The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-26
BY WILLIAM F. DUNE


L American troops under which the
country becomes a protectorate like
Panama, closes another chapter in the
history of intimidation and interven-
ton which has been made by the U.
S. state and war departments in the
last II years.
The history of American-Nicara-
guam relations during this period
consists of a series of warlike acts
on the part of America, acts perpe-
trated behind the thinnest veil of JUS
LITIGATION, and on the part of the
Nicaraguan masses, of heroic sacri-
flee in the brief periods of peace and
unhesitating bravery on the field of
battle facing overwhelming odds.
| Q UBJUGATIoN of Nicaragua as a
~ studied policy of American imper-
ialism begins coincidently with the
acquisition of the Panama canal zone
under the Roosevelt administration
which is another sordid chapter in
American history.
Taft carried out the policy of the
"big stick" which Roosevelt merely
named but did not originate-it took
on it's militant form under Mckinley
with the BUSTING of Spain in 1898 and
the establishment of complete Amer
lean hegemony of the Caribbean area.
A feasible canal route thru Nicara-
\ guam territory route which
some engineers claim is far superior
to Pharmacists the main reason why
American Imperialism began to look
with covetuous eyes at this little
country. Since that time American
interests in Mexico, Central and
South America have increased trem-
endously and Nicaragua now is a
pivot for the wheel of imperialist en-
terprise in the REPUBLICS to the south.
ID oOSEVELT not only grabbed the
NPanama canal zone but laid the
basis for a duplication of this feat
with the Nicaraguan route as the
prize.
Taft continued the aggression be-
gun by Roosevelt. A Latin-Ameri-
can writer describes this series of
Incidents" as the diplomats call
them, as follows:
"The North American Government,
interested in preventing the possible
construction of a new inter-oceanic
canal thru Nicaragua, sent squad
ron into Nicaraguan waters in April,
1908, composed of the cruisers Wash
ington, Colorado, South Dakota, AL
bany, ETC., with contingent of 1000
men and instructions to avail them
selves of a pretext for landing. The
president of Nicaragua, who at that
time was Don Jose Santos Zelaya,
tried to temporize with Captain
Moore, head of the squadron. But
shortly after, on October 10, 1909,
Mr.. Moffat, the North American
consul at Bluefields, on the Atlantic
coast of Nicaragua, supported an in
surrection led by the governor of this
region, Senior Juan j. Estrada. Mr..
Knox (then secretary of state) in a
note which aroused much comment
in Latin America, declared the revo-
luton legitimate, and handed Senior
Zelaya's representative in Washing
ton his passports. In the course of
the struggle, General Toledo, who
commanded the lawful Nicaraguan
forces, had shot two American sub
jects (citizens-the writer evidently
has in mind the imperial character
of the U. S. government-W. F. d.
whom he had caught in the act of
trying to dynamite the governments
ships.
"This threw light on the character
of the revolution and the leader of it
himself, Senior Estrada, took it upon
himself to confirm this later, by de-
claring in the New York Times of
September 10, 1912, that this move
ment had received financial aid from
North American companies, mention
ing the firm of Joseph w. Beers,
which contributed 100000, and Sam
uel Well, who gave $150,000. Con-
WINGED that the revolutionaries would
receive every sort of aid from North
America, the president Of Nicaragua,
not to prolong the struggle, thought
it patriotic to resign, and left the
country on board the Mexican gum
loat General Cpelrero after handing
over his powers, in accordance with
the constitution and by the consent Of
congress, to DIR. Don Jose Madriz, a
jurist, having no connection with poll
itics. This government was recog-
nized by many nations, but not by the
United States, which continued to
support the fictitious revolution.
When Senior Madriz gave orders to
attack Bluefields, he was met by the
fact that the harbor was defended by
North American sailors, and that the
cruisers of that country were block
aiding the coast. Realizing that it
would not be a civil but an interna-
tional struggle, he renowned his
mandate on August 26, 1910, and left
for. Mexico, where he died shortly af-
forwards So the IT. s. under the