817.00/6096
The Minister in Nicaragua (Eberhardt) to the Secretary of
State
Managua, October 30,
1928.
[Received November 16.]
No. 832Sir: With reference to my telegrams, No. 365 of
October 19, 3 P.M., and No. 367 of October 22, 2 P.M.,56 I have the honor to
transmit herewith copies and translations of the letters exchanged
between the Liberal and Conservative presidential candidates regarding
the proposed supervision by the United States of the presidential
election of 1932.
Although the letters themselves were given great prominence by the
Nicaraguan press, there was practically no editorial comment in any of
the principal papers. It seems to be generally felt, however, that the
agreement to request American supervision in 1932 materially improves
the prospect for the maintenance of peace in the meantime.
It will be noted that Señor Benard’s letter suggests that an agreement be
reached, not only regarding the supervision of the next election, but
also regarding the establishment of a sound financial system and the
maintenance of the Guardia Nacional. These
suggestions appear to have been inspired by Dr. Carlos Cuadra Pasos, who
has long advocated the adoption of such an agreement between the two
parties. It appears that these final paragraphs of Señor Benard’s letter
will remain unanswered. General Moncada has let it be known that he is
not inclined to enter into further agreements or discussions of any kind
with his opponents, as he feels that the Liberal party should assume
full responsibility for the conduct of the Government if it should win
the election.
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure
1—Translation]
General José Maria
Moncada to Señor Don Adolfo
Benard
Managua, October 19,
1928.
My Dear Señor Benard: By the sentiments
expressed in my letter addressed to General Emiliano Chamorro on
August 12, 1916, which the newspapers of this capital published on
the eighteenth of the present month of October, you will have known
the ideas which since the revolution of October I have held on
electoral liberty and the prerogatives of citizens.
[Page 511]
The letter referred to ends in this manner:
“I understand that your (General Chamorro’s) honor, that of
all the chiefs of the October revolution, the honor of the
American Government itself, points to that wide and luminous
path as a course of action and that the hour for deep
thought and prudence has arrived for all Nicaraguans. May
Liberals and Conservatives go to the civic contest with
their candidate freely chosen, and may that one triumph who
receives the votes of the majority, without pressure and
without fraud. That will be the true day of liberty, which
will deserve to be engraved in marble on the altar of the
fatherland.”
These ideas guided my mind at Tipitapa and are certainly the
characteristic feature of my political life, of my anxieties in war
and in peace. As candidate of the Liberal party I maintain them
still with unbreakable faith; and by means of this letter I wish to
urge you, the candidate of the Conservative party, to adopt them
also and that they may serve as a guide for you in the present and
solemn moments of the Republic. Let there be no more fratricidal
wars and let freedom and order be established forever amongst
us.
Now that we are witnessing the justice with which those in charge of
the American supervision are proceeding, when with generous and
praiseworthy earnestness they are extending us their hand in the
development of Republican institutions, by means of a true and
honest electoral liberty, we who desire an era of peace and of
industry for Nicaragua, could agree to accept this same supervision
for one or several periods more of constitutional government.
For my part I can now promise you, when the occasion arrives, that if
the Liberal party wins it will pledge itself to correspond to the
good will of the American Government for absolutely free elections,
promising at this time, if it suits the interests of the
Conservative party, that in the subsequent Presidential election I
will willingly accept the mediation of the United States in the same
form and manner which the Stimson agreements established.
I offer that to you as candidate of the Conservative party to show
that I always feel inclined to offer to others the same measure of
justice and honesty which in every agreement has been promised to me
or to mine.
Very respectfully,
[Enclosure
2—Translation]
Señor Don Adolfo
Benard to General José Maria
Moncada
Granada, October 20,
1928.
My Dear General Moncada: I reply herewith
to your courteous letter of the 19th instant which Mr. Pilar A.
Ortega delivered into my hands and which I have pleasure in
answering.
[Page 512]
It is extremely gratifying to me to inform you that I am entirely in
accord with your way of thinking. I understand that a stable and
lasting peace, founded on the conciliation of the two historic
parties into which the public opinion of Nicaragua is divided, is
the most solid and efficacious support on which the prosperity of
our country can rest.
That peace which we all as good Nicaraguans should endeavor to
obtain, will necessarily come as the logical result of a free and
honest election, in which each citizen without restrictions may cast
his vote for the candidate whom his sympathies favor.
Adjusting ourselves without deviation to that rule of conduct, we
will finish once for all with those lamentable internal struggles
which you mention and which have cost us so much blood and so much
national wealth in the past.
The American supervision has come to give us the enjoyment of that
electoral freedom which without any doubt will bring with it for the
welfare of all, Liberals as well as Conservatives, a long and
fruitful era of national tranquility.
I believe that we should place our entire confidence without
reservations of any kind in the very worthy American representatives
who are to make real and effective the liberty of suffrage in the
approaching elections of November. We are under the patriotic
obligation to maintain that confidence unchanged, because the fruits
which we gather by strengthening our friendly relations with the
United States Government, have always been and will always be
abundant. I have ever thought thus as a good Conservative and as a
citizen cherishing the well-being of my country.
For those reasons which I have permitted myself to express to you in
the course of the present letter, I appreciate in all its importance
and I embrace with enthusiasm the praiseworthy idea which you have
deigned to disclose to me of maintaining free suffrage for other
constitutional periods under the friendly and well-intentioned
mediation of the Government of the United States in the Nicaraguan
electorate.
Your proposition is therefore definitely accepted, but having opened
the chapter of these considerations between the two parties, so
promising for the harmony of Nicaraguan citizens, it seems timely to
me not to close it without also assuring other factors equally
necessary for the strengthening of the basis of peace and order. I
refer primarily to the economic phase which in modern politics is
the most essential, and I propose to you that we agree now on
extending and perfecting the Financial Plan which is now in force,
in a sense to assure the honest administration and proper investment
of the public funds, so that by virtue of such a system we may open
up a prosperous
[Page 513]
future for
the Republic, and above all may improve its credit, so that we may
be able to carry out operations on which to establish a basis for
the progressive development of our resources, indemnifying our
citizens for the damages suffered in the past emergency and carrying
out works of material progress for our country.
And as the principal thing is peace, I believe that another element
which will effectively aid in maintaining it is the institution of
the National Guard in the non-partisan form which it has been given
by the agreement with the Department of State of the United States.
Therefore, I propose also that we agree on some form that will
assure the existence and the improvement of that military
organization of the Republic.
Very respectfully yours,
