817.5151/519
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Nicaragua (Nicholson)
Sir: Reference is made to the Legation’s despatches no. 984 of March 6, 1940, reporting on the foreign exchange situation in Nicaragua and no. 1012 of March 15, 1940,1 with regard to the general political situation, and more particularly that prevailing in the National Guard.
The Department has noted the closing sentence of the despatch first referred to stating “…2 I should urge the immediate necessity of an American manager for the Nicaraguan National Bank or a Financial Supervisor for as much of the country’s expenditures as possible, either governmental or commercial”. In the second despatch referred to you raise the question of what the attitude of this Government would be in the event that it were appealed to for aid in “remoralizing the Guardia Nacional” or that President Somoza, “secure in his confidence that we wish him to remain in office”, should turn to us for even more forceful aid. On page three of this same despatch the opinion is expressed that this Government “will shortly be faced with the necessity of determining whether to proffer the services of an American officer or officers to effect a reorganization and a tightening up of the Nicaraguan National Guard if it desires to maintain Somoza in power”.
These statements appear to indicate that there may be a misconception on the part of certain officials of the Nicaraguan Government regarding the fundamental policies of this Government in the conduct of its relations with the other nations of this hemisphere. It is realized that officials of the Nicaraguan Government customarily maintain particularly close and cordial relations with the Department’s representatives at Managua and that they not infrequently seek counsel on questions which are purely a domestic concern of that Government. Such consultations may even convey the impression that the Nicaraguan Government in given situations would be [Page 1070] receptive to a return to the situation formerly prevailing in Nicaragua when this Government in various ways exercised a considerable degree of control over internal administrative functions of the Nicaraguan Government.
While this Government is glad to comply, when it appropriately can, with requests from the other American governments for advice and assistance, this is not done to enable any particular individual or faction to gain or maintain control of the government involved. This question is not a matter of proper concern to this Government.
It would obviously be impossible to set down any specific rules for the Legation’s guidance when conversations of this nature may be initiated by members of the Nicaraguan Government and the Department must continue to rely on your tact and good judgment on such occasions. However, it would manifestly be inconsistent with the broad policies which have guided this Government in its relations with the other nations of this hemisphere during recent years if the impression should be conveyed in any way to the Nicaraguan Government that there was any slightest desire on the part of this Government to intervene directly or indirectly in the internal affairs of Nicaragua, and the Department is confident that you will carefully refrain from permitting any such impression to be conveyed to the Nicaraguan Government.
In that connection it is desired to recall to your careful attention the Department’s instruction no. 24 of April 30, 1936,3 which—together with its enclosure—a memorandum dated February 18, 1936, set forth the attitude which should be adopted by this Government’s representatives in Central America in the event of an effort to obtain their advice on matters of purely domestic concern. While this instruction dealt more particularly with the question of recognition of new governments in Central America, it is desired again to repeat the injunction found on pages two and three thereof:
“Concerning the Department’s attitude toward informal advice, whether solicited or not, in connection with the purely internal affairs of the Central American States, I desire to make it clear that the Department expects its diplomatic representatives in Central America to conduct themselves in their relations with the Governments to which they are accredited, and with the people of the countries, in exactly the same manner they would if they were accredited to one of the large republics of South America or with any non-American power; that is to say, they should abstain from offering advice on any domestic question, and if requested to give such advice they should decline to do so.”
The Department trusts that you have not made any suggestions or recommendations to the Nicaraguan Government with regard to the appointment of an American citizen to supervise Nicaraguan finances or of an American army officer to take a position of command in the National Guard, and you should, of course, exercise the utmost care to avoid conveying to the Nicaraguan Government any intimation that such appointments would be desired by this Government.
Very truly yours,
- Neither printed.↩
- Omission indicated in the original despatch.↩
- The same as instruction No. 103 of the same date to the Minister in Honduras, Foreign Relations, 1936, vol. v, p. 134.↩