817.516/171: Telegram

The Chargé in Nicaragua (Hanna) to the Secretary of State

217. My telegram 206, July 29, 5 p.m. At the regular meeting of the advisory board of the bank on August 14, President Moncada, after expressing the opinion that the refusal of the board of directors to grant the loan to … is unjust, announced that the advisory board in its monthly meetings merely receives the report and reads the written minutes of the transactions without having voice or vote in the decisions of the bank and that for this reason he will refrain from attending the sessions and will delegate his powers to the Minister of Hacienda. He then requested that his statement be recorded in the minutes and that a certified copy be furnished him to forward to the Department of State.

After the board had adjourned he made a statement about as follows to its members:

“I have no objections in stating to you that I am opposing no one; there are few persons in Nicaragua who desire American cooperation as much as I; I do not wish to sacrifice the bank; I propose that it be administered by an American company but, as President of the Republic, I wish the bank to help Nicaraguans and if the President of the Republic who knows Nicaraguans, their reputation and necessities, can do nothing to help Nicaraguans, the real owners of the bank, there is no purpose in his losing time by attending these meetings.”

The Diario Moderno yesterday featured an attack on the bank management, intimating that Rosenthal has mismanaged its affairs and that the Department of State is of that opinion. This paper is very close to President Moncada.

Detailed report will be forwarded by air mail August 28.

Hanna