817.00/6019: Telegram
The Minister in Nicaragua (Eberhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8:08 p.m.]
359. On September 26, the Liberal political member and the Liberal secretary to the local electoral board in the Canton of Santa Cruz, Department of Jinotega, together with several [others?] were attacked and murdered at a farm near that place. On October 1st Juan Carlos Mendieta and two other Liberals were murdered at San Marcos, 11 miles west of Jinotega, while campaigning for Moncada. While the first of these murders may have been the result of an old private feud the second was clearly a premeditated and purely political crime. The authorities, including the Liberal jefe politico, have reported that it was committed by a band under Pedro Altamirano, a notorious outlaw of this region, and one of Sandino’s principal leaders. It now appears fairly well established that this was the case although the leading Liberals in Managua, all of which are intensely excited, still profess to believe that both sets of murders were either committed by Conservatives or by Sandinistas instigated by the Conservatives. The tone of the Liberal press has been so extreme that we have urged Moncada to use his influence to prevent the publication of articles which might incite the Liberals to reprisals.
At the suggestion of the Legation the President has issued a decree calling upon the public to assist in the capture of the criminals and authorizing the chief of the guardia to organize volunteer non-partisan forces of vigilantes under American officers for this purpose. In the discussion of this matter we have encountered a curious reluctance on the part of some of the President’s advisers to commit the administration to a public reprobation of the murders.
While difficulties of communication have thus far made it impossible to obtain satisfactory information it is possible that both sets of murders were part of an effort to carry out Sandino’s public threat to create such conditions that the election would be impossible. There is much uneasiness in Jinotega and totally unfounded rumors of battles and impending bandit attacks are constantly being received. Fortunately this situation apparently arose too late to prevent a fairly satisfactory registration of voters in the department. Every effort will be made to establish completely peaceful conditions throughout the region before election day.
Outside of this one region conditions throughout the registration period which ended yesterday have been completely satisfactory and the total registration will apparently be large.