, and a copy of this record shall be transmitted to each of the American Governments. 21. In the event that no agreement is reached by the Parties, despite the efforts of the Committee, a record shall be drawn up containing an account of the activities and work of the Committee, and also of the suggestions made by it in accordance with Article 19. Copies of this document shall be delivered to the Parties, and transmitted to the other American Governments. (Second Report 2 Not reprinted here. pp. 20 and 22). ernment of Cuba of this request and subsequently held several meetings with and without the Representatives of the Parties concerned. At a meeting held on September 9, 1948, the Representatives of both Governments agreed that direct negotiation was the most suitable method for solving the problem that had arisen. This is recorded in the document that was signed on that date by the Representatives of the Governments concerned and the members of the Committee (Appendix C).' [c] SITUATION BETWEEN HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (1949).2 On March 24, 1949, the Committee met to take cognizance of a note addressed to it by a special Delegation of the Government of Haiti, informing it of a situation of conflict between that Government and the Dominican Republic and requesting the services of the Committee to aid in its solution. The Committee notified the Government of the Dominican Republic of this request. After several meetings with the Representatives of the interested Parties, the Committee decided, with the consent of both Governments, to send a Delegation to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Delegation, composed of Ambassadors Enrique V. Corominas, Paul C. Daniels, and Luis Quintanilla, the Representatives of Argentina, the United States, and Mexico, respectively, left for Port-au-Prince on Sunday, May 29, and remained there until Wednesday, June 1. On that day the Delegation went to Ciudad Trujillo, where it remained until the following Saturday. In each of these capitals the Delegation interviewed the President of the Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other high government officials. On June 6, after returning to Washington, the Delegation informed the Committee of the steps it had taken and gave the Committee the text of a Joint Declaration, which had been approved by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On June 9, 1949, the Committee held a public meeting at the Pan American Union which was attended by the Representatives of the interested Parties. The minutes of this meeting were prepared in Spanish and French and signed by the Representatives of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and the members of the Committee (Appendix D).3 The Declaration, which was made public by the Foreign Ministries of both countries in their respective capitals on June 10, appears in the minutes of the above mentioned meeting. 1 Summary Minutes of the Meeting of Sept. 9, 1948; not reprinted here. The Council of the OAS considered this situation from Feb. 16-25, 1949, at Haiti's request, but declined to convoke the Organ of Consultation. However, the Council again considered this situation on Jan. 6, 1950, and invoked the Organ of Consultation (see supra, doc. 3). 3 Not reprinted here. [d] SITUATION BETWEEN CUBA AND PERU (1949).1 On August 3, 1949, the Government of Cuba, through its Ambassador Gonzalo Güell, requested the good offices of the Committee in finding a solution to the differences existing between his Government and the Government of Peru, because the Cuban Embassy in Lima. had granted asylum on December 29, 1948, to the Peruvian citizens Dr. Fernando Leon de Vivero and Mr. Pedro Muniz. It was not necessary for the Committee to take any action, however, as the Government of Cuba informed the Committee on August 17 that these asylees had left the Cuban Embassy on the 14th of the month. [e] SITUATION IN THE CARIBBEAN (1949).2 The Inter-American Peace Committee met in Washington on August 3, 1949, at the request of Ambassador Paul C. Daniels, the Representative of the United States, to consider the situation existing in the political areas of the Caribbean. In the absence of Ambassador Quintanilla, the Chairman of the Committee, Ambassador Enrique Corominas, the Representative of Argentina, served as Acting Chair man. As a result of the deliberations of that meeting, the Committee sent a note to the Representatives on the Council of the Organization, in which they were informed of the situation that had arisen and requested to furnish any information and suggestions that their respective Governments wished to offer for the better understanding of the situation. The other meetings of the Committee were presided over by Ambassador Luis Quintanilla. The Governments of Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, the United States and Venezuela sent observations and information to the Committee. The information that the Government of the Dominican Republic sent was presented to the Committee by a special Delegation. After careful study of the problem and the information received, the Committee formulated a series of [14] conclusions that were approved at a public meeting held at the Pan American Union on September 14, 1949 (Appendix E).3 On April 8, 1950, the Council of the Organization of American States, acting provisionally as Organ of Consultation, passed a resolution supporting the Conclusions of the Committee in the following terms: to support the conclusions of the Inter-American Peace Committee, approved on September 14, 1949, relative to the situation existing in the |