817.1051/243: Telegram
The Minister in Nicaragua (Eberhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:15 p.m.]
31. The contents of Department’s telegram 12, January 25, 4 p.m., have been conveyed to President Moncada and he again expressed his desire to cooperate in every way with the Department. He has furnished me a copy of the amended guardia agreement as passed by the Chamber of Deputies, which must now go back to the Senate for its approval. He stated that he considers the changes as clarifications rather than amendments and he is desirous of obtaining the Department’s consideration and if possible its approval of the amended agreement.
The changes made in the agreement are the following:
Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of the preamble have been omitted entirely.
[Page 608]Article 1. The second paragraph has been changed to read: “The above-mentioned provisions shall be the only ones which shall be authorized for the maintenance of the Guardia Nacional and any increase or distribution of them shall be made only by virtue of the prior and express authorization of the Congress.”
The third paragraph has been changed to read: “Any surplus from the same above-allotted provisions, if there are any, may be applied by the chief of the Guardia Nacional with the strict [sic] consent of the President of the Republic to enlarge the said guardia with a suitable coast guard and aviation unit, similarly officered and manned with appropriate ranks and subject to regulations and discipline as provided herein for the personnel of the Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua.”
Article 2. The first sentence is changed to read: “The Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua shall be considered the military and police force of the Republic and the Comandante General shall control it in order to guarantee domestic peace and the security of individual rights.” The second and third sentences remain unchanged. In the fourth sentence the following words have been inserted after the word President of Nicaragua “through the proper mediums and”. The fifth sentence remains unchanged.
Article 3. The following words have been added at the end of the article “and always under the control and command of the President of the Republic.”
Article 4. The first sentence has been changed after the word penitentiaries to read “shall be proposed by the chief of said guardia and approved and issued by the President of the Republic.” The second sentence has been changed after the words “under regulations” to read “proposed as above stated by the chief of the Guardia Nacional and approved and issued by the President of the Republic.”
Article 5. The first sentence remains unchanged. An entirely new second sentence has been inserted as follows: “Civil offenses or those not included in the foregoing article committed by members of the Guardia Nacional shall be investigated and tried by the judicial authorities of the country who may order sent to them any judicial proceedings investigated by officials of the guardia for the due classification and punishment of the offense.” The third sentence reads the same as the second sentence in the original agreement.
Article 7. This entire article has been changed as follows: “Persons violating the regulations and the laws governing the traffic in arms, ammunitions and military stores, shall be punished by the civil authorities with fine, arrest or imprisonment for which purpose the Government of Nicaragua will present to Congress a project of law to establish or amend the criminal laws in the sense indicated.”
[Page 609]Articles 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 remain unchanged.
The foregoing proposed amendments have been submitted to the Department merely as a courtesy to President Moncada, to whom I have made it plain that in my opinion the changes do not merely “clarify” the meaning of the language, as he states, but change the agreement so radically as virtually to destroy the purpose for which it is intended and to leave the Department little recourse but to refuse to accept them. For instance, in the penultimate paragraph of the article 1 the word “only” has been substituted for “minimum”; in article 2 the word “sole” has been omitted entirely when reference is made to the military and police force.
Please cable early reply since the agreement is expected to be resubmitted to the Senate on the 29th.