837.00/3576: Telegram
The Ambassador in Cuba (Welles) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received 4 p.m.]
110. The last 4 days of the mediation proceedings have been somewhat critical due to the irritation caused the A B C by the refusal of the authorities to release Dr. Castellanos and a group of the members of that organization who had been seized shortly before commencement of proceedings in possession of a considerable quantity of arms [Page 321] and explosives. This feeling was intensified because the arms had been placed in Dr. Castellanos’ house in order to prevent less responsible members of the organization from having control of them. Last Sunday the delegate of the A B C informed me that he was instructed to abstain from further meetings of the opposition delegates until the Government demonstrated a more concrete desire to furnish the guarantee asked by the opposition members. The professors of the university and in fact all of the opposition delegates took more or less the same ground but did not refuse to attend such meetings as I might desire to have with the opposition delegates.
The President at my instance yesterday afternoon decreed the immediate freedom of those members of the A B C above-mentioned and likewise authorized me to state that essential guarantees desired by the opposition were granted in toto.
The delegate of the A B C consequently returned to the mediation conferences yesterday and at a full conference of all of the opposition delegates held at the Embassy in the afternoon complete satisfaction was expressed by all of the opposition groups with the existing situation. On Thursday therefore the opposition delegates will hand to me the first draft of constitutional reform for transmission to the Government’s representatives.
The President informed me yesterday that in order to expedite negotiations he had caused the Liberal Party, the Popular Party and that portion of the Conservative Party which has been cooperating with the administration each to appoint a committee of five members to represent their respective parties before me in the mediation proceedings. The President stated that he felt that this was a more practical plan than his original intention of appointing a congressional committee inasmuch as all of the political parties would now be definitely on record as supporting the utilization of my tender of good offices. This action on the part of the President is distinctly beneficial in the sense that through the control of the rank and file of each party which these committees’ will have due to the appointment on them of the most important leaders of each party it will make much less likely any breakdown in the mediation proceedings since even if later on some of the opposition factions break away the organized political strength of the country will be thrown behind the negotiations. The Popular Party while it has been assumed to have been entirely under the control of the President during the past 4 years has now commenced to adopt an independent attitude and many of its members are in fact leaders in the opposition as for example Dr. Silverio who is the delegate of the O C R R in the mediation proceedings. The Conservative Party likewise has within the past week taken an open attitude of opposition to the Government in opposing recent tax legislation [Page 322] sought by the President in Congress and I consider it not at all unlikely that before very long the Congressmen belonging to the orthodox wing of the Conservative Party who have heretofore refrained from appearing in the House of Representatives will once more attend sessions and after reorganization of the leadership of the party amalgamate the hitherto dissident wings of the Conservative organization. In other words, the Popular and Conservative Parties will in all likelihood soon return to a normal condition of opposition to the Government and will be prepared to avail themselves of the opportunities for party reorganization which the new electoral code will furnish.
The disadvantages of the representation in the mediation proceedings of political party committees lie primarily in the fact that since I will now have to deal with 15 additional individuals in the sessions which may be held the opportunities for interminable discussion and protracted delay are greatly enhanced.
Professor McBain is proceeding very rapidly with the formulation of his recommendations for revision of the electoral code. He has conferred frequently with experts connected both with the Government and with the opposition and he finds that these representatives of both sides are in very material accord with the nature of the recommendations which he is prepared to submit. He has not as yet commenced his study of the university problem.