310.1163/91
The Ambassador in Colombia ( Lane ) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 22.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that in accordance with the intention outlined in my telegram no. 2039, November 13, 11 a.m. and my airgram no. 944, November 18, 2 p.m., I visited Bucaramanga, the capital of the Department of Santander, on November 19 and 20. I have requested the Vice Consul in charge, Mr. J. Brock Havron, to report on the activities which took place during my stay in Bucaramanga and hence I shall confine myself to a discussion of the religious situation which, I may add, I found to be even more serious than I had originally suspected.
I found the Governor of the Department, Dr. Arturo Santos, a distant relation of ex-President Eduardo Santos, to be an understanding, tolerant and intelligent official. As will be described below, he attributes the attacks on the Protestant missionaries to be chiefly due to the desire on the part of Conservative politicians to stir up trouble between the Governments of Colombia and the United States. As will be noted from my conversations with the Governor, there is likewise a bitter personal feeling between him and the Bishop of Pamplona, the ecclesiastical official in authority in the diocese in which Bucaramanga lies. This hostility dates back to the Governor’s youth when he was a student in the school of which the Bishop was then the principal. Both President López and President Echandίa80 informed me on November 22 that they consider the local political situation to be the principal cause for the friction existing.
With a view to creating better feeling on the part of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Bucaramanga, I called on the vicar of the parish in Bucaramanga immediately following my call on the Governor. I informed the press of my calls on the Governor and the vicar, stating that I called on the Governor as the head of the local government of Bucaramanga and that I called on the vicar as the representative of the religion of Colombia. I found the vicar to be a reasonable, wellintentioned [Page 88] priest who showed no bitterness towards the missionaries. I describe hereunder his remarks which indicate that his attitude should not be considered as being responsible for the existing friction. As will be noted from my conversation with the Governor, those chiefly responsible for existing trouble are the Bishop of Pamplona, Padre Mejía Moncayo, S. J., the principal of the school of San Pedro Claver, and the Franciscan priests who, according to the Governor, are controlled by the Spanish Falange.
I held an extended conversation with the missionaries themselves on November 20 pointing out that as American citizens they have an obligation to their Government to create no difficulties in our relations with Colombia. I made it clear as I did to the Governor and to the vicar of Bucaramanga that I have two principal duties in Colombia: (1) the maintenance and development of friendly relations with the Government and people of Colombia, and (2) the protection of American citizens and interests in Colombia, regardless of creed. I pointed out that when these two duties conflict I am confronted with a very delicate situation, and for this reason it is my hope that neither the Colombian ecclesiastical authorities nor the American citizens involved should create for the Embassy a situation which might seriously affect the friendly relations which now exist between the United States and Colombia. Unfortunately, some missionaries, unauthorized by their superiors or by the missionary group as a whole, have committed acts which in my opinion have been in inexcusably bad taste and have naturally resulted in bitter irritation on the part of the Roman Catholic Church authorities. For instance, a pamphlet has been circulated entitled “Supuesta Visita de San Pablo a Bogotá” which is a sarcastic attack on Catholicism. This pamphlet, a copy of which is enclosed, was sent by the Bishop of Pamplona to the Governor of Santander and was handed to me by the Governor for my information. The attack on the morals of the Roman Catholic clergy on pages 10 and 11 is especially to be deplored. I informed the missionaries that such an attack would undoubtedly not be permitted in the United States on the ground of the indecent nature of the charges, and in my opinion there could be no justification for the publication. The missionaries requested me to inform whomever might be interested that they deplore this publication, and in fact Dr. Allen,81 the head of the Presbyterian Mission Board in Bucaramanga, said that he would ask Dr. Seel in Bogotá to take steps to destroy all outstanding copies of the pamphlet.
I made an investigation regarding the report that Mr. William E. Baxter of the Seventh Day Adventists had rifles in his possession. Mr. Baxter said that the report in question was untrue but that there [Page 89] was justification for the report in that one of the Colombian members of his mission, after having been attacked by a Catholic group, had been given two 22-caliber rifles by a Colombian citizen for his protection. Mr. Baxter admitted that he, Baxter, had purchased ammunition for these rifles but that the rifles themselves had never been in Mr. Baxter’s home. He said that as soon as the trouble had died down the rifles had been removed from the home of his Colombian collaborator and that they would not be returned to his house. I pointed out to him the very serious trouble which might arise should it ever be charged that the missionaries were armed and I said to the group as a whole that the activities of all of them might be terminated if any indiscretion, such as the carrying of arms, should become publicly known.
The vicar of the parish of Bucaramanga, the Reverend Jesús Jaimes, said to me that he fully appreciated my position as being obligated to protect all American interests and citizens in Colombia regardless of creed. He likewise admitted that the American Protestant missionaries are guaranteed under the Colombian Constitution freedom of worship, according to their conscience, and liberty to practise their profession, provided that they do so within the law of Colombia. I deplored to the vicar the attacks which unauthorized persons had made against the Roman Catholic Church in Colombia and I expressed the opinion that there are bound to be undisciplined Protestant missionaries who, because of overzealousness, act outside of the instructions issued by their principals in the United States, just as there are unauthorized acts committed by members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Colombia, which undoubtedly would not be approved by their superiors in Bogotá. I said that I especially had in mind action on the part of Catholic priests in Colombia in inciting their parishioners to take physical action against American citizens. I emphasized that as American Ambassador I could not tolerate my co-nationals being subjected to injury because of lawless attacks on their persons and that if such attacks persisted I should naturally be compelled to request adequate protection from the Colombian Government. Father Jaimes indicated that he fully appreciated my position and said that he too deplored physical attacks against human beings no matter what their nationality or religion, and added that such action is un-Christian and as such could not be condoned by the Church.
[Here follows a summary of conversations with Governor Santos regarding certain individuals said to have been responsible for the intensity of feeling in Bucaramanga against American Protestant missionaries.]
Respectfully yours,