101. Letter From the Officer in Charge of Nicaraguan Affairs (Wollam) to the Ambassador in Nicaragua (Whelan)1
Dear Mr. Ambassador: While we have not yet received official notice, I regret to state that the request for P.L. 480 will have to be indefinitely postponed again.
In addition to the previous problems, it now appears that Agriculture has over-expended its allotment for P.L. 480 transactions by about $80 million. It is impossible to get any action on the Nicaraguan request under these circumstances.
Additional funds are being sought, however, and it is expected that the P.L. 480 program will be back in business in a few weeks. We have informally notified the Nicaraguan Embassy here of this condition and suggested that if the economic situation in Nicaragua continues to deteriorate they might make a new application later. I also told them of the feeling that Nicaragua was not a critical area in comparison with some countries. The Ambassador and George Montealegre did not seem to be too disappointed at this turn of events. This may be because they concluded the Corinto Port loan and are expecting an Eximbank loan for their share of the Inter-American Highway cost. So, they are not empty-handed.
Various elements in the Department here greatly appreciated the Embassy’s efforts in rounding up information to supply the request, and I regret that it has not worked out differently.
Sincerely yours,