GT–1. Editorial Note
General Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes, candidate of the right-wing Partido Reconciliación Democrática Nacional (Redención), won a plurality of 190,972 votes in the Guatemalan Presidential elections of January 19, 1958. Colonel José Luis Cruz Salazar of the Movimiento Democrático Nacionalista received 138,488; Mario Méndez Montenegro, candidate of the left-wing Partido Revolucionario, 132,824 votes; and Colonel José Enrique Ardón Fernández of the Partido Unión Liberal Nacionalista, 5,834 votes. The Guatemalan Constitution provided that the Congress would elect the President from the two leading candidates when no candidate received an absolute majority vote. Parties supporting Colonel Cruz had a majority in the Congress. (Secretary’s Staff Meetings, Lot 63 D 75, SM N–599, January 7, 1958).
According to the memorandum of discussion at the National Security Council meeting of January 22, Director of Central Intelligence Allen W. Dulles said that “the United States would probably manage with either the right-wing candidate or the middle-of-the-road candidate, whom we had favored; but our fear is that the election of the rightist would provoke a strong leftist reaction and more disorder.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records). In order to avert the threat of mob violence if Ydígoras was not elected, Cruz agreed on January 27 to respect the choice by the Guatemalan Congress of the candidate with the plurality of votes. General Ydígoras, promised to choose “collaborators” from the opposition parties, apparently an expression of willingness to accept a coalition government.
As recorded in the memorandum of discussion at the NSC meeting of January 30, General Charles P. Cabell, Acting Director of Central Intelligence, “noted that the danger of post-election violence in Guatemala had been reduced by an agreement between Ydígoras and Cruz, an agreement motivated by the realization that only in this way would violence be avoided, since Ydígoras would use force to counter any decision in favor of Cruz in the Guatemalan Congress.” [Typeset Page 646] (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records). In telegram 342 from Guatemala, Ambassador Edward J. Sparks reported that as instructed, he had met with Cruz on February 11 to stress that “his statesmanlike sacrifice had been in the interest of national security.” (714.00/2–1158)
[Facsimile Page 2]The Guatemalan Congress elected Ydígoras President by a vote of 40 to 18 for Cruz on February 12. He was inaugurated for a six-year term on March 2. Documentation on the Guatemalan elections is in Department of State decimal file 714.00.