The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-01
(jNEARTH PLOTS OF GERMANS IN SOUTH AMERICA
Mexicans and Teutons Con. spired to Start Revolts
 in Five Republics.

Washington, May 1.-From sources intimately familiar with Central Am erican men end affairs there comes the story of a German plot to initiate a string of revolutions in the five re- publics between Panama and Mexico Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras Guatemala, and Salvador-in an eff fort to form United States of Gen. tral America" Some Central Ameri- can Presidents were to be retained, others overthrown, and above them all was to be sort of super-president in the person of pr. Julian Iias of Nicaragua
 The plot was matched in Mexico City between German agents, opera ting under the direction of Herr Eek hardt, the German Minister in the Mexican capital, and Carranzistas, and had it succeeded it would have occupied the serious attention of the government at Washington.
 The failure of the plot was due largely to the activity of Manuel Es- trada Cabrera, President of Guate- ma1a, whose government was to be overthrown by the German and Car ranzista movement. President Ca brera discovered the existence of the movement soon after a series of con- ferences were held in Mexico City last December and took steps which re- suited in the facts becoming known | to the United States government and to certain Pan-American leaders, and countermeasures were taken to I thwart the movement.
 l As a result of these measures the movement, while backed by large funds, failed to enlist the necessary men with whom to start revolutionary expeditions from Salvador, as a base l of incursion into Guatemala and Mi | caragua. The presence of American warships in the Gulf of Fonseca, off the coast of Nicaragua and Salvador, also interfered with the conspiracy. l The State Department is and has for some time been, familiar with the superstructure of the plot. And it was as a result of information reach ing the Washington government S ears that Dr. Irias, the Nicaraguan | 'liberap' leader, was arrested recently by Federal government agents in New | Orleans, although he was released on bail, and is now on a visit to Costa Rica, ostensibly to see his wife,
 1rias was formerly a member of the Cabinet of ex-President Ze1aya of Mi caragua, and was a candidate for l President of Nicaragua in the recent election. He was designated for lead ersnip in the trouble-making project
 ed for Central America with the SUI per-presidency of the proposed fed [erated United States of Central Am erica' as his reward.
 Herr Lehman, the German Minis
 ter to Guatemala, is credited with be.
 ing the master mind behind the plot i. Through the activities of Minister Eckhardt in Mexico City co-onera.
 ting with Carranzistas and counting
 on the dislike of Carranza for Ca.
 brera of Guatemala, as we'll as or dissatisfied elements in the poulations
 of Guatemala, Honduras and Vicar. agua opposed to the heads of those countries. President Cabrera, Fran.
 cisco Bertrand, and Emiliano Cha morro-it was the ambition of the
 German plotters to develop a series
 of simultaneous revolutions so for.
 midable and threatening as to diver the United States government from
 using all it's forces in the prosecution
 of war against Germany.