Evening star., 1928-10-28
LATIN AMERICANS TURN
TO OIL NATURALIZATION
Colombian Incident Seized Upon by Enc
mics of U. S. to Undermine Prestige
of This Country.

In Argentina. the oil question has beer
made the subject of internal politics
and therefore its solution will be Ions
| pending.
Attitude of Colombia.
The attitude of Colombia in this re-
spect is the latest outstanding event
The Colombian government has recent
ly decreed the naturalization of the oil
fields throughout the republic. How
ever, in order to observe and protect ir1
the meantime the legal rights of ole
property holders, which have been to-
tally ignored by other countries, Colon
bia requested them to duly register theiI
titles, and if found to be in order the
government would then authorize the
resumption of operations, which had
been suspended only long enough tc
fulfill this legal requirement. The prop
erty holders who are unable to show
clear title within the time limit pre-
scribed by the law (article 84) would
lose ownership and "ipso facto" revert
back to the state. Such was the sub
stance of the recent Colombian legiSla-
ton respecting the oil business, and
even then a certain degree of alarm was
felt in the United States concerning the
American interests in that country
And it was as a result of the restric-
tionS imposed by law that the so-called
Barco concession has failed, thereby
threatening to a great extent the f1nan-
cial enterprises of Colombia and the
United States.
Contract With DIR. BarcO.
Under date of october 49, 1905, the
Colombian government was party to a
contract entered into with D. Virgilio
Barco Colombian citizen whereby he
was authorized to operate the oil fields,
coal mines and asphalt repositories of
the republic. On March 6, 1918, Mr..
Barco requested authority from the gov
ernment to transfer those rights to the
Colombian Petroleum Co. of Bogota.
In the drawing up of this latter con-
tract there was included special clause
which today is of vast Importance to
the proper analysis of the facts involved
in the case. That clause is the main
factor in the pending controversy be-
tween the Colombian government and
those who allege to be rightful heirs"
to the Barco concession. Such clause
specifically stipulates that neither the
Barco Concession nor the Colombia>l
Petroleum Co. could transfer or assign
their contract to a third person without
the previous consent of the Colombian
government.
Later on, however, this same conces-
sion. appeared in the hands of foreign
capitalists without first having secured
that prior consent of the Bogota au-
thor1tleS. 1t is because of this singular
situation, therefore, that the Colombian
government has emphatically refused to
recognize the alleged rights of Ameri-
can corporationiStS to continue the op-
GRAFTON of the Barco concession, for in
the first place there were no conces-
Sional rights granted to American inter-
eStS for which they would have to ap-
peal to the United States Government
for protection. This led to the ener-
getic reply made by Colombia when in
formed of the possible intervention of
the United States.
Attitude of Government.
The attitude taken by the Colombian
government with respect to that COIL
ceSsion was simply in accordance with
the laws from which it grew. It was
clearly stated that any company Sus-
pending operations for three months
would lose all its property rights. The
Barco Concession suspended operations
for the long period of three years. those
of 1928, 1924 and 1925. And as no
legitimate reason such as causes
beyond control" can be alleged for such
suspension. this alone would constitute
sufficient grounds to justify its termi-
nation
Regardless the supposed political i'm
portance which has been attributed tc
this controversy, it suffices to state that
there is no document or written evil
dence to show that the Colombian gov
ernment recognized at any time the
property rights of the companies which
claim to have acquired under the old
Barco Concession. Thus any probable
interference by the Government of the
United States in the matter, could not
be readily explained. Moreover, if
American interests legally acquired arc
hindered or impaired, all claims should
be brought before the Colombian tri-
buna1s for adjustment, it is declared.
1t would amount but to law suit be-
tween private enterprise which has
been organized by and subject to the
Colombian laws and the Colombian
government; this would be the proper
course to follow rather than to seek
the protection of foreign governments.
Only in that case where justice has
been denied foreign citizen by the
cOu1ltIy H1lCIH11l bIlS oul6 10
could the Intervention of foreign gov
ernment be justified.
The United States Government,
clearly understanding the principle in
volved, has made it plain that its note
in no sense was intended to protect
the interests of American corporations,
but to seek an explanation for the dis
courteous treatment accorded the
United States diplomatic envoy by the
Colombian chancellery when the SUBJ
ject of foreign intervention was being
considered.
Seized Upon BY Enemies Of U. S.
The truth of it all, therefore, is as
follows: That Colombia cannot permit
foreign Intervention in its own internal
affairs and that it was never the in
tention of the United States to inter-
vene in such affairs.
Notwithstanding the United States
open attitude in this matter, the agi-
tators, the malcontents, who are always
ready to avail themselves of the slight
est opportunities to intrigue, to impair
the international relations, so that the
intentions of the United States may be
miSinterpreted, went as far as to voice
through the press that the Washington
Government intended to trample upon
the rights of the Colombian sovereignty
and once more prove the existence of
the Yankee economical Imperialism in
South America.
1t is indeed deplorable that there
should be people interested and eager
to exaggerate and provoke unfriendly
feelings and diStrust and plant the seed
of enmity and discord between these
nations.
Those are the real enemies of Pan
Americauicno