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From, report of Captain Lewis, 20 July:
Felix Pedro Zeledon, Chief of Police of Yali,
and formerly an officer of General Moncada's
army, reported to me this date that two men who
had been with the bandits wished to come in to
Yali and give themselves up providing that they
were given guarantees. Zeledon then brought in
Mercedes and Jorge Herrera, two brothers, who
were from Achotales (village north of Yali).
These brothers were identified by several
natives of Yali as to their names and former
residences.
The above named men were interviewed and stated
as follows:
That they were captured on or about June 4, 1929
by Ismael Peralta at Achotes, who thought they
were spies of General Escamilla. After Peralta
was convinced they were not spies of General
Escamilla, they were issued rifles and became
members of the band. One of them was furnished a
con-con rifle and eighteen rounds of ammunition
and the other was furnished a Springfield rifle
and nine rounds of ammunition.
They remained with the bandits until the 13th of
July 1929, when all the bandit jefes and their
men were assembled for a conference, in the
mountains, North of Remango, near the Honduras
border. Jose Leon Diaz brought the orders from
Sandino for the general assembly. The following
Jefes and their groups were present at the
conference: Jose Leon Diaz, Pedron Altamirano,
Pedro Blandon, Abram Centeno, Ismael Peralta,
Pedro Irias, Pancho Estrada, and Carlos Quesada.
All the above Jefes and their groups turned in
their rifles and ammunition, with the exception
of Pedron Altamirano and one hundred (100) men.
When all the arms were turned in, Pedro
Altamirano chose the best rifles and armed his
one hundred men with them. They had three
Thompson guns, two Browning Automatic rifles and
one Lewis Automatic rifle. The rest of the arms
were to be hidden in the mountains. (Herrera
brothers do not know where.)
With the exception of Altamirano's band of one
hundred men, all other Jefes and their men were
directed to proceed to Honduras in small groups
of two and three, unarmed for the purpose of
procuring more arms and ammunition there and to
return to Nicaragua, when directed by Sandino.
They all then left the assembly place, July 13th
1929, and the two Herrera Brothers returned to
the vicinity of Achotales.
The Herrera Brothers have both applied for work
in this area with the Government Road gangs, now
constructing the Yali-San Rafael Road. ...
IR29.07.28. RG127/209/1
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