816.01/414
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Welles)
The Minister of Guatemala called to see me this morning. He stated that he had just received a cable from his Government instructing him to confirm the statements made to President Ubico both by Senator Sacasa, the emissary of the President of Nicaragua, and by the American Chargé d’Affaires in Guatemala that the United States Government favored the suggested proposal of the President of Nicaragua looking towards recognition of the Government of Salvador by the Governments of Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and subsequently by the Government of the United States.
I told the Minister that the attitude of the Government of the United States towards the initiative taken by President Sacasa was that indicated and that this Government strongly favored the proposal if it met with the common agreement of the Governments of [Page 235] Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua as a means of normalizing conditions in Central America and avoiding a continuation of an abnormal situation which might tend to create misunderstanding in Central America and which at the same time prevented a resumption of normal and friendly relations between Salvador and the United States.
The Guatemalan Minister stated that President Ubico had informed him that he was entirely in accord with the idea of an agreement between the three republics for recognition of Salvador provided the United States in fact approved the proposal. The Minister stated that in his opinion this was merely a first step and that this first step could be advantageous only if the five governments joined immediately thereafter in a Central American conference to agree upon the contractual relations which should exist between the five republics and to take the place of the relations entered into in 1923 which had now been seriously modified by the fact that Costa Rica and Salvador are no longer parties to the 1923 treaty.
The Minister spoke at some length regarding the satisfactory manner in which President Martínez had maintained order in Salvador and the manner in which he had at the same time provided for a very great measure of liberty of speech and of the press. He was insistent that the relations between his country and Salvador were entirely satisfactory and that the step which it was now proposed to take to enter once more into formal official relations was eminently desirable.
He expressed his personal hearty approval of the proposal emanating from President Sacasa and of his complete identification with the point of view adopted by the Department of State.