The original of that of Mr. Soto was intrusted to Mr. Rosa, late minister of
foreign affairs at Guatemala, when he started on the confidential mission to
Honduras from the government of Guatemala, referred to in the fourth and
fifth paragraphs of my No. 174. It seems, although Mr. Rosa was recalled, he
managed to have the letter of Mr. Soto published in the newspaper of
Nicaragua.
These letters may have no special significance in themselves, but as public
documents, illustrative, in some measure, of the policy of the present
governments of Guatemala and Honduras, it seems proper to forward them for
your consideration.
[Inclosure.]
Señor Soto to Señor
P. Leiva.
Extracts from “El Progreso,” of Guatemala.—Translation.
My Esteemed Friend: With pleasure I begin this
letter, by congratulating you upon the confirmation that the Congress
has given to your appointment as provisional President of Honduras.
Receive, then, my sincere good wishes. Señor President Barrios has
directed that my cousin-german, Don Ramon Rosa, proceed to your capital
on a confidential mission that he has conferred on him near you, and I
take this opportunity of presenting Rosa to you as a member of my
family, and of recommending him to your friendship.
Two steamers since I wrote to you concerning the business that has given
rise to this mission of Señor Rosa’s, and at present I will allow myself
to speak fully, relying on the conviction I have of the rectitude of
your intentions, your honor, and patriotism.
Public opinion already, by words and in print, has pronounced against the
last events that have transpired in Honduras: that is, the fall of the
government of Arias, by the allied forces of Guatemala and Salvador, and
especially the capture of Amapala.
You understand perfectly the reasons for addressing to Señor Arias the
paper signed by the two Presidents of the allied republics, which Señor
General Gonzalez has had published. In that paper Señor Arias was
invited to lay down the command and to call a popular election. In it
the two Presidents assured Señor Arias that not only his life and
liberty should be guaranteed, but that they would use all of their
influence that the consideration due to his high character and personal
merits should be respected and guarded. When Señor Arias surrendered in
the Plaza of Comayagua, the article of surrender signed by the Generals
Espinoza, Solares, and Lopez, guaranteed alike to Señor Arias, in the
most solemn manner, his liberty and his life, and the same to his
cabinet. With these antecedents it could not appear but strange that
Ex-President Arias and his minister, del Cid, have been imprisoned, and
it is still more strange that the latest information is that the
Congress of that country is going to try Arias and submit his case to
the common tribunals.
I, on seeing the names of the deputies that assembled at the installation
of the national convention, have found an explanation of these acts.
There appear, in the first and greater part, true allies of the
ultra-conservative party, and even those who composed the government of
Utila! It is certainly not strange, then, that the national convention,
so formed, pardoned Medina, and even applauded him, and condemned Arias
to perpetual exile or death.
I do not believe that these individuals are competent judges for trying
the political conduct either of the former, Medina, or of the latter,
Arias.
In respect to Medina, the majority of them were partial to him, and even
his accomplices; in respect to Arias, the whole of them were his
personal and violent enemies.
The vote, then, of this grand jury cannot be the expression of justice.
At present I cannot conceive the right they have of trying Arias. As
dictator, the public opinion of his country is his only judge, and as
chief of a nation who has surrendered in virtue of the solemn agreement
which the generals-in-chief of the forces of Honduras, Salvador, and
Guatemala signed, an agreement in which was guaranteed the life of
President Arias and his ministers, there is not any judge competent to
try them, for the law of nations places them entirely beyond all
jurisdiction, and accords them, as voluntary prisoners of war, immunity
of life and property and a full guarantee of their liberty.
The government of Guatemala, since it feels it is compromised by itself
and its general-in-chief to consider what is due to Señor Arias, cannot
see with criminal indifference the evil course that is pursued against
one of the most sincere liberals of Central America, who has afforded
such valuable service to the cause of the revolution, and has always
been their friend and ally.
I firmly believe that the confidential mission which Señor Rosa
undertakes to you will be appreciated at its true value, on account of
the motives that cause it, motives which I do not doubt will find a warm
response in your noble and patriotic breast.
I believe, moreover, that this mission will free you from the exigencies
and intrigues of the enemies of Señor Arias, who wish to cause your
ruin; because you, working in conformity with the agreement and for the
sake of a friendly government which asks the liberty of Señor Arias,
free yourself from the charge and responsibilities these bitter
political cliques wish to impose upon you.
Frankly, my friend, I do not believe, nor do I wish to believe, that you
have taken part in the disgraceful events that have been endured by and
threaten Señor Arias Your high and noble spirit will always contradict
even the suspicion that you can have taken part in them. Therefore, as I
have shown you before this, and in the present letter, arise the
sympathy and interest I have for you personally and for your government.
[Page 180]
I do not wish that your
well-merited reputation should he diminished, or that they should say of
you that when in power he has done the same thing he condemned in his
predecessor.
Will you, then, receive my thoughts with kindness, and, on my
recommendation, the Señor Rosa as true and sincere a friend as,
Your attentive servant,
Señor Leiva to
Señor Soto.
My Esteemed Friend: In the 25th number of the
El Porvenir de Nicaragua was published a letter dated May 15, which it
appears you sent to me by Señor Licdo Rosa,
which I did not receive, as the said Señor returned from the journey
when he found the mission was unnecessary.
A certain person, whose name is unknown to me, has procured its
publication, asserting, with evil intent, that a copy had been sent from
this capital.
You, to whom the Señor Rosa ought to have returned the original, will
know if he has consented to the aforementioned publication; and if he
has not, can find who the person is who has abused his confidence.
However, in regard to the contents of said letter, it is satisfactory to
me to believe that, by the facts, you will be convinced that the
convention was not, as some suppose, an enraged body, with the sword of
vengeance raised, and that, in respect to myself, I was not deceived in
thinking myself of sufficient strength of will to be generous to the
prisoner Arias, raising my sentiments above every miserable passion. I
interested myself in his favor, even opposing public opinion, which was
averse to him. The exile to which he has been condemned by the
convention he would have had to endure of his own accord, as he could
not have resided without danger in the country until some time had
elapsed. By reason of this same decision, the judge of his conduct, it
was necessary to order his detention, modifying the agreement of the
surrender, which I ought to approve, as commanding general of the
republic, under whose orders were the generals of the besieging
forces.
There is an interest on the part of some false liberals of this republic
to discredit my government, and for that purpose they write injurious
falsehoods, which they publish in the El Porvenir de Nicaragua, a
periodical that, with the stupidity of Pasquino, publishes everything.
Bui I look with contempt on its calumnies, trusting in the good sense of
the worthy Hondurans, who are the witnesses of my conduct favorable to
the people who have trusted me with their destinies.
I have proposed to give freedom to liberal principles in Honduras,
beginning by guaranteeing the free use of the right of suffrage, and
through this there have appeared in the convention men of different
political opinions; and on this account I use in the administration of
public affairs citizens indiscriminately from parties that call
themselves liberals or conservatives, without declaring myself the chief
of either, and so far have had no cause to repent of pursuing such a
course. If this course is approved by my fellow-citizens, if these same
parties limit their desire for exclusiveness, there will result the
maintenance of the peace of the republic, which is what I most earnestly
desire. If I am deceived, and the result of this purely national course
does not answer my hopes, and new disturbances arise in an evil hour to
oppose the authors of these, I will have the sad reproach of knowing
that in my country there are still men unworthy of the liberty the
existing government offers to all.
I will write to you by the following mail, meanwhile awaiting your
orders. I am, your obedient servant,
