Office of the Historian

816.00 Revolutions/63: Telegram

The Minister in Guatemala (Whitehouse) to the Secretary of State

Guatemala, January 23, 1932—10 p.m.
[Received January 24—2:39 a.m.]

8. Have just seen the Minister for Foreign Affairs who guarantees that no incursions into Salvador will be permitted from Guatemala. Everything normal here but the frontier guards will be reenforced in view of the fears of the Salvadorean authorities. I have notified the Legation at San Salvador of the above.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs however requested me to invite your attention to two points which the Guatemalan Government considers of vital importance.

  • First, that if the communist movement gets the upper hand in Salvador no time should be lost in crushing it in order to prevent its spread to Honduras and they are willing to take active steps to this end if and when you authorize it:
  • Second, that pressure be used on Martínez to be sure that he lives up to the agreement to turn over the Presidency to Gómez Zárate when the Assembly has elected the latter First Designate, as the Guatemalan Government seems to feel that Martínez might try to profit by the present conditions.
Whitehouse