HARRY TRUMAN LIBRARY Papers of NATHANIEL DAVIS. TET End of EXTRACT FROM MY DIARY April 17, 1946 Just as the Nuncio and were about to start out this morning to meet Padre Nunez, word came over the radio from Cartago that Figueres requested a postponement until tomorrow morning. So went to the office to catch up on the telegrams exchanged with the Department. was somewhat amnsed and somewhat annoyed by one suggesting that in: case of danger in the city Americans might take refuge in the Embassy, blandly overlooking the fact that the Embassy residence is one of the most exposed spots in the city, it being across a narrow street from the chief Calderonista stronghold the spot we have been most concerned about in all discussions of how to transfer military control of the city without bloodshed and within rifleshot to say nothing of the machine guns being used in this war of the War.
Department and the Presidential PalaceAlso, the office. is in the Hotel Costa Mica building, an ideal strong point for street fighting and very likely to be seized by one faction or the other if it comes to that. Whoever wrote.
that telegram certainly doesn know the geography of this city. asked my colleagues of the conciliation committee to meet during the morning to discuss what steps we here could take to head off the threat of invasion from Nicaragua.
We thought of summoning the Chiefs of Mission of all the American Republics to ask them to join us in identical telegrams to all our foreign offices suggesting joint pressure on Nicaragua to desist, but abandoned that plan when we realized; first, that calling all the American representatives would include the Nicaraguan Minister; and second, that some of our colleagues cannot be trusted not to blab. In the midst of our afternoon session, Manuel Mora came in, not having received the notice of postponement of discussions until tomorrow. He asked if he might take the opportunity to give us some pr: ivate information and proceeded to tell us of the imminence of an invasion from Nicaragua, about which we already knew from our own.
sources. He said he had told the President, Dr. Calderon, and Padre Nunez that in the event of an invasion his party would make common cause with Figueres in arms to expel the invader, and settle any political differences later. However, he was of the firm belief that if only a settlement of the local situation could be reached quickly, even without Calderon agreement, the latter would not, in the face of united opposition, surimon Somoza to invade. There still remained