DECLASSiritu Authority Stateletter Whez e me NARA Date 1 981 bre er in the organization of these farmers into cooperative groups which could purchase machinery, develop collective marketing arrangements, et cetera. He emphasized, however, that a fairly long educational program would have to be carried out before this group could be convinced of the desirability of such cooperatives which, moreover, could not in any way restrict their own intense feeling of individuality. He recalled in this connection the fact that Russia had not been able to solve its agricultural problem except after many years of experimentation and education.
Sr. Mora declared that he was confident Picado would win the forthcoming presidential election. He insisted that while fraud will be resorted to by both sides, it could not be carried out on a large enough scale to affect the final result. He estimated that fraudulent votes would form from six to ten percent of the total. He was outspoken in declaring that Cortés et had no just ground for his bitter accusations against the administration on the basis of intimidation, intervention, et cetera, in the present campaign. He said all one needed to do was to read the press here or listen to the radio addresses in order to have an example of the complete freedom enjoyed in Costa Rica. Ho stated that whereas Cortés had complained bitterly about the composition of the electoral juntas. Sr. Mora assorted that instead of placing the Cortés party in a minority, on each of the six juntas throughout the country the President gave each of the three parties a majority on two of these juntas, which in Sr. Mora opinion, was a fair procedure.
Sr. Mora was, as stated at the beginning of this dos patoh, unroservedly critical or Cortés whom he characterized bluntly as a coward. He also cited the charges that Cortés, if not pro Nazi, was at least unusually friendly to Germany and German methods. He repeated the saying which has been used throughout the prolont campaign to the effect that whereas all Cortesistas are not Nazis or Talangistas, all Nazis and Falangistas in Costa Rica are Cortosistas.
Sr. Mora said he was hopeful that the elections would be held without serious disorders. He mentioned briorly the traditional love of the Costa Rican people for political polemics and described the prosent sampaign as in a sense newspaper war. He admitted, however, that his party had organized shook brigados to act oŘ Election Day; ho insisted, however, that these groups woro eroated in order to discourago Sr. Cortos from resorting to violonco at that time. Sr. Mora envisaged the role of these brigades as primarily to head off and discourage any actual disorder which the Cortés faction might attempt to produce, Sr. Mora referred to the coming labor conferences to be held in Montevideo and in London and said that he thought they would be extremely important meetings. Ho did not disguise