File No. 816.00/158.
The American Minister to
Honduras to the Secretary of
State.
[Extract.]
No. 75.]
American Legation,
Tegucigalpa,
January 17, 1912.
Sir: I have the honor herewith to report that
upon receipt on the afternoon of the 13th instant of your telegram of
the 12th instant, 4 p.m., in regard to the revolutionary activities of
Dr. Prudencio Alfaro and Gen. Luis Alonzo Barahona against the
neighboring Republic of El Salvador and the cooperation of the President
of Guatemala and of Gen. Manuel Bonilla with them, the contents thereof
were at once embodied in a note to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of
this Government, of which I inclose a copy. This note was delivered the
next morning to the Minister at his house. On the following morning,
that of the 15th instant, I received a reply from the Minister for
Foreign Affairs to my note, of which I inclose a copy and translation. *
* *
I have [etc.]
[Page 1325]
[Inclosure 1.]
The American Minister
to the Honduran Minister for Foreign
Affairs.
American Legation,
Tegucigalpa,
January 13, 1912.
Mr. Minister: The Minister of Salvador in
Washington has informed the Department of State of the Government of
the United States that Gen. Prudencio Alfaro and Gen. L. A. Barahona
have begun revolutionary operations in Guatemala and that they are
receiving the cooperation of Gen. Manuel Bonilla, President-elect of
Honduras, and of the President of Guatemala. Under instructions I
have the honor to bring this matter to the attention of your
excellency’s Government, and, in so doing, to urge upon it strict
observance of the conventions signed at Washington in 1907, to which
Honduras is a party.
I avail [etc.]
[Inclosure 2.—Translation.]
The Honduran Minister for
Foreign Affairs to the American
Minister.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Tegucigalpa,
January 15, 1912.
Mr. Minister: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your courteous note, dated the 13th
instant, in which you advise this Department [etc.]
In reply I have the honor to inform your excellency that the
statement made by the Minister of El Salvador in Washington to the
Department of State of the United States is not true, because
President Bertrand, as well as the President-elect, General Bonilla,
have fulfilled and continue to fulfill faithfully the obligations
established for Honduras in the conventions mentioned; so much so
that in respect of the concrete case with which we are occupied
there is no one who, even by facts that constitute presumption, can
make my Government responsible, I do not say by omission, even by
negligence in the fulfillment of its obligations.
My Government is completely ignorant of what is the present residence
of Dr. Alfaro, or what are his activities or intentions for
revolution in the sister Republic of El Salvador; but, on the other
hand, it can give assurance that General Barahona has for several
months been, and is, living with his family quietly in the city of
San Pedro Sula, capital of the Department of Cortes, a section which
is very distant from the Salvadoran frontier, which he will not
cross in the quality of a revolutionist, because if any machinations
should be plotted in the sense indicated it would not pass unnoticed
by my Government, and my Government would not permit it.
I assure [etc.]
