The writer of the article, who is well known in Central America, asserts that
he has information that the persons referred to still persist in their
purpose to subvert the present Governments of Honduras, Salvador, and
Guatemala.
In the note of Señor Batres, accompanying my dispatch No. 524, Ex-President
Zaldivar was reported to be in Mexico, Ex-President Soto
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was in Costa Rica, where Zaldivar joined him
later, and subsequently the two went, to Nicaragua, where, at last accounts,
it is said, Zaldivar remains and Soto has returned to New York. There is
reason to believe that Ex-Minister Barrundia has not been in Central America
since his departure in April, 1885.
With reference to these revolutionary projects the writer of the article says
that although there is peace in Central America, there is neither
tranquillity nor confidence as to the future, and that this state of
uncertainty is due solely to the projects of the persons before named to
recover their lost power. He is confident, however, that their plans will
fail, as did the Delgado expedition in Honduras, which was the first part of
the programme of their operations.
[Inclosure in No. 588.—Translation from La
Nacion of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.]
Dark Clouds.—The projects of Soto, Zaldivar, and
Barrundia in the light of history.
At this moment Central America is at peace; there are no battles, no
hostilities; there are no armies on the frontiers of the five Republics;
there are no enlistments; the arsenals are idle, and there are no orders
for arms.
If this is peace, then Central America is at peace, and is progressing
tranquilly by constitutional paths.
But if peace means the tranquillity and confidence of every one that the
present state of things will not be altered, and that every one can
dedicate himself, without apprehension, to his special enterprises, then
Central America is not at peace.
As a romancer would say, dark clouds obscure the horizon; the atmosphere
is heavy; the lightnings flash at short intervals; thunder is heard; the
fresh breeze, forerunner of the storm, stirs the leaves of the trees and
plays upon our cheeks; soon the lightning will strike and the rain will
come down in torrents. In such metaphorical language a Gongorian
romancer, impressed with the political situation in Central America,
might express himself; but I, who make no use of metaphors, and often
sacrifice grace for the sake of perspicuity and truthfulness, must
express myself in another way and call things by their right names.
In Central America elements are at work to produce discord, a general
convulsion from which the promoters expect to reap great advantages.
According to the information in my possession, the promoters of this
projected revolution are Marco Aurelio Soto, Rafael Zaldivar, and Martin
Barrundia. The two first named are ex-Presidents of Honduras and
Salvador, and the latter, ex-minister of war of Guatemala in the time of
General Rufino Barrios. It is asserted that these three individuals are
closely leagued together and are making efforts in common accord, to
scale the heights of supreme power in Honduras, Salvador, and
Guatemala.
It seems impossible that these three should be leagued together; when
they were in power, deep hatreds, jealousies, and rivalries existed
among them, notwithstanding a common misfortune (for such it is for them
to be deprived of power) has brought them together, and has made them
combine their personal efforts and material resources in a common cause
to carry out the beautiful plans they have plotted and caressed in the
imaginations of their demented brains. I speak in this way because I can
not conceive how men of intelligence, of common sense, can have the
effrontery to set up such pretensions.
It is not my intention to do injustice to either of them, nor do I
propose to excite the odium of these people against them, as is to be
expected from those whose interests it is to oppose them. I have no
interest in these western Republics (Honduras, Salvador, and Guatemala)
and I am scarcely bound to the President of Honduras by the ties of
friendship. Thus I am under no obligations to any of them; my opinion
responds to no countersign; I expect nothing from those who are in
power, and I fear nothing from those who aspire to it; I have given
proofs also that the caciques of Central America inspire me with no
apprehensions. Having made this declaration, I shall speak my
convictions in regard to projects of the persons to whom I have
referred.
Don Marco Aurelio Soto attained to the presidency of Honduras, as every
one here and many abroad well know. I deem it needless to repeat that
history. He was sustained in the presidency during seven years by the
moral and material aid that General Barrios gave him, and during those
seven years he did whatever his own royal pleasure dictated; he
banished, imprisoned, flogged, shot, and he enriched himself by taking
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possession of the treasures
of the country. Don Marco Aurelio Soto in Tegucigalpa was, like the
Sultan in Constantinople, master of lives and estates. But a day came, a
sad one for him, in which Barrios became aware of the treachery of his
protégé; he made no mystery of his discovery; he knit his brow and
scowled furiously at his pupil; the latter filled with consternation,
like a frightened paltroon, conceived that Honduras was no longer a safe
place for himself; from all sides he saw the apparitions of approaching
armies; he fled secretly, and from a foreign land exchanged humiliating
letters with Barrios; from there, also, he sent his resignation as
President of the Republic, basing it upon declarations which to-day he
denies having made.
With all impartiality it may be said of him that he did not attain to
power by popular vote nor by his own valor; that ho was sustained in
power by foreign forces, and in all that time reviled and robbed his
people; that he abandoned his power through pure fright, and in
attempting to recover it has made use of others, whom he has sent to
death without doing a thing to save them. If one who has done all that
can pretend to accomplish anything more than to organize fruitless
expeditions (for he has not the courage to place himself at the head of
any expedition in which there is personal danger), he will find no sane
persons willing to take upon themselves the risks that Delgado assumed,
to be like Delgado, abandoned to his fate; neither will he find, nor did
Delgado find, any one to join him in his mad undertakings.
Dr. Zaldivar, with slight variations, is the counterpart of Soto.
Zaldivar attained to power by lending himself to the humiliation of his
country, which, bloodless and lifeless, lay at at the feet of the
conqueror. The junta of notables, the scorn of a free people, gave him
the presidency of Salvador; it belonged to him by no title whatever. The
voice of patriotism was silenced, and the Salvadorians, notwithstanding
their manhood, their valor, their undeniable democratic spirit,
tolerated that inexplicable government during nine years.
And what was the government of Zaldivar during those nine years? It was a
government of corruption, of plunder, of fraud—a real Byzantine
government. The administration of Zaldivar left as its legacy seven
millions of debt. If these are titles to the gratitude of the peoples,
then Dr. Zaldivar has many titles to the estimation of his fellow
citizens. No one will dispute the post with him; there is not nor can
there ever be a Salvadorian who can do as much harm to his country as
this man, who again aspires to its presidency, has done.
Martin Barrundia was minister of war in the time of General Barrios. I
have no desire to disparage the memory of the dead, but those who knew
Barrios can appreciate Barrundia by taking into
consideration the fact that Barrios was in the practice of alarming his
people by threatening to resign and to leave Barrundia in his place.
What kind of a man must he have been whom President Rufino Barrios could
make use of as a bugbear to frighten the citizens of that Republic? I
need say nothing. Every Central American can give an answer.
To return to the subject, neither Soto, Zaldivar, nor Barrundia can lay
any claim to the places to which they aspire. I have given but a sketch
of each. I could write a history if they should desire it.
Notwithstanding that Messrs. Soto, Zaldivar, and Barrundia imagine that
they possess influence, the fact is that they have none, nor is it
possible that they should ever have any. Were it otherwise, I should say
of the Central American peoples that they are lost; that they are
destitute of all moral conscience, and that good or evil are the same to
them.
But will it be sot I believe not. Providence has impenetrable secrets
which He withholds from simple mortals. Perhaps those men may come to
surrender themselves and to expiate their crimes. If it is not so, then
there is reason to doubt Providence; but no, that would be blasphemy.
Providence exists. Let Central American patriots have faith and
wait.
