839.00 Revolutions/74
The Chargé in the Dominican Republic (Cabot) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 24.]
Sir: With reference to my telegrams Nos. 70, 71, 73, 74, and 75,15 I have the honor to inform the Department that the past week has seen the first attempts at revolution against the Government established by the revolution of February; and that, fortunately for the immediate peace of the country, the attempts seem completely to have failed.
[Page 724]The Department has been repeatedly apprised that the course of events in recent months could scarcely end in anything short of revolution. That an attempt to organize one has not been made earlier is due principally to the overwhelmingly superior military equipment of the Government forces, although the Alianza leaders appear to have made a sincere effort to restrain their followers. These two factors have been largely responsible for the failure of the attempt of this week, inasmuch as both the economic depression and the temper of the people constitute fertile ground for the growth of revolutionary sentiment.
On Sunday night, June eighth, a small group including two of Moya’s relatives left La Vega for the bush, having a small shooting affray with the police on the way out. The Government claims that it had known for some time that the Alianza had planned to start trouble on June 10th, but that it had done nothing in the hope that an outbreak would not thus be precipitated. In view of the news from La Vega, the Government on Monday ordered the arrest of a large group of Alianza leaders and the search of many houses. Velázquez, Morales, and Luis Ginebra were already in hiding and could not be found; Moya, Angel Maria Soler and several others were thrown into prison. The following day a large group, including Alfredo Ricart, were arrested; but some, including Ricart were promptly released. Gustavo Diaz, President of the Senate, was permitted to leave for Porto Rico. On June 11th the majority of the persons arrested, including Moya and Soler, were liberated, and most of the rest have since been freed. The only other city in which arrests were made was San Pedro de Macoris.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, June 10th and 11th, it appeared that a considerable revolutionary outbreak might occur. A considerable group left La Romana, apparently under the leadership of Larancuent, the Progressive leader in that commune; and in the course of a skirmish on Tuesday morning four men were killed. Disturbances were also reported from Moca, San Juan de la Maguana, and La Campiña (Seybo), but died down as quickly as they had arisen, and in two days all appeared quiet again, although a small band remained in the bush in the Seybo until June 16th. But at this moment a more serious factor entered the situation: the attitude of General Cipriano Bencosme, principal Alianza leader of the Moca region, and an old Horacista war-horse. Bencosme at first adopted an attitude of watchful waiting from the hills above Moca; but when the Government had determined that the price he demanded for his support was too high, it decided to attack him and to end once and for all the constant menace to peace which he constituted. Trujillo attempted to get bombs and field-guns from Haiti; he also asked Wade, an [Page 725] American aviator at present in this country, to drop bombs on Bencosme’s encampment; but failing in all of these efforts, he concentrated 400 men on Moca during the night of June 14th, and prepared an attack for the morning. The latest reports indicate, however, that Bencosme was in no mood to fight, and that he fled to the hills with a small band, without even attempting to defend his farm of Mogote, a natural fortress.
The Alianza had placed great faith in Bencosme, and had apparently concentrated all of their efforts looking to revolution on him, inasmuch as he was supposed to have arms and a following. Bencosme had used his thus-increased prestige to drive a hard bargain with the Government, but he demanded too much, and Trujillo has called his bluff. Bencosme had been one of the most successful leaders in the revolution against Victoria in 1912:16 but sixty years … have apparently sapped his vitality too much to make him longer formidable.
The President informs me that all of these disturbances were a part of a plan for a general revolutionary outbreak, which was to begin June 10th, and he states that Angel Morales was the prime mover in the affair. It appears doubtful, however, whether any of the national leaders of the Alianza were the direct organizers of the outbreak, even though Velázquez and Morales remain in hiding.
The immediate results of these outbreaks and of their suppression appear for the most part good. With the elimination by flight or hiding of many of the national leaders of the opposition, and the apparent ending of the menaces to peace which Bencosme, Larancuent and others constituted, it is probable that the Alianza will not again try its hand at revolution in the near future: …
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I have [etc.]
- None printed.↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1912, pp. 340 ff.↩