CEVASSEU Authority Stateletter in 192 8: ML, a Cate 24 181 true better and more liberal pattern. He has evidently been giving con siderable thought to the 1946 elections and stated that he had had several conversations with Picado on the subject. He said that there had been some opposition to the diea of free elections in Government circles, and that it had been claimed that Picado would lose the elections should they be uninterfered with, Nora, however, maintains that he has convinced the President that by granting sufficient reforms to the people in the way of agricultural laws, easier credit, et cetera that the President would find the people overwhelmingly on his side.
He explained this argument with considerable relish, and got the impression that he was pleased with having the President in a position where the latter was faced with the choice of either furthering the Vanguardia proposed reforms or losing strength in Congress by the defeat of candidates of the Republican Party. Mora added that if the elections were to be free the President could even lose some support in Congress and still gain prestige in the country at large. asked Mora whether he himself would run for reelection to Congress, and he said that he would prefer not to; he thought that the Party had now grown to such an extent that he would rather let some of his colleagues carry on in Congress while he devoted himself exclusively to the administration and organization of the Party. He admitted that this plan was meeting with opposition within the Party and that a final decision had not been reached.
He also mentioned that he had informed President Picado that the Vanguardia Popular was determined to maintain an independence of choice in the elections, and that should the opposition present a candidate for any seat who was more progressive than the candidate of the Government, his party would, in the absence of a Vanguardia candidate, throw their support to the opposition. He indicated that by letting the President know this he hoped that the Government would be forced to back liberal men. He added that, of course, his party was the Government best organized source of strength and that Picado was aware of this fact, The conversation was then changed to his relations with the Government and Mora stated that he was aware of the many rumors to the effect that Picado was seeking means of ridding himself of Vanguardia baeking.
He said, however, that he was convinced of the President sincerity in their dealings, but admitted that there was a group in the Cabinet that would like to jettison him. This group, he maintained, was led by the Minister of Agriculture, Señor Peralta, and by the Minister of Public Security, René Picado (who, he added smilingly, seemed to be very friendly with the Embassy. He explained that this group was in reality doing nothing but playing politics, and that their aim was to obtain the Presidency for Señor Peralta, and to that end they were willing to subordinate all other considerations. When asked him how his party world look upon such a candidacy he remarked that he was indifferent to the candidates themselves, but that he hoped so to awaken the social conscience of Costa Rica that future candidates would be forced to stand for issues and ideas rather than campaign merely on personalities. His attitude toward both Peralta and René Picado seemed to be one of disdain, and he remarked that, personally, he thought they were both a little insane.
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