611.1731/122
The Minister in Nicaragua (Lane) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 22.]
Sir: Referring to my despatch No. 988 of August 15, 1935,29 I have the honor to report that, with a view to accelerating the negotiations for a reciprocal trade agreement, I called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs yesterday morning and informed him of my conversation of the previous day with the President and Minister of Hacienda. I expressed my disappointment at the indefinite attitude and apparent apathy of Don Francisco Castro and voiced the hope that Dr. Argüello might be able to expedite the discussions. I referred to my having suggested to the President that Nicaragua inform us 1) whether the revised general provisions submitted by us are satisfactory to Nicaragua, and 2) what concessions Nicaragua specifically requests.
The Minister said that he had now ready for signature a note addressed to me stating that the general provisions are satisfactory in principle, but that he had not yet been able to see the President to obtain his approval. As to the concessions to be sought, he said that Don Francisco Castro had suggested the advisability of asking us what we could give. I stated that we were going to ask for definite concessions and I felt it only fair that Nicaragua should do the same, thus creating a substantial basis for the negotiations. Otherwise, [Page 831] I feared lest our talks would be too general and vague to enable us to arrive at a definite understanding. Dr. Argüello expressed concurrence in my view and said that he had so advised the President and Señor Castro. He added that he would do everything possible to hurry the negotiations. He commented that there is a “complete lack of preparation” on the subject in government circles!
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩