Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1932, The American Republics, Volume V

817.00/7633

The Minister in Nicaragua ( Hanna ) to the Secretary of State

No. 969

Managua , November 16, 1932.
[Received November 23.]

Sir: Supplementing my telegram No. 202 of November 3, 1932, and previous correspondence regarding the pre-election agreements entered into between the two historic parties in Nicaragua for the purpose of cooperating to maintain peace and stability of Government in Nicaragua following the withdrawal of the United States Marines in January, 1933, I have the honor to transmit herewith copies and translations of the four Agreements signed by representatives of the two parties and approved by the National and Legal Governing Boards of the two parties prior to the elections. The Agreements referred to are the following:

First Agreement	—	Pacification of Nicaragua.
Second Agreement	—	Reforms of the Constitution.
Third Agreement	—	Immediate Participation of the Minorities.
Fourth Agreement	—	On the manner in which vacancies in the Supreme Court of Justice will be filled.

The details of the first Agreement, on pacification, are still being kept secret in Nicaragua.

Respectfully yours,

Matthew E. Hanna

[Enclosure 1—Translation]

First Agreement

(Pacification of Nicaragua)

The undersigned, who comprise the delegations of the two historic parties of Nicaragua, assembled in a single body in order to seek measures conducive to the reestablishment of peace in the Republic and to consolidate and to maintain it as the best basis for the national well-being, agree as follows:

• First: The two historic parties of Nicaragua declare themselves to be solidly united in the face of the problem of the reestablishment of the peace of the Republic, unfortunately at present perturbed by the rebellion that has afflicted some Departments for more than four years. Consequently, erasing all party differences, the two bodies join themselves into a single aspiration in the sense of obtaining the best solution to the problem mentioned.
• Second: As the aforementioned rebellion constitutes, for the Republic, a sad reality that must be studied for all good administrative progress, the activity necessary for the reestablishment of the peace is declared to be the prime objective of government.
• Third: The united parties shall adopt by preference pacific and conciliatory methods to achieve the abandonment by the rebels of their present attitude which disturbs peace. Therefore, the two National Boards of the two united parties, in agreement with the candidates of the parties, will immediately seek out means for communicating with General Augusto C. Sandino, recognized leader of the rebellion, in order to effect with him a peace compact on a basis that considers the aspirations of all and, fundamentally, national wellbeing.
• Fourth: If, due to any unfortunate circumstance, these peaceful and amply patriotic methods come to naught, the two historic parties will do their utmost to aid the legitimate authority in the action of regaining public peace. It is understood that this aid, decided upon by the two parties, will be given even more effectively, if that is possible, to the President who may be elected in the forthcoming elections of Supreme Authorities, which will be considered by both parties to be the expression of the National will.
• Fifth: To the end that peace, once reestablished, may be a stable benefit in Nicaragua, the party that may come out in the minority in said elections, agrees to conform in every respect with the results of the election, and to give its unconditional support to the authorities elected, in the sense of maintaining public order.
• Sixth: This agreement will be submitted as an urgent matter for their approval, to the respective National and Legal Governing Boards of the two parties, Liberal and Conservative, and to the candidates, Doctors Juan Bautista Sacasa and Rodolfo Espinosa R., don Adolfo Diaz and General Emiliano Chamorro.
• Seventh: As a guarantee, two copies will be signed which, with their respective approval, will be the documents that will guarantee the validity of these decisions upon the public faith of the two historic parties.

Managua , October 14, 1932.

• J. Irias
• Antonio Reyes
• Leonardo Argüello
• Carlos Cuadra Pasos
• Gonzalo Ocón
• D. Stadthagen
• Crisanto Sacasa
• M. Benard
• Fernando Saballos
• Ramón Castillo C.

[Enclosure 2—Translation]

Second Agreement

(On Reforms of the Constitution)

In Managua the 18th of October, 1932, being assembled the undersigned delegates of the historic parties in which public opinion of Nicaragua is divided, who have gathered together in these conferences moved by a desire to find legal and lasting means which, in the structure of the State, may assure the patriotic cooperation of the two great elements of public opinion, with the object of obtaining a stable peace, the establishment of sound government and of administration that expresses, wherever possible, the patriotic aspirations of all Nicaraguans, after having calmly discussed the matter, have agreed as follows:

• First: The two historic parties shall adopt as an ideal that should be reached in the next legislature, the reform of the Constitution of the Republic, in a sense that will establish the administration of the State upon a system of proportional cooperation between the parties that figure highest in popular prestige, in the Nation.
• Second: There shall be established by this Constitutional reform, representation of the minorities in all organized popular electoral groups or in the Congress so that in the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Courts of Law and in the municipalities the minority party may collaborate together with the majority party, in a participation of equitable proportion.
• Third: In the organization of the Executive Power, it should be established that for matters of transcendental importance determined by law, in the branches in which public funds are to be administered, in which the public domain is disposed of, or which attend the relations of Nicaragua with other States, the President of the Republic be advised by a permanent commission composed of the Minister of the governmental department concerned, of a member representing the majority, and a member representing the minority. These Commissions, two in number, shall be acquainted with the business of these governmental departments, and the Executive shall take no final steps in matters concerning them except with the approval of the majority of the commission. The dissenting member of a commission will be able to explain to the Congress in its regular session, his motives for disapproving the transaction or transactions which were submitted to him. The members of these commissions shall be appointed by the President of the Republic, who shall select them from lists of ten citizens each which the National and Legal Governing Boards of the two major parties of the Republic shall submit to him.
• Fourth: It shall be established in the projected Constitutional reforms that the President of the Supreme Tribunal of Accounts must be appointed by the President of the Republic, who will select him from a list which the National Congress will present to him; and that the Board of Accountants of this same Tribunal shall be organized by the President of the Republic on the basis of representation of the minorities.
• Fifth: The Presidential candidate who runs second in the voting in the Presidential elections, will be, for the four year term concerned, President ex-officio of the Senate.
• Sixth: The corresponding article of the Constitution shall be clarified in the sense that the Presidential designate, who may succeed to the Presidency shall serve out the corresponding presidential term even though his term as a representative in the Congress may expire in the meantime.
• Seventh: The Electoral Power shall be created as one of the Constitutional Powers which should be exercised by a National Board of Elections consisting of three members, as follows: a member of the majority party, a member of the minority party, and a Chairman from the majority party. These members ought to have the same qualifications that are demanded for a Justice of the Supreme Court. The nomination of the ordinary members will be made by the respective National and Legal Governing Boards of the major parties of the Republic. The nomination of the Chairman will be made by the President of the Republic, selecting him from a list of three citizens of the majority party presented to him by the National and Legal Governing Board of the minority party, selected from a list of six citizens compiled by the National and Legal Governing Board of the majority party.
• Eighth: The Law of Injunction shall be reformed in the sense that all injunctions, so far as electoral political matters are concerned, shall be removed from the jurisdiction of the Courts of Justice and resolved by the National Board of Elections.
• Ninth: There shall be established, in Congress, a Permanent Commission composed of two majority Deputies, of one minority Deputy, of one majority Senator and of one minority Senator, which shall function permanently for the consideration of all requests for pensions and benefactions, including those at present in force. This Commission will be presided over by the Minister of the Governmental Department concerned, and the Congress of the Republic will take cognizance of only those requests for benefaction that said Commission may submit to it, approved by not less than two thirds vote.
• Tenth: In order to proceed with the reform of the Constitution in accordance with this Agreement each one of the National and Legal Governing Boards of the historic parties shall designate a representative to the Congress in order that they may elaborate the project and present it by the system of partial reforms contemplated in Article 160 of the Constitution.
• Eleventh: The candidates, Dr. Juan Bautista Sacasa, Dr. Rodolfo Espinosa R., don Adolfo Diaz and General Emiliano Chamorro, agree in case that they are elected to the Presidency of the Republic to sponsor these reforms and to exercise their influence as functionaries and as citizens to the end of securing their approval by the National Congress.
• Twelfth: The provisions of this Agreement shall be brought before the National and Legal Governing Boards of the two historic parties, and before the candidates, doctors Juan Bautista Sacasa, Rodolfo Espinosa R., don Adolfo Diaz and General Emiliano Chamorro, for their approval in order that it may rest upon the public faith of the parties.

Two copies in the same tenor are signed, with the respective ratifications below, which will be exchanged between the National and Legal Governing Boards of the Liberal and Conservative Parties.

• J. Irías
• Antonio Reyes
• Leonardo Argüello
• D. Stadthagen
• M. Benard
• Gonzalo Ocón
• Crisanto Sacasa
• Carlos Cuadra Pasos
• Fernando Saballos
• Ramón Castillo C.

[Enclosure 3—Translation]

Third Agreement

(Immediate Participation of the Minority)

In order to secure a stable peace, which is the desire of the Nicaraguan people, the delegations have believed that the best system is that of harmonious conviviality between the two historic parties, whose differences have been the cause of the disturbances of social tranquility in our history, and they consider that the means for achieving such harmony is to guarantee to their elements a proportional cooperation and co-responsibility in the destiny of the Fatherland. The delegates believe that in order for this method to be productive of results it should be given a legal status by embodying it in the structure of the State by Constitutional provision, and for this purpose they have proceeded to formulate an agreement concerning the reforms of our Fundamental Charter, conducive to the maintenance of peace; and frankly animated by the desire that this plan of harmony should begin to be carried out during the next Presidential period, in accordance with the national aspirations, they have endeavored to embody in an agreement between the two historic unities the provisions to this end concerning which there is no legal obstacle to prevent their immediate fulfillment. With this object in view they establish the following clauses of a formal agreement:

• First: To achieve in the Judicial Power insofar as possible that system of cooperation through an equitable representation of minorities, the two historic parties agree to take advantage of the approaching renewal of the personnel of the Courts of Appeal, recommending to their representatives in Congress that in all harmony they should choose the Magistrates of said Courts in the following form: After the next elections of Supreme Authorities, a count will be made of the votes of the Departments which form the jurisdiction of each Court of Appeals, to determine which party is in the majority and which is in the minority. After this premise is established, in the Courts of Granada and León two majority Magistrates and one Minority Magistrate shall be chosen in each branch. In the Courts of Matagalpa and Bluefields two principal Magistrates of the majority party and one of the minority party will be chosen, together with one alternate from each one of the parties.
• Second: In order to maintain the judgment which has inspired this agreement as well as to raise even higher the level of those officials charged with the work of social vindication and having jurisdiction over individuals, the two parties adopt as a program, that in the selection of Judges, competence, honorable conduct and circumstances of social character which may affect the appropriateness of the choice, take precedence over political considerations, and they hope that the Magistrates of the Supreme Court who direct the machinery of justice in our country will also adopt this program.
• Third: Immediately after his inauguration the President of the Republic who is elected will send to Congress a Bill in which the Commission referred to in the Third Clause of the Second Agreement relative to the reform of the Constitution will be established. Those two Commissions will have to do, one with the branch of Foreign Relations and the other with Finance and Public Credit. In said Commission, the majority member will be freely designated by the President, and to designate the minority member the President of the Republic will take into account first the opinion of the National and Legal Governing Board of the minority party concerning the circumstances of the political affiliation of the person nominated.
• Fourth: For the organization of the Supreme Tribunal of Accounts, the President of the Republic who shall be elected shall agree to designate the Accountants in an equitable proportion between the majority and minority parties. In order to make the designation of Accountants of the minority party, the President should take into account, with reference to their affiliations, the opinion of the member of said party on the Finance Commission referred to in the previous Clause.
• Fifth: In order to organize the Board for the Management of the Direct Tax, the President of the Republic will nominate a member belonging to the minority party, in the same form indicated in the preceding Clause for the minority Accountants on the Supreme Tribunal of Accounts.
• Sixth: The President of the Republic during the month of January next year will submit a project reforming the present Electoral Law with respect to the National Board of Elections. This organization will be made in the form indicated in the Seventh Clause of the Agreement for the reform of the Constitution.
• Seventh: In order that in treating with other nations the interests of the Fatherland be always contemplated without partisan ends, an endeavor will be made, without departing from final reality in the sense of the necessity which exists that the representatives abroad should have the confidence of the Executive, to seek the greatest competence, the highest conduct and ability for the greatest success of the work at hand and the good name of the Republic. In Missions of diplomatic character composed of a number of persons, appointments should be made in such manner that the two historic parties whose patriotic aspirations constitute the national aspiration, should be represented.
• Eighth: In order that in the hearts of the youth of the country love for the Fatherland should be placed above any partisan feeling and in order also to give the greatest efficiency to the branch of Public Instruction, the President-elect will make a statement upon assuming office that in selecting teachers he will take into special account the characteristics of each teacher, that is his competence, and honesty, and that he will leave out all political considerations.
• Ninth: The representatives of the two parties in Congress will endeavor to reform the regulations of the Chambers in order to create a Commission which will occupy itself with examining pensions and charity in the manner stipulated in Clause Nine of the Agreement for the reform of the Constitution, and will also endeavor to arrange that in both the Chambers the approval of these matters should require not less than two thirds votes, the object to be followed being the establishment of a proportional relation between awards and the possibilities of the State.
• Tenth: The Superior Authorities of the two parties, after the elections of November 6, will issue a manifesto adhering to the results of said elections. They will also express in the manifesto their support of the new Government for the maintenance of public order and for the continuance of the healthy policy of harmony set forth in the clauses of this Agreement and of the two prior Agreements, and agreed to because of the need which Nicaragua has for peace to cement its progress and social wellbeing.
• Eleventh: The candidates, don Adolfo Diaz, Doctor Juan Bautista Sacasa, General Emiliano Chamorro and Doctor Rodolfo Espinosa R., solemnly promise, in case they should occupy the Presidency of the Republic, to carry out the Clauses of this Agreement and to maintain its spirit as the inspiration of their policy of Government.
• Twelfth: The Clauses of this Agreement will be submitted for revision and approval to the National and Legal Governing Boards of the two Historic Parties and to the candidates, Doctors Juan Bautista Sacasa, Rodolfo Espinosa R., don Adolfo Diaz and General Emiliano Chamorro, in order that it may have the support of the public faith of the parties.
• Thirteenth: The exchange of ratifications of the present Agreement and of the two preceding Agreements, after they have been approved, or a report of their rejection, should be effected between the National and Legal Governing Boards of the two parties not later than November 5 next.

Two copies of the same tenor with the respective ratifications affixed, will be exchanged between the National and Legal Governing Boards of the two parties, Liberal and Conservative.

Managua , October 21, 1932.

• J. Irías
• Leonardo Argüello
• Gonzalo Ocón
• Crisanto Sacasa
• Fernando Saballos
• Antonio Reyes
• Carlos Cuadra Pasos
• D. Stadthagen
• M. Benard
• Ramón Castillo C.

[Enclosure 4—Translation]

Fourth Agreement

(On the manner in which vacancies in the Supreme Court of Justice will be filled)

The method which the delegations have adopted to establish national harmony, consists of combining, in the management of the public powers, proportional cooperation and responsibilities of the two Historic Parties in each one of said Powers. But in proceeding to organize the Judicial Power by that system, they have found in the Supreme Court of Justice an obstacle which cannot be legally overcome in that that Tribunal is already made up Constitutionally, with the personnel of Magistrates immovable until December 31, 1936.

On account of this circumstance, the delegates, restrained by respect for the constituted authorities, whom they want to support and give greater prestige to, have decided with respect to this point to agree that the two National and Legal Governing Boards of the parties should recommend to the Conservative and Liberal representatives in the National Congress that in case any vacancy should occur in the Supreme Court of Justice it should be filled in such manner as to establish gradually the proportionate cooperation and responsibility within that Body which is at the head of the Judicial Power, until such time as the reform of the Constitution stipulated in the respective Agreement, becomes effective.

Consequently, the undersigned delegates of the Conservative and Liberal parties have agreed to the following:

• First: In case vacancies in the Supreme Court of Justice should occur during the period which ends December 31, 1936, the National and Legal Governing Boards of the Conservative and Liberal Parties will recommend to the Senators and Deputies of their respective parties to proceed to the election of the Magistrate in the sense of establishing an equitable equilibrium in the representation of the two parties on the High Tribunal which will be considered to have been reached insofar as possible once there are two members of Conservative affiliation on said Tribunal.
• Second: This Agreement shall be submitted for approval to the National and Legal Governing Boards of the two parties, Liberal and Conservative, and to the candidates, don Adolfo Diaz, doctor Juan Bautista Sacasa, General Emiliano Chamorro and doctor Rodolfo Espinosa R.

Two copies of the same tenor are signed which, with the ratifications of the National and Legal Governing Boards and of the two candidates, will be exchanged by the Secretariats of said Governing Boards within the period fixed by the thirteenth clause of the Third Agreement.

Managua , November 2, 1932.

• Antonio Reyes
• Carlos Cuadra Pasos
• D. Stadthagen
• M. Benard
• Ramón Castillo C.
• J. Irías
• Leonardo Argüello
• Gonzalo Ocón
• Crisanto Sacasa
• Fernando Saballos