File No. 817.00/1763.
The American Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.
Managua, January 8, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor to inform the Department that in a recent conversation with President Díaz he stated that under certain circumstances he would be willing to run for the next presidency in the event of free elections. President Díaz said that if he felt sure that he might be free to govern according to a democratic constitution, in surroundings of law and order, and with the full support and recognition of the United States, he would receive his election with pleasure.
I have seen a number of letters from prominent Liberals in and out of Nicaragua offering President Díaz the support of their party should there be free elections, and from personal observations I have concluded that he would be far more acceptable to the Liberals as a candidate than either Mena or Chamorro, the only other formidable popular candidates. I am further of the impression that he would be more acceptable to the Conservatives as a body than either Mena or Chamorro, owing to the deep-rooted jealousy, amounting almost to a deadly feud, between the followers of these two Conservative leaders. * * *
I have [etc.]