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 62STAT.] INTER-AMERICAN-RECIPROCAL ASSISTANCE-SEPT. 2, 1947 1699 INTER-AMERICAN TREATY OF RECIPROCAL ASSISTANCE In the name of their Peoples, the Governments represented at the Principles and pur- Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace poses. and Security, desirous of consolidating and strengthening their rela- tions of friendship and good neighborliness, and Considering: That Resolution VIII of the Inter-American Conference on Prob- lems of War and Peace, which met in Mexico City, recommended 60Stat. 1837. the conclusion of a treaty to prevent and repel threats and acts of aggression against any of the countries of America; That the High Contracting Parties reiterate their will to remain united in an inter-American system consistent with the purposes and principles of the Unites Nations, and reaffirm the existence of the agreement which they have concluded concerning those matters relat- ing to the maintenance of international peace and security which are appropriate for regional action; That the High Contracting Parties reaffirm their adherence to the principles of inter-American solidarity and cooperation, and especially to those set forth in the preamble and declarations of the Act of Chapultepec, all of which should be understood to be accepted as 60 stat.1831. standards of their mutual relations and as the juridical basis of the Inter-American System; That the American States propose, in order to improve the proce- dures for the pacific settlement of their controversies, to conclude the treaty concerning the "Inter-American Peace System" envisaged in Resolutions IX and XXXIX of the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace, [1] eo stat. 18M. That the obligation of mutual assistance and common defense of the American Republics is essentially related to their democratic ideals and to their will to cooperate permanently in the fulfillment of the principles and purposes of a policy of peace; That the American regional community affirms as a manifest truth that juridical organization is a necessary prerequisite of security and peace, and that peace is founded on justice and moral order and, con- sequently, on the international recognition and protection of human rights and freedoms, on the indispensable well-being of the people, and on the effectiveness of democracy for the international realiza- tion of justice and security, Have resolved, in conformity with the objectives stated above, to conclude the following Treaty, in order to assure peace, through ' Report of the Delegation of the United States of America to the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace, Mexico City, Mexico, February rl- March 8, 1945, Department of State publication 2497, p. 107.

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