ARTICLE 8. The present Convention shall be ratified by the High Contracting Parties in accordance with their constitutional procedures. The original convention and the instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic, which shall communicate the ratifications to the other Signatory States. It shall come into effect when ratifications have been deposited by not less than eleven Signatory States. The Convention shall remain in force indefinitely; but it may be denounced by any of the High Contracting Parties, such denunciation to be effective one year after the date upon which such notification has been given. Notices of denunciation shall be communicated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic which shall transmit copies thereof to the other Signatory States. Denunciation shall not be regarded as valid if the Party making such denunciation shall be actually in a state of war, or shall be engaged in hostilities without fulfilling the provisions established by this Convention. In witness whereof, the Plenipotentiaries above mentioned have signed this Treaty in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, and have affixed thereto their respective seals, in the City of Buenos Aires, Capital of the Argentine Republic, this twenty-third day of December of the year 1936. RESERVATIONS Reservation of the Argentine Delegation: (1) In no case, under Article VI, can foodstuffs or raw materials destined for the civil populations of belligerent countries be considered as contraband of war, nor shall there exist any duty to prohibit credits for the acquisition of said foodstuffs or raw materials which have the destination indicated. With reference to the embargo on arms, each Nation may reserve freedom of action in the face of a war of aggression. Reservation of the Delegation of Paraguay: (2) In no case, under Article VI, can foodstuffs or raw materials destined for the civil populations of belligerent countries be considered as contraband of war, nor shall there exist any duty to prohibit credits for the acquisition of said foodstuffs or raw materials which have the destination indicated. With reference to the embargo on arms, each Nation may reserve freedom of action in the face of a war of aggression. Reservation of the Delegation of El Salvador: (3) With reservation with respect to the idea of continental solidarity when confronted by foreign aggression. Reservation of the Delegation of Colombia: (4) In signing this Convention, the Delegation of Colombia understands that the phrase "in their character as neutrals", which appears in Articles V and VI, implies a new concept of international law which allows a distinction to be drawn between, the aggressor and the attacked, and to treat them differently. At the same time, the Delegation of Colombia considers it necessary, in order to assure the full and effective application of this Pact, to set down in writing the following definition of the aggressor: That State shall be considered as an aggressor which becomes responsible for one or several of the following acts: (a) That its armed forces, to whatever branch they may belong, illegally cross the land, sea, or air frontiers of other States. When the violation of the territory of a State has been effected by irresponible bands organized within or outside of its territory and which have received direct or indirect help from another State, such violation shall be considered equivalent, for the purposes of the present Article, to that effected by the regular forces of the State responsible for the aggression; (b) That it has intervened in a unilateral or illegal way in the internal or external affairs of another State: (c) That it has refused to fulfill a legally given arbitral decision or sentence of international justice. No consideration of any kind, whether political, military, economic, or of any other kind, may serve as an excuse or justification for the aggression here anticipated. (Signed) Argentina: Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Roberto M. Ortiz, Miguel Angel Cárcano, José María Cantilo, Felipe A. Espil, Leopoldo Melo, Isidoro Ruiz Moreno, Daniel Antokoletz, Carlos Brebbia, César Díaz Cisneros; Paraguay: Miguel Angel Soler, J. Isidro Ramírez; Honduras: Antonio Bermúdez, M., Julián López Pineda; Costa Rica: Manuel F. Jiménez, Carlos Brenes; Venezuela: Caracciolo Parra Pérez, Gustavo Herrera, Alberto Zérega Fombona; Peru: Carlos Concha, Alberto Ulloa, Felipe Barreda Laos, Diómedes Arias Schreiber; El Salvador: Manuel Castro Ramírez, Maximilliano Patricio Brannon: Mexico: Francisco Castillo Nájera, Alfonso Reyes, Ramón Beteta, Juan Manuel Alvarez del Castillo: Brazil: José Carlos de Macedo Soares, José de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Helio Lobo, Hildebrando Pompeu Pinto Accioly, Edmundo da Luz Pinto, Roberto Carneiro de Mendonça, Rosalina Coelho Lisboa de Miller, María Luiza Bittencourt; Uruguay: Pedro Manini Ríos, Eugenio Martínez Thedy, Felipe Ferreiro, Abalcázar García, Julio César Cerdéiras Alonso, Gervasio Posadas Belgrano; Guatemala: Carlos Salazar, José A. Medrano, Alfonso Carrillo; Nicaragua: Luis Manuel Debayle, José María Moncada, Modesto Valle: Dominican Re public: Max Henríquez Urena, Tulio M. Cestero, Enrique Jiménez; Colombia: Jorge Soto del Corral, Miguel López Pumarejo, Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez, Alberto Lleras Camargo, José Ignacio Díaz Granados; Panama: Harmodio Arias M., Julio J. Fábrega, Eduardo Chiari; United States of America: Cordell Hull, Sumner Welles, Alexander W. Weddell, Adolf A. Berle, Jr., Alexander F. Whitney, Charles G. Fenwick, Michael Francis Doyle, Elise F. Musser; Chile: Miguel Cruchaga Tocornal, Luis Barros Borgoño, Félix Nieto Del Río, Ricardo Montaner Bello; Ecuador: Humberto Albornoz, Antonio Pons, José Gabriel Navarro, Francisco Guarderas; Bolivia: En- RESOLUTION OF RATIFICATION IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, Tuesday, June 29 (legislative day, June 15), 1937. Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring therein), That the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of Executive P, Seventy-fifth Congress, first session, a convention to coordinate, extend, and assure the fulfillment of the existing treaties between the American states, signed at Buenos Aires on December 23, 1936, by the respective plenipotentiaries of the United States of America and the other 20 American republics represented at the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace, held at Buenos Aires in December 1936, with the following declaration as a part of such ratification: "The United States of America holds that the reservations of this convention do not constitute an amendment to the text, but that such reservations, interpretations, and definitions by separate governments are solely for the benefit of such respective governments and are not intended to be controlling upon the United States of America." 1936 PAN AMERICAN HIGHWAY-CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND OTHER AMERICAN REPUBLICS Signed at Buenos Aires, December 23, 1936; ratification advised by the Senate of the United States, June 29, 1937; ratified by the President of the United States, July 15, 1937; ratification of the United States of America deposited with the Pan American Union at Washington, July 29, 1397; proclaimed by the President of the United States, September 16, 1937 (Treaty Series, No. 927; 51 Statutes at Large, -) (The following text was taken from the Senate print of the convention :) CONVENTION ON THE PAN AMERICAN HIGHWAY The Governments represented at the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Peace, Cognizant of the fact that the primary purpose of the InterAmerican Conference is the strengthening of the bonds of friendship already existing between the countries of this Continent; Convinced that direct and material contact between the American peoples necessarily would strengthen those bonds, consolidating therefore the peace of the Continent; Knowing that the general welfare will be greater when there is greater facility for the exchange of the products of said countries; Considering, finally, that one of the most adequate and efficient means for the attainment of the moral and material end aimed at jointly by the American Republics, is the termination of a highway which establishes a permanent communication between their respective territories, Have decided to conclude a convention on that subject and for such purpose, have appointed the following plenipotentiaries: Argentina Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Roberto M. Ortiz, Miguel Angel Cárcano, Felipe A. Espil, Leopoldo Melo, Isídóro Ruiz Moreno, Daniel Antokoletz, Carlos Brebbia, César Díaz Cisneros. Paraguay: Miguel Angel Soler, J. Isidro Ramírez. Honduras: Antonio Bermúdez M., Julián López Pineda. Uruguay: José Espatler, Pedro Manini Ríos, Eugenio Martínez Thedy, Juan Antonio Buero, Felipe Ferreiro, Andrés F. Puyol, Abalcázar García, José G. Antuña, Julio César Cerdeiras Alonso, Gervasio Posadas Belgrano. Costa Rica: Manuel F. Jiménez, Carlos Brenes. Guatemala: Carlos Salazar, José A. Medrano, Alfonso Carrillo. Nicaragua: Luis Manuel Debayle, José María Moncada, Modesto Valle. Dominican Republic: Max Henríquez Ureña, Tulio M. Cestero, Enrique Jiménez. Colombia: Jorge Soto del Corral, Miguel López Pumarejo, Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez, Alberto Lleras Camargo, José Ignacio Diaz Granados. Panama Harmodio Arias M., Julio J. Fábrega, Eduardo Chiari. United States of America: Cordell Hull, Sumner Welles, Alexander W. Weddell, Adolf A. Berle, Jr., Alexander F. Whitney, Charles G. Fenwick, Michael Francis Doyle, Elise F. Musser. Venezuela: Caracciolo Parra Pérez, Gustavo Herrera, Alberto Zérega Fombona. Peru: Carlos Concha, Alberto Ulloa, Felipe Barreda Laos, Díomedes Arias Schreiber, El Salvador: Manuel Castro Ramírez, Maximiliano Patricio Brannon. Mexico: Francisco Castillo Nájera, Alfonso Reyes, Ramón Beteta, Juan Manuel Alvarez del Castillo. Brazil: José Carlos de Macedo Soares, Oswaldo Aranha, José de Paula Rodrígues Alves, Helio Lobo, Hildebrando Pompeu Pinto Accioly, Edmundo da Luz Pinto, Roberto Carneiro de Mendonça, Rosalina Coelho Lisboa de Miller, María Luiza Bittencourt. Chile: Miguel Cruchaga Tocornal, Luis Barros Borgoño, Félix Nieto del Río, Ricardo Montaner Bello. Ecuador: Humberto Albornoz, Antonio Pons, José Gabriel Navarro, Francisco Guarderas, Eduardo Salazar Gómez. Bolivia: David Alvéstegui, Enrique Finot, Eduardo Díez de Medina, Alberto Ostria Gutiérrez, Carlos Romero, Alberto Cortadellas, Javier Paz Campero. Haiti: H. Pauleus Sannon, Camille J. León, Elie Lescot, Edmé Manigat, Pierre Eugéne de Lespinasse, Clément Magloire. Cuba: José Manuel Cortina, Ramón Zaydin, Carlos Márquez Sterling, Rafael Santos Jiménez, César Salaya, Calixto Whitmarsh, José Manuel Carbonell. Who, after exhibiting their Full Powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1. The High Contracting Parties agree to collaborate, with all diligence and by all adequate means, in the speedy completion of a Pan American Highway, which will permit at all times the transit of motor vehicles. ARTICLE 2. The High Contracting Parties shall form a Commission of technical experts with the object of coordinating the work of the different governments and also to complete the studies and formulate the necessary projects in those countries which, not having heretofore completed this work, may need the cooperation of the Commission. ARTICLE 3. Immediately after ratifying the present Convention, the High Contracting Parties shall consult among each other with a view to appointing a financial committee composed of the representatives of three of the ratifying Governments. This Committee shall study the problems concerning the speedy completion of the Pan American Highway, and within a period not more than six months from the date of its constitution shall submit a detailed report for the consideration of the Governments, accompanied by a plan for the solution of said problems. ARTICLE 4. Finally, the High Contracting Parties bind themselves to establish or designate at once in their respective territories at least one permanent public office, for the purpose of giving information on the work in progress, the sections of the Highway which are passable, the local transit regulations and all other information which nationals and tourists of the signatory countries may require. ARTICLE 5. The present Convention shall not affect obligations previously entered into by the High Contracting Parties by virtue of international agreements. ARTICLE 6. The present Convention shall be ratified by the High Contracting Parties in conformity with their respective constitutional procedures. The original instrument shall be deposited in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Argentine Republic which shall transmit authentic certified copies to the Governments for the aforementioned purpose of ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited in the archives of the Pan American Union in Washington, which shall notify the signatory governments of said deposit. Such notification shall be considered as an exchange of ratifications. ARTICLE 7. The present Convention will come into effect between the High Contracting Parties in the order in which they deposit their respective ratifications. ARTICLE 8. The present Convention shall remain in effect indefinitely but may be denounced by means of one year's notice given to the Pan American Union, which shall transmit it to the other signatory governments. After the expiration of this period the Convention shall cease in its effects as regards the party which denounces it but shall remain in effect for the remaining High Contracting Parties. |