817.00/5535: Telegram
The Minister in Nicaragua (Eberhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 4:20 p.m.]
166. Martin Benard, who has hitherto been strongly supported as Presidential candidate by the so-called genuine Conservative group in Granada, informs me that he had decided to accept the Vice Presidential nomination on the ticket with Rappaccioli, whom Chamorro is supporting for the Presidency. He is, however, reserving full liberty of action later should he feel that another course would benefit the party.
If Benard’s friends support him in this course, it will reduce the contest in the Conservative Party to one between Chamorro and the Granada Conservatives on the one hand and Cuadra Pasos, backed more or less openly by the Diaz administration, on the other hand. There is, however, much dissatisfaction among Chamorro’s friends with his support of Rappaccioli. The latter is in very bad health and is thought to be unlikely to live long.
Chamorro called this morning for the first time since the defeat of the electoral law. He spoke frankly of the situation in the party, [Page 487] evidently desiring to assure himself that the Legation was not insisting upon any particular candidate. He said that it might prove necessary to carry the contest for the nomination to the floor of the Conservative Convention which will meet May 20th but that he and Cuadra Pasos had agreed to conduct the contest in such a manner as to cause the least possible bitterness and that any candidate nominated by the convention would have the support of a united party. He clearly has no present intention of not participating in the election.
Chamorro told me most definitely in the presence of Munro that he had no objection to the conduct of the elections under the President’s decree and that it was more advantageous for the Conservative Party to proceed under the decree than under the former electoral law. This statement is important in view of the possibility that he may protest against the legality of the elections if the Liberals win.