814.00/10–1744
The Chargé in Guatemala (Affeld) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 23.]
Sir: In continuation of my telegram no. 685 of October 16, 6:00 p.m.,25 announcing the termination of the elections held on October [Page 1141] 13, 14 and 15 to fill vacant seats in the Legislative Assembly, I have the honor to append hereto a tabulation of the voting in the different districts where elections were held.
As freely predicted, the candidates of the Liberal Party won by a handsome, not to say fantastic, margin, garnering 48,530 votes out of a total of 44,571.…
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
That all is not tranquil within the Government itself is evident from the resignation, after a political row with Ponce, of Domingo Solares, the Second Designate to the Presidency. Dr. Luis Gaitan, Secretary of Education, resigned yesterday, on grounds of health.
While the Embassy does not on the basis of present evidence, look for any immediate wide-spread violence, nonetheless the atmosphere is tense.
After the foregoing had been typed, one of the presidential candidates reported that he was reliably informed that a revolution would definitely take place within the next two or three days. He stated that the garrisons at Escuintla and several other points outlying were ready to turn over their arms to a revolutionary movement. He would not, or could not, state who would lead such a movement, but assumedly he would have close connections with the Arévalo element,26 which is the most active and vocal.
The Department will be informed by telegraph of any positive developments.
Respectfully yours,