The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

The Ecuadoran envoy, Alejandro Gastelù Concha, stated that his Government
was “keenly interested” in taking part in Roosevelt’s “generous initiative” and would
play its role within the confines of its immigration laws and domestic potential. He cited
the 1935 admission and successful integration of displaced European professors but
acknowledged that Ecuador was primarily an agricultural country and therefore, could
not allow the entry of “too great an influx of intellectual workers.” Jewish refugees could
potentially be admitted but only if they agreed to enter industry and agriculture and not
commerce and the liberal professions. Nevertheless, the Ecuadoran Government was
prepared to do its part in this “humanitarian task” and give “favorable consideration” to
any resolution adopted by the conference. 18
A number of projects to resettle refugee Jews within remote areas of Ecuador
were proposed during the 1930’s but failed due to lack of Jewish enthusiasm and
Ecuadoran public support. For example, in 1935 the Freeland League of Jewish
Colonization established in Paris the Comité pour l’Etude de l’agriculture, l’Industrie de
l’Immigration dans la République de l’Equateur (Committee for the Study of
Agriculture, Industry and Immigration for the Republic of Ecuador) which reached an
agreement with the Government to allot 1,250,000 acres of land in Ecuador and the
Galapagos Islands for the colonization of fifty thousand families that would be managed
by the Committee for a term of thirty years. Settlers were granted exemption of taxes for
three years, citizenship in one year, and release from custom duties and free rail
transportation from the coast to the interior. President Federico Páez and his
18 “Proceedings,” July 9, 1938, 28. Concha served as Secretary of the Permanent Delegation to the
League of Nations and Consul-General in Geneva. Ecuador’s population in 1938 was approximately three
million.
204