the
Mexican people. He was a self-constituted dictator, whose authority
rested solely on military force. President Wilson and Secretary Bryan
were fully justified in refusing to recognize his usurpation of power,
though they probably made a mistake in announcing that they would never
recognize him and in demanding his elimination from the presidential
contest. This announcement made him deaf to advice from Washington and
utterly indifferent to the destruction of American life and property.

The next step in the President's course with reference to Mexico was
the occupation of Vera Cruz. On April 20, 1914, the President asked
Congress for authority to employ the armed forces of the United States
in demanding redress for the arbitrary arrest of American marines at
Vera Cruz, and the next day Admiral Fletcher was ordered to seize the
custom house at that port. This he did after a sharp fight with
Huerta's troops in which nineteen Americans were killed and seventy
wounded. The American charge d'affaires, Nelson O'Shaughnessy, was at
once handed his passports, and all diplomatic relations between the
United States and Mexico were severed.

A few days later the representatives of the so-called ABC Alliance,
Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, tendered their good offices for a
peaceful settlement of the conflict and President Wilson promptly
accepted their mediation. The resulting conference at Niagara, May 20,
was not successful in its immediate object, but it resulted in the
elimination of Huerta who resigned July 15, 1914. On August 20,
General Venustiano Carranza, head of one of the revolutionary factions,
assumed control of affairs at the capital, but his authority was
disputed by General Francisco Villa, another insurrectionary chief. On
Carranza's promise to respect the lives and property of American
citizens the United States forces were withdrawn from Vera Cruz in
November, 1914.

In August, 1915, at the request of President Wilson, the six ranking
representatives of Latin America at Washington made an unsuccessful
effort to reconcile the contending factions of Mexico. On their
advice, however, President Wilson decided in October to recognize the
government of Carranza, who now controlled three fourths of the
territory of Mexico. As a result of this action Villa began a series
of attacks on American citizens and raids across the border, which in
March, 1916, compelled the President to send a punitive expeditio