Evening star., 1932-10-23
'FURORE OF ELECTIONS ~
GRIPS OTHER NATIONS
Honduras, Chile, Ecuador and Nicaragua
Will Decide on Their Presidents
Within Next Two Weeks. >,.


classes. much larger and influential in
Chile than, prob, by, in any other Latin
American country.
Finally. the third factor is the over
growth of militarism. Chile is becom-
ing the victim of what was once her.
ma jor pride-the disproportionate de-
velcpment OF her armed forces. The
army and the navy. yesterday the foun-
dations of Chilean governmental s-a-
blity, are nov the NAN sources OF
disturbance One after another, mill
tary leaders have ccnc cut Of their
barracks and played hand at saving
the nation" from government which
they considered unhe alChy. The con-
sequence is that in the last SIX months
Chile has seen nearly as many changes
in the personnel Of the executive. And
all these changes have been accom-
plished at the point of bayonets. Or,
to put 1t in more modern and more
accurate terms, at the threat OF aerial
bombardment
! Under thcSe circumstances, when the
old party lines have given way to per-
scnal ism and when political uncertainty
/ has prevailed in the country for several
months, it is yenturesome to say any
! thing about coming events. have
found this out yhcn discussing Chilean
pcl.tics in rec~nt article.
/ H> j 'IIlt t'tSt ulltS- AlINtNtI.
ports from Santiago announce that the
,lcsident.sl e,acticns convokc1 by the
orerthrovn Dav.la reg me will BE- held,
as scheduled on October 80. And II
/ they are held a all three names have
so far been advanced as the outstand-
ing candidates.
They are former President Arturo
| Alessandrl-the most picturesque per-
sonality of Chilean politics, the first to
awaken the political instinct of the
Chilean working classes and to raise
the flag of social justice" among them
with large following in the left
factions; former Finance Minister En-
rioue Zanartu. who will probably have
the support of the conservative ele-
ments. and Col Marina duke Grove, the
extremist leader, who has participated
in various of the recent coup d'etats,
only to be eliminated subsequently for
the radicalism of his views.
Whoever is victorious at the polls will
most likely have a trying time in con-
sclidating the stability of the new
regime and saving it from the ambitions
Of military chieftains and the popular
unrest resulting from the crisis.
Confusion in Ecuador.
The third Latin American country
to hold elec ions a week from today IS
Ecuador Here too, the situation is too
confused to permit any safe prediction
as TO the outcome of the presidential
contest
The election of Senor Bonifaz vas
annulled two months ago by Congress
on the ground that his Ecuadorean ma
tionality was contested. The partlsans
of Bonifaz then tried to install him by
force and a bloody revolt ensued. which
failed TO overthrow the provisional gov
ernment set up until new elections
could be held.
These elections are scheduled for
October 30. but the Bonifaz uprising
and later dissensions among the VIC
torious leaders have so shattered the
traditional party lines that it is hard
to know which of the various candi-
dates will have the support of the
majority of the Liberal party. the
dominant force in Ecuadorean politics.
Latest press reports give the names OF
Provisional President Guerrero Mar
tinez, former Foreign Minister Larrea
Jiion, Carlos Zambrana, Manuel Car
Carlos Arroyo del Rio and Col Mendoza
as those most prominently mentioned.
Nicaragua Race Traditional.
Finally, there is Nicaragua. where.
only a week after Chile. Honduras and
Scuador have selected their new Chief
Executives. a new President Will be
chosen for the constitutional term
beginning January l. 1888.
The contest in Nicaragua, like that
in Honduras. is more along the lines
of the traditional Liberal Conservative
alignment. For a while it seemed as
if this would not be the case, the Lib
erals having been at various times d.
vided in factions which threatened with
a multi-colored and personalistlc
strife. The main obstacle was the re-
fusal of the present head of the gov
ernment Gtn Moncada, to support the
Official candidate of his own party. the
Liberal, which had placed him in power
four years ago.
In the end however. all the minor
Liberal candidates were forced. by the
overwhelming command Of public opin-
ion. to fall in line behind the name of
DR. Juan B. SacaSa former Vice Fresi-
dent. former Minister to Washington,
ard a man of stainless record in Mica
raguan politics.
Saoasa Seems Leader.
Opposing him is Senor Adolfo Dlaz,
former Conservative President. under
whose administration the present
United States Intervention began sew
eral years ago.
Although from press reports and
from the information of reliable Mica
raguans living in this country it ap-
pears clear that Dr.. Sacasa has a
larger popular support than his rival.
an electoral prediction is extremely un-
safe when tine election is a presidential
one. And particularly so when it hap
pens to be held in a Latin American
country
One thing. though. may be said with
certainty: That the program announced
by the State Department to withdraw
all Marines from the country after
the presidential election makes it
highly important that a man with a
strong backing Of the real people of
Nicaragua, not only of the political or
official organizations, shall be elected
to head the destinies of that very much
tried Central American state. And
right now there seems to be no other
Nicaraguan who can command the con-
fldence of his countrymen to a larger
extent than the popular hero Of
Puerto Cabezas
tronvri,bt fosoO