NI–22. Memorandum of Conversation by the Officer in Charge of Nicaraguan Affairs (Godfrey)1
SUBJECT
- NICARAGUA: Visit of Ambassador Sevilla-Sacasa
PARTICIPANTS
- Dr. Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa, Ambassador of Nicaragua
- Dr. Julie Cesar Alegria, Minister Counselor, Nicaragua Embassy
- ARA—Lester D. Mallory, Deputy Assistant Secretary
- OAP— C. Allan Stewart, Director
- OAP—Richard A. Godfrey, OIC—Nicaraguan Affairs
Ambassador Sevilla-Sacasa indicated that a primary purpose of his visit was to express the pleasure and satisfaction of his government over the successful conclusion of the negotiation with the IBRD and the DLF of the loans for the Rio Tuma hydroelectric project. He stated that he was particularly pleased with the favorable terms of the $2.5 million DLF loan, the formal signing of which was scheduled for July 1, 1960. In relation to the DLF loan, the Ambassador stated that he wished to make a courtesy call on Mr. Rubottom next week and that he would be accompanied by the Nicaraguan Minister of Finance, Carlos Rueck.
The Ambassador stated he had just received word that there had been another border incursion into Nicaragua from Honduras by the [Typeset Page 875] Nicaraguan revolutionary group led by Alejandro Martines Saenz. He considered this was an act of desperation on the part of the group since he felt that the group was on the point of exhaustion from lack of supplies. Ambassador Sevilla-Sacasa stated that while his government was fairly well satisfied with the recent actions taken by the Government of Honduras in this matter, he still believed there should be additional forceful and coordinated action by the two governments to eliminate these rebel groups which constitute a threat to the good relations of the two governments. He stated that President Villeda was being misled at times in the matter of these rebel groups by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andres Alvarado Puerto, whom the Ambassador claimed had Castro leanings—feelings which he felt President Villeda also shared.
With regard to the charges made by Castro regarding the activities of [Facsimile Page 2] Chester Lacayo, the Ambassador stated that if the Unites States presented the matter to the IAPC, then Nicaragua was ready to state how absurd was the Castro charge that the United States was a participant in any revolutionary plot directed against Nicaragua and that this was merely another attempt by Castro to upset the Caribbean. He added that the Lacayo affair was another example of abuse of the good faith of the Unites States by such people as Chester Lacayo. He described Lacayo as crack-pot with visions of grandeur as evidenced by his adopting the title of “Colonel”. At this point Mr. Stewart interposed the observation that the Department also had considered Lacayo to be an irresponsible trouble-maker and for this very reason we had refused to receive a visit from him here in the Department.
According to Ambassador Sevilla-Sacasa, the recent bombing incident in Managua which caused the death of a watchman had been perpetrated by four teenage students. He claimed the students had been indoctrinated with such ideas by the recently ousted Cuban Ambassador to Nicaragua, Pinoa Machado. The ambassador stated that Nicaragua was prepared to present these facts to the IAPC as additional evidence of Cuban meddling in the internal affairs of Nicaragua. Mr. Mallory expressed his agreement that such evidence should be presented to the IAPC by Nicaragua and stated that he hoped the other Central American countries would do likewise.
With further reference to the Chester Lacayo affair, the Ambassador claimed that Fernando Arguello, a Nicaraguan leader of the “Sandino revolutionist movement” in New York, had induced his brother-in-law, Francisco Cardona of “La Prensa” in New York, to have published in his paper certain statements about Chester Lacayo’s contacts with Department of State officials. According to the Ambassador, these published statements by Cardona in “La Prensa” tended to substantiate the Castro charge that Lacayo had in fact maintained such contacts as had [Typeset Page 876] forced the basis of the charges against the United States made by Fidel Castro.
[Note by Reporting Officers with regard to the last statement above, an article signed by Francisco Cardona was published in the June 11, 1960 issue of “La Prensa” which in summary stated that Chester Lacayo was no “mercenary” in the pay of the U.S. but that Lacayo had addressed two letters, dated December 15, 1959 and April 20, 1960 respectively to the Secretary of State outlining in the name of the Movimiento Revolucionario Nicaraguenso the purposes and objectives of that Nicaraguan revolutionary movement.]
- Source: Department of State, ARA/OAP Files, Lot 63 D 127, “Nicaragua 1960.” Confidential.↩