715.1715/430: Telegram
The Minister in Nicaragua ( Hanna ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 2:40 p.m.]
33. Legation’s telegram No. 28, February 5, 3 p.m. Present indications are that the boundary protocol will not be ratified unless sentiment in the Nicaraguan Congress can be speedily changed. All the newspapers here are with the opposition. The President’s party is divided and rebellious. The Conservative Party is mainly concerned with turning the situation to its partisan advantage and its leaders oppose giving aid to President Moncada. The President and the [Page 795] Minister for Foreign Affairs have repeatedly and urgently appealed to me for support and I am giving them appropriate assistance.
The sane and sound views of the more sober and enlightened who are supporters of the protocol are overwhelmed by the noisy and superficial propaganda of the opposition. Something that will turn the tide is urgently needed. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has requested me to submit the following suggestions to the Department:
- (1)
- That I be authorized to make a formal statement setting forth the Department’s attitude in favor of the protocol.
- (2)
- That the Department use its good offices to urge the Government of Honduras to issue a formal statement setting forth that the presence of the Boundary Commission on the border will impose upon Honduras the obligation to increase its armed forces in that region by way of furnishing its proportionate share of protection for the Commission.
- (3)
- That the Department authorize me to issue a statement setting forth the desirability that Nicaragua should set her house in order in anticipation of the possible construction of the Nicaraguan inter-oceanic canal.
If the statements above suggested can be made they might have a decisive effect. If the Department should prefer, I could submit statements (1) and (3) to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and authorize him to use them as he sees fit. Statement (3) will have a strong appeal in view of the great popular desire for the canal and the sound theory that the settlement of the boundary dispute and the restoration of peace along the boundary will enable Nicaragua to concentrate its energies on obtaining the maximum advantage from the construction of the canal.
The Government of Honduras can be of great assistance if it will issue a strong and unequivocal statement as suggested in (2) above. I can perceive no valid objection to the statement and that Government’s interest in saving the protocol is of itself sufficient reason for its doing so.
Repeated to Tegucigalpa.