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Report of the Chargé in Mexico (Summerlin) of an Interview with President-Elect Obregón at Mexico City, September 13, 192030

Mexico City, September 13, 1920

I told General Obregón that I was leaving for Washington on the following day and asked him, privately and confidentially, if he [Page 183] would be good enough to repeat to me the confidential statement he asked Mr. E. R. Jones, the President of the Wells Fargo Express Company in Mexico, to transmit to the Secretary of State.

He said that he had asked Mr. Jones to say that it was necessary for Mexico to have the most harmonious relations with the United States, and that our two countries must have a perfect understanding; that he believed it was necessary for all of the countries in this hemisphere to come together in a union of some kind, as a matter of protection against European or Asiatic aggression. He said that all of the American countries might be considered as a body of which the United States is and should be the head; that if anything should happen to the head of this body of States the remaining American States would be at the mercy of any invader or aggressor.

General Obregón stated that Mr. Iglesias Calderón would soon be called back to Mexico and that it would not be necessary to enter into any serious conversations with him.

The General thought that the recognition of Mr. de la Huerta would help the general situation, but intimated finally that such recognition was not an absolute necessity. (I gathered the impression here that General Obregón would like to feel that full recognition would be accorded on the date of his inauguration).

General Obregón said that he would consult the leaders of the political parties, which had supported him, before deciding definitely on his Cabinet. However, he mentioned the following suitable candidates:—

  • Mr. Zubaran Capmany
  • Mr. Estrada (Sub-Secretary of Commerce & Industry)
  • Mr. Gonzalez (A Justice of the Supreme Court)
  • Mr. José I. Lugo (Sub-Secretary of Gobernacion)
  • General Calles—Secretary of War.
  • General Amado Aguirre
  • Mr. Novelo—President of the P.L.C.

George T. Summerlin
  1. Received in the Department without covering despatch, Sept. 23, 1920.↩