228. Editorial Note
During the early morning of June 26, 1979, Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza called the U.S. Embassy and spoke with Deputy Chief of Mission Frank Tucker. Somoza asked whether Tucker “was informed of ‛what was going on in Washington,’” and the “message Luis Pallais is bringing.” Tucker replied that he “was not informed of these matters.” Somoza then directed Tucker to request that the Department of State provide confirmation regarding Pallais’s message: “Tell them,” he said, “that I demanded that it (the Pallais message) be said by a U.S. official, and you are the senior one here.” (Telegram 2828 from Managua, June 26; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P850036–1794)
In telegram 164795 to Managua, June 26, the Department instructed Tucker to “inform President Somoza that the message given to Luis Pallais on June 25 was the same one given earlier in the day by Acting Secretary Christopher to Foreign Minister Quintana.” Acting Secretary of State Warren Christopher “urged Quintana at the meeting to transmit the message urgently to President Somoza because of the critical nature of the situation, and emphasized that he was speaking with the full authority of the USG.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P850036–1780) No memorandum of conversation of Christopher’s June 25th meeting with Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Julio Quintana has been found. Assistant to the President for National Security [Page 585] Affairs Zbigniew Brzezinski noted in his June 25 memorandum to President Jimmy Carter that Christopher planned to outline the course of actions the United States planned to take in Nicaragua to Quintana. (See Document 227.) Tucker responded in telegram 2832 from Managua, June 26, noting that he had called Somoza’s “bunker” to deliver the message from the Department and was told that Somoza was sleeping and that he should “call back at 11:30 a.m.” Tucker also indicated that Pallais had telephoned the Embassy and told Tucker that he would be returning to Washington that night and asked Tucker to inform Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Pete Vaky that “everything is fine.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P870036–1785) In telegram 2834 from Managua, June 26, the Embassy reported that Somoza had returned Tucker’s call at 11:20 a.m. Tucker confirmed to Somoza that the Pallais message was the same one given by Christopher to Quintana on June 25th. Somoza thanked Tucker for the confirmation. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P850036–1786)