124. Letter From William B. Sowash of the Office of Middle American Affairs to the Counselor of the Embassy in Panama (Memminger)1

Dear Bob: In your letter of April 14,2 you expressed disappointment that you had not received any reactions on the Guizado trial. My silence has by no means been due to lack of appreciation for the Embassy’s very excellent reporting on the subject. Roy did a really masterly job on this. I found the whole spectacle so depressing that there seemed little point in commenting. There have been so many conflicting rumors and reports that at this point I have no idea where the truth actually lies in the whole nasty business. My views can be summed up, I think, as follows: Guizado may, or may not be guilty, I just don’t know. It is obvious, though, that whether guilty or not, he did not have a fair trial. I also believe that if guilty, there possibly were others high up in the government equally so, and whose guilt is being covered up by the authorities themselves. The whole business makes one ache for a breath of good clean air. Panama is not a place where secrets of such consequence can long be kept, and I shall be greatly surprised if this matter rests in this present state.

I do not think that we face the dilemma which you indicate for the very reason that, it seems to me, we have no choice but to go ahead with the treaty, unless the highest officials of the country are publicly charged with high crimes and misdemeanors. In the present very incomplete state of our information regarding the true authors of this crime, we would be guilty of operating on the basis of hearsay and rumor if we did otherwise. Now that Panama has paid its debts, we are going ahead with the treaty, and it will be sent to the President and by him to the Senate next week. Perhaps the lid will blow off in Panama even before the Senate completes its deliberations.

[Here follow personal remarks.]

Sincerely yours,

William B. Sowash 3
  1. Source: Department of State, ARA Files: Lot 60 D 667, Panama 1955—Political Local. Secret; Official–Informal.
  2. Not found in Department of State files.
  3. Printed from a copy which bears this typed signature.