1

of an earlier competent meeting. In any event, the Council or the Committee shall report within six months to the Council of the Organization of American States, rendering an account of the status of the said study.

VI

THE COUNCIL authorized the Chairman to send the following Note to Dr. Gonzalo Guell, Ambassador, Representative of Cuba: Mr. Ambassador:

I have the honor to reply to your kind note of January 11, 1950, in which you requested the opinion of the Council of the Organization of American States, acting as Provisional Organ of Consultation, as to "whether, in accordance with the Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance and the inter-American juridical system, it is permissible for the Chief Executive of the Dominican Republic to be invested, at his own instance, with powers to declare war upon any country that in his opinion is deliberately tolerating or supporting the concentration of forces organized, equipped, and trained on a military basis within its territory, for the purpose of invading the country of the said Executive".

May I begin my reply by saying that, in order to give pertinent reply to the serious question raised in the aforementioned Note, I considered it advisable to wait until I knew what the Investigating Committee of the Organ of Consultation had to say on this important matter, as well as to exchange impressions with our colleagues on the Council; I mention these facts in order to explain the reason for the delay that, very much to my regret, was necessary before I could reply to the question you raised.

I therefore take pleasure in replying by transcribing, with the authorization of the Members of the Organ of Consultation, the following concepts that appear in the Report of the Investigating Committee of the Organ of Consultation submitted to the said Organ at its meeting of March 13, 1950, which read as follows:

"(g). Furthermore, the Committee is convinced that the treaties. and agreements in force among the American States, in assuring the integrity of these States and their defense in case of any aggression, have established the measures and the organs required to meet the needs of collective self-defense; and it is evident that the American States have formally condemned war and have undertaken to submit every controversy which may arise between them to methods of peaceful settlement. The Committee holds, therefore, that the attitude of any American Government resorting to the threat or the use of force, even on grounds of self-defense, in any manner inconsistent with the provisions of the Charter of the

1 Pertinent discussions at the Tenth Inter-American Conference are summarized in Tenth Inter-American Conference, Caracas, Venezuela, March 1-28, 1954: Report of the Delegation of the United States of America, With Related Documents (Department of State publication 5692; 1955), pp. 28–30.

PAU doc. C-i-67-e.

United Nations, the Rio de Janeiro Treaty, and the Charter of the Organization of American States, and without having made every reasonable attempt at peaceful settlement, constitutes a violation of essential norms of inter-American relationships." (page 62) Trusting that I have complied with your wishes, I remain Cordially yours,

VII

Luis Quintanilla
Chairman

THE COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, acting provisionally as ORGAN OF CONSULTATION, CONSIDERING:

That a settlement of the international difficulties that gave rise to its convocation has been made in a manner satisfactory to the collective interests of America;

That it is evident that the general situation of the Caribbean area contains characteristics of special complexity, since the situation concerning each of the Republics involved affects directly that of all the others;

That it is advisable, as a practical result of the work performed in this connection, to strengthen as much as possible, in permanent form, the peace and the prosperity of this important region of America,

RESOLVES:

To urge very cordially the Governments of the various States mentioned in any of the Resolutions approved that they, in the exercise of their respective sovereignties, attempt to find a manner for normalizing their mutual relations as soon as possible, thus giving to all the sister Republics of the Continent one proof more of their deep-rooted American sentiments.

VIII

THE COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, acting provisionally as ORGAN OF CONSULTATION, CONSIDERING:

That the Charter of the Organization of American States' constitutes without doubt the juridical foundation of the structure of our regional agency, and hence the prompt ratification thereof is a matter of justifiable and deep concern for all the American States;

That Article 23 of the aforesaid Charter provides that a special treaty will establish adequate procedures for the pacific settlement of disputes and will determine the appropriate means for their application, so that no dispute between American States shall fail of definitive settlement within a reasonable period;

1 A Decade of American Foreign Policy, pp. 427-445.

That in fulfillment of the said Article 23 of the Charter of the Organization, the American Governments signed in Bogotá, at the Ninth International Conference of American States, the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (Pact of Bogotá);1

That in spite of the time that has elapsed since they were signed, so far only five ratifications of the Charter 2 and three of the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement have been deposited with the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States; and

That the ratification of both instruments not only will normalize the functioning of the Organization, but also notably strengthen the procedures for the pacific settlement of any dispute,

RESOLVES:

To express the hope that the American Governments which have not yet been able to ratify the Charter of the Organization of American States and the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement will be willing to give full attention to this matter, with a view to obtaining, in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures, the prompt ratification of those two Instruments, which are basic to the stability and welfare of the American community.

IX

THE COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, acting provisionally as ORGAN OF CONSULTATION, CONSIDERING:

That the Investigating Committee, appointed by the Resolution of January 6, 1950, to clarify the events denounced by the Republic of Haiti and by the Dominican Republic, and their antecedents has fulfilled the difficult mandate that was entrusted to it with exemplary diligence and absolute impartiality, and with no other interest than the general welfare of the American community;

That, because of that fact, the publication of the Report of the Committee and the good will and lofty spirit that the interested Parties have shown, have contributed to the almost complete clarification of the situation that gave rise to the application of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, creating instead an atmosphere of optimism and confidence;

1 Ninth International Conference of American States, Bogotá, Colombia, March 30-May 2, 1948: Report of the Delegation of the United States of America (Department of State publication 3263; 1948), pp. 186–201.

2 As of Apr. 8, 1950 (the date on which this resolution was adopted by the Council), the following states had deposited their instruments of ratification of the Charter: Costa Rica, Nov. 16, 1948; Mexico, Nov. 23, 1948; the Dominican Republic, Apr. 22, 1949; Honduras, Feb. 7, 1950; and Brazil, Mar. 13, 1950. The United States deposited its instrument of ratification June 19, 1951, and the charter entered into force Dec. 13, 1951.

As of Apr. 8, 1950 (the date on which this resolution was adopted by the Council), the following states had deposited their instruments of ratification of the Pact of Bogotá: Costa Rica, May 6, 1948; Mexico, Nov. 23, 1948; and Honduras, Feb. 7, 1950.

That, furthermore, the Resolutions proposed by the Investigating Committee and approved by the Organ of Consultation substantially as submitted, are of such a nature that, without detriment to the principles on which the inter-American system rests, they will readily enable it to meet eventualities which may occur and to prevent any future situation analogous to that which gave rise to the present procedures;

That, because of the foregoing the further application of the emergency action contemplated in the aforesaid treaty no longer

seems necessary,

RESOLVES:

1. To declare that Ambassadors José A. Mora, (chairman), Guillermo Gutiérrez, Eduardo Zuleta Angel, Paul C. Daniels, and Minister Alfonso Moscoso, who composed the Investigating Committee, have deserved well of the nations of America, and consequently merit the vote of confidence and gratitude that the Council of the Organization of American States hereby accords them;

2. To terminate the provisional action of the Council as Organ of Consultation; and

3. To cancel the convocation of the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs that, in compliance with the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, was contained in the Resolution of January 6, 1950.

4. THE COSTA RICA-NICARAGUA INCIDENT (1955): Report of the Investigating Committee, Presented to the Council of the Organization of American States on February 18, 1955 (Excerpts) 1

I. REPORT OF ACTIVITIES

On January 11, 1955, the Council of the OAS, which had taken note. the previous day of the communication presented by Dr. Antonio Facio, Ambassador of Costa Rica, resolved to constitute itself provisionally as Organ of Consultation,2 in accordance with Article 12 of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance,3 and agreed, among other measures, to authorize its Chairman to appoint a Committee to conduct an on-the-spot investigation of the pertinent facts and submit a report thereon.

On the night of that day, the 11th, Ambassador José A. Mora, Chairman of the Council, appointed the Representatives of the following countries as members of this Committee: Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and the United States. Thus constituted, the Investigating Committee immediately held its first meeting. Ambassador Luis Quintanilla, Representative of Mexico, was elected Chairman of

1 Annals of the Organization of American States (OAS), vol. VII, No. 2 (1955), pp. 149-157.

2 PAU doc. C-d-338. 3 Supra, pp. 789-796.

the Committee on the suggestion of Ambassador Fernando Lobo, Representative of Brazil, which was promptly supported by the other members of the Committee, Ambassadors John C. Dreier of the United States, José R. Chiriboga of Ecuador, and Guillermo Enciso Velloso of Paraguay. The Committee, installed from that time on as the "Investigating Committee of the Council of the OAS acting provisionally as Organ of Consultation", held a short meeting that same night and decided to leave for Costa Rica and Nicaragua at 6:00 a.m. the following day.

[Here follows a list of the staff of the committee, an account of the committee's investigative activities, January 12-28, 1955, and the preparation of the report.]

II. CONCLUSIONS OF THE COMMITTEE

As a result of its work, of the exhaustive investigations carried out in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and of an objective examination of various material elements, the Committee wishes to point out the following facts:

1. There was foreign intervention in the preparation, financing, furnishing of arms and ammunition, and transportation facilities to the persons who entered Costa Rica by force.

2. A substantial number of the rebel forces and the war materials used by them, whatever their origin, entered by way of the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan frontier.

3. One or more clandestine radio stations, apparently operating outside Costa Rica, incited the people of that country to support the rebel movement.

4. Aircraft proceeding from abroad dropped arms and ammunition for the rebels at predetermined points in Costa Rican territory. 5. Transport and combat planes, proceeding from abroad and without identification marks, landed clandestinely on Costa Rican territory and made flights in which they bombed and machinegunned various towns of that country, including San José, the capital of the Republic.

6. There was violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of Costa Rica.

7. After the Investigating Committee had established a system of pacific aerial observation over Costa Rican and Nicaraguan territory, had also, through its military advisers, established a system of land observation in strategic zones of both countries, and had set up Security Zones in areas of Costa Rica and Nicaragua contiguous to the frontier, the attacking forces abandoned their offensive and fell back toward the northwestern frontier, a large number of them being ultimately interned in Nicaragua.

8. Even after the rebels who had been fighting in the western part of Costa Rican territory were interned in Nicaragua, a considerable number of them reappeared and fought again on Costa Rican territory, this time in the central region of the frontier with Nicaragua.