REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES li. DECLASSIFIED Authority Stateletter Wh2 ay me NART Date 24 18 The opinion is occasionally expressed that it will be a good thing for Costa Rica capitalistic congressmen and aldermen to have to rub elbows with men who openly advocate Marxian doctrines. The political ideology of the country has been so reactionary and limited, according to some critios, that the Communists may perform a real service to the nation by forcing their bourgeois fellow citizens to open their eyes to problems and to injustices that have been ignored for decades. Such advanced political thinkers as Mario Sancho of Cartago appear to share this belief, welcoming a fresh influence in what they term the country sterile and antiquated political, social and economic philosophy. They profess to see, as well, in the gathering momentum of the Communist party, the serving of notice on the cafetelero land owning class which has dominated Costa Rica for almost a century, that there are other forces to be reckoned with and that some sort of a new Deal is being demanded for the small farmer, the industrial and farm laborers.
President Jiménez has also hinted that this istruggle of ideas between groups with radically opposed viewpoints may be a healthy development in the country political evolution. His political liberalism inclines him to believe that free play should be given such forces, as suggested above. as long as they develop peacefully; in other words, that hideas should match swords with ideas.
Observers