The Invaded: How Latin Americans and Their Allies Fought and Ended U.S. Occupations

407 Pages·2014·7.24 MB·English

by  Alan McPherson

The Invaded

The Invaded
How Latin Americans and Their
Allies Fought and Ended
U.S. Occupations
ALAN McPHERSON
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McPherson, Alan L.
Th e invaded : how Latin Americans and their allies fought and ended
U.S. occupations / Alan McPherson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–534303–8 (alk. paper)
1. Latin America—Relations—United States. 2. United States—Relations—Latin
America. 3. Anti-Americanism—Latin America—History—20th century. 4. Nicaragua—
History—1909–1937. 5. Haiti—History—American occupation, 1915–1934.
6. Dominican Republic—History—American occupation, 1916–1924. I. Title.
F1418.M3729 2014
327.8073—dc23
2013023259

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
To Cindy, my love

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Occupation: Why Fight It? 1
PART ONE INTERVENTION RESISTANCE
1. Nicaragua, 1912 13
2. Haiti, 1915 22
3. The Dominican Republic, 1916 34
PART TWO OCCUPATION RESISTANCE
4. Nicaragua, 1913–1925 53
5. Haiti, 1916–1920 59
6. The Dominican Republic, 1917–1922 68
7. Nicaragua, 1927–1929 73
8. Brambles and Thorns 91
vii
PART THREE THE STAKES
9. Cultures of Resistance 113
10. Politics of Resistance 131
PART FOUR TRANSNATIONAL NETWORKS
AND US WITHDRAWALS
11. US Responses, Haitian Setbacks, and Dominican Withdrawal,
1919–1924 159
12. The Americas against Occupation, 1926–1932 194
13. Nicaraguan Withdrawals, 1925–1934 213
14. Haitian Withdrawal, 1929–1934 238
Conclusion: Lessons of Occupation 262
Notes 275
Bibliography 347
Index 369
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was a decade in the making, and many are to thank for making it my
most rewarding, personally and professionally.
Funding the research was arduous and precarious, but eventually many gen-
erous sources came through. My former employer, Howard University, pro-
vided me with a New Faculty Research Grant that allowed travel to Nicaragua,
France, and England. The federal government awarded the project a Fulbright
to the Dominican Republic. The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute of the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, the Hoover Presidential Library Association, the
University of Florida’s Center for Latin American Studies, and the Duke-UNC
Consortium for Latin American Studies kept my spirits buoyant with research
grants. Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Stud-
ies, where I was the Central American Fellow for a semester, finally allowed me
to write the manuscript.
Archivists and colleagues at home and especially abroad helped me find and
understand a multinational set of sources. Archivists and reference librarians at
all institutions I visited in the United States, France, and England were invariably
courteous and resourceful.
In the Dominican Republic, Roberto Cassá and Quisqueya Lora proved
that professionalism and a boost from the state could rehabilitate Caribbean
archives. The Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo was helpful with the
papers of Tulio Cestero. Vetilio Alfau opened his father’s collection to me. “Na-
tacha” González showed me how to teach Dominican students. Hamlet Her-
mann helped me understand Dominican politics. Federico “Chito” Henríquez y
Vásquez, the grandson of Federico Henríquez y Carvajal, provided family docu-
ments over a cafecito. Also helpful were Salvador Alfau, Julio del Campo, José del
Castillo, Emilio Cordero Michel, Dantes Ortíz, and Alejandro Paulino. The US
embassy’s cultural staff, especially Rex Moser, gave me the opportunity to share
my findings at public universities throughout the Dominican Republic.
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