US and Latin American Sea: The Kellogg Proposal

New information has come to light from communication that took place between American, Bolivian, Chilean and Peruvian ambassadors in the 1920s, when North America was offering good offices to Santiago and Lima in search of a solution to the dispute over the sovereignty of Arica and Tacna: Not only did the White House already realize that a solution to Bolivian maritime confinement was of interest to the whole continent, but also saw Chile’s willingness to consider the U.S. Department of State’s proposal of a continental effort to deal with the Bolivian maritime problem turn into acceptance.

A study by Jorge Gumucio Granier, “The U.S. and the Bolivian Sea,” describes how, after a series of proposals for a solution to the border dispute put forward by U.S. Secretary of State Frank Kellogg in 1926 were rejected by both Peru and Chile, a definitive proposal was made public: Both must permanently surrender their rights over Tacna and Arica to Bolivia.

In response, Chile said it would consider the plan. In fact, U.S. Ambassador (William Miller) Collier revealed to Kellogg that Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs (Beltran) Mathieu had communicated an intention to cede Arica and Tacna to Bolivia. He even requested the U.S. give him more time to convince the Chilean president and Congress of the proposal, and to create favorable conditions for such a concession to take place.

Peru, on the other hand, played a more direct role in cutting the Kellogg Proposal short, not agreeing to concede territories it considered its own. Moreover, Peru was concerned concession would leave the Peruvian populaces in those departments unprotected.

Bolivia, after years of trying in vain to play a part in this negotiation, was now included in an unexpected way and immediately embraced the Kellogg Proposal, accepting that it would have to pay compensation in return for the transfer of those territories. This compensation proved to be yet another obstacle, as Peru thought Chile deserved none of it.