Office of the Historian

814.001 Orellana, Manuel/1: Telegram

The Chargé in Guatemala (McCafferty) to the Secretary of State

Guatemala, December 17, 1930—4 p.m.
[Received 7:27 p.m.]

109. Congress met today in special session and accepted the resignation of Provisional President Palma and appointed General Orellana, [Page 178] the head of the revolutionary movement, as Provisional President. This appointment is illegal because it is contrary to article 65 of the Constitution and the pacts of 1923.2 Several Deputies have told me that the Congress was surrounded by armed forces and the Deputies were forced by threats to vote for General Orellana.

McCafferty
  1. See Conference on Central American Affairs, Washington, December 4, 1922–February 7, 1923 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1923), p. 287.↩