814.01/40

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

No. 289

Sir: With reference to the Department’s telegram No. 137 of December 20, 8 p.m.,4 I have the honor to report that I have found occasion [Page 395] to make known to numerous officials of this Government and other political leaders of Nicaragua, as instructed therein, the position of the Department in respect to the recognition of new governments in Central America with particular reference to the situation recently created in Guatemala.

My conversations in this connection have disclosed keen interest and much expectation as to what the attitude of the Government of the United States would be with respect to the Government recently set up in Guatemala. My statement of the Department’s policy in the matter has invariably been received with expressions of satisfaction. I have gained the impression that the consensus of opinion here is that recognition of the Orellana Government in Guatemala would be a violation of the 1923 treaties.5

The Minister for Foreign Affairs called upon me this morning to inquire whether I had confirmation of press reports published here to the effect that the American Legation in Guatemala City had been instructed to notify the Orellana Government that it would not receive the recognition of the Government of the United States. He expressed the hope that the report is authentic and stated that his study of the acts by which the Orellana Government came to power, so far as they are known, has convinced him that recognition of that Government would be a clear violation of the 1923 treaties. He said that the Minister of Guatemala in this Capital had formally requested the recognition of this Government for the Ordllana Government and that he had replied informally that this Government could not give a specific answer until it becomes fully informed concerning the matter.

General Emiliano Chamorro, as was to be expected, was particularly interested in the outcome of the effort to secure recognition for the Orellana Government. I saw him yesterday for the first time since receiving the Department’s telegram and he immediately brought up the subject and frankly stated that he had a special interest in learning the Department’s views because of its refusal to grant him recognition when he became President of Nicaragua in 1925 under somewhat similar circumstances.6 He appeared to be satisfied and not surprised with the information I was able to give him.

As far as I have been able to learn the reported refusal of the Department to grant recognition to the Orellana Government has been received with satisfaction as a further indication of the efficacy of the 1923 treaties. I have neither heard nor seen any criticism of the treaties nor of the Department’s reported attitude in the matter.

Respectfully yours,

Matthew E. Hanna
  1. See ibid., p. 183, footnote 6.
  2. General Treaty of Peace and Amity, Conference on Central American Affairs, p. 287.
  3. See Foreign Relations, 1925, vol. ii, pp. 636 ff., especially p. 639; and ibid., 1926, vol. ii, pp. 780 ff., especially pp. 784785.