File No. 812.00/10833.
The Secretary of State to Solicitor Folk.
Washington, January 31, 1914.
To the Solicitor: Replying to your inquiry as to when Victoriano Huerta became Dictator of Mexico; I have consulted with President Wilson, and find that he regards October 10th, 1913, as the date upon which Victoriano Huerta became Dictator of Mexico, that being the date on which he suspended the Constitution; assumed the power and authority delegated to other officials; dissolved Congress, and caused a large number of the members of the Mexican Congress to be imprisoned. From and after that date Victoriano Huerta has been Dictator in the sense of the announcement of the President of the United States that he will not recognize as legal or binding anything done by Huerta since he became Dictator.