817.00/2648: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Minister in Nicaragua (Jefferson)
25. In view of suggestion contained in your No. 19, June 15, 9 a.m., you are authorized to issue following statement:
“Repeated inquiries have been made at the Department of State at Washington by representatives of different political parties of Nicaragua inquiring whether certain named persons would be agreeable to the Government at Washington as candidates for the presidency. In order to avoid any misapprehension with reference to the situation, my Government authorizes me to state that the question of candidates for the presidency of Nicaragua is a matter to be decided by the people of Nicaragua in the full and free expression of public opinion. The exceptionally close relations existing between [Page 296] Nicaragua and the United States creates in both the Government and the people of the United States a deep and abiding interest that presidential elections in Nicaragua shall be conducted on the highest plane, assuring to every qualified voter not only the free expression of opinion but also the accurate registration of that opinion in the final result.
“The Government of the United States has expressed no opinion with reference to the persons who have been mentioned as candidates for the presidency. Its sole interest is that the forthcoming elections be characterized by the utmost fairness and freedom; that an accurate count of the votes cast be made, and that the candidate receiving the largest number of popular votes be declared president-elect of Nicaragua.”