Office of the Historian

817.154/231a

General Dwight D. Eisenhower 9 to the Acting Secretary of State

Washington, April 2, 1942.

Dear Mr. Secretary: During a recent conversation which I had with Ambassador Boal and Mr. Bonsal,10 of your Department, I was requested by the latter to forward to you the War Department’s opinion as to the desirability, from a military point of view, of building the Rama Road in Nicaragua.

The subject of munitions of war under lend-lease for Nicaragua and certain other military questions were also discussed.

With respect to the building of the Rama Road, it is the opinion of the Operations Section that the execution of this project will tend to increase the stability of the country, and so minimize the possibility of trouble with disaffected elements. The road would have a decided tactical value, should it become necessary for United States troops to intervene, either because of attempted uprising by the enemy nationals along the western coast, or because of an attempted hostile raid.

Sincerely yours,

Dwight D. Eisenhower
  1. General Eisenhower was Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations Division, War Department General Staff.↩
  2. Pierre de L. Boal, Ambassador to Nicaragua, and Philip W. Bonsal, Chief of the Division of the American Republics.↩