DECLASSIEU Authority Stateletter Inhz 8; NORIC 24981 Enclosure vv ut pauca NU. LLOW December 18, 1944 from AmerIcan Embassy, San José, MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION BETWEEN MANUEL MORA, LEADER OF VANGUARDIA POPULAR PARTY, WALTER WASHINGTON, CHARGE AFFAIRES AD INTERIM, LIVINGSTON WATROUS, THIRD SECRETARY Upon being asked his opinion of the existing economic situation and its political implications, Sr. Mora began by saying that he thought the Government was pursuing a very vacillating course in its attempts to deal with the present series of problems facing the country. Many Government of ficials, he said, were more interested in political maneuvering than they were in controlling the flagrant speculation which now exists and which he considers the main reason for the rising cost of living. According to Mora the President is doing everything in his power to bring about national unity in Costa Rica, but in so doing he is failing to take the necessary steps to fight inflation, since these steps would tread on the toes of some influential persons whose political backing the President feels he cannot afford to lose. He added that he was all in favor of the President policy of free elections and tolerance of the opposition, but that he did not think that tolerance should be carried to the point where it verged on anarchy.
Mora reviewed the history of the Juntas de Abastos, the former price control agencies, and stated that each junta had consisted of one member of his party, one member of the National Republican Party, and one member of the Democratic Party. He stated that the Vanguardia members had been the only ones who were interested in keeping the prices of necessities within bounds, and th members were more concerned with enriching themselves. For this reason, he explained, the charge had been made that the juntas were Communist dominated, and he said that he had finally to go to the President and tell him that his party could no longer assume responsibility for the actions of the juntas unless the Vanguardia Popular were given the authority to carry out an efficient program. Then, according to Mora, the juntas were abolished, and the Junta de Defensa Economica was set up to control prices. He stated that in his opinion the members of this board were incompetent and afraid to act for various reasons, and. that, even if they sincerely tried to carry out their functions, it would be impossible for a single board located in San José effectively to control the economic life of the entire country.
Turning to the country present financial difficulties Mora said that the fiscal plight of the Government was disastrous. Asked what steps should in his opinion be taken to remedy the situation, he replied that he had long been in favor of reforming the Government financial administration by establishing a budget bureau which would present a scientifically planned budget rather than the present budget which was nothing more than a list of proposed expenditures. To this he would add a modern and efficient system of accounting, and would revise the method of receiving the Government revenues so that all receipts would be centralized in one agency.
He stated that he favored the putting into practice of the Kekich