837.00/4147: Telegram
The Ambassador in Cuba (Welles) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:53 a.m.]
348. I have today had a long conference with Mendieta. He is now authorized to speak in the name of all the important opposition groups in his interview tomorrow morning with Batista. There is a very strong current of belief that the latter will urge the appointment of a concentration government headed by Mendieta himself.
The Student Council had a violent altercation with Batista last night. The open break which resulted has been temporarily repaired at the urgent insistence of a delegation of the students who called upon Batista this morning.
There is a growing feeling of optimism among those who are close to the city authorities and the government that a representative government will replace the present regime in the very near future.