Veracruz Incident

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VERACRUZ INCIDENT

VERACRUZ INCIDENT. When Victoriano Huerta seized the Mexican presidency in 1913, the United States refused to recognize him. Early in 1914, when Tampico was under martial law, some U.S. Marines were arrested there, but they were quickly released, with apologies. Admiral Henry T. Mayo insisted that Mexico fire a twenty-one gun salute to the American flag, and President Woodrow Wilson supported this demand. When Mexico refused to comply, Wilson ordered a fleet to Veracruz. Troops landed on 21 April 1914 and, aided by bombardment, took the city, with an American loss of seventeen killed and sixty-three wounded. American political pressure forced Huerta out in July; he fled to Jamaica.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Quirk, Robert E. An Affair of Honor: Woodrow Wilson and the Occupation of Veracruz. New York: Norton, 1967. The original edition was published in 1962.

Alvin F.Harlow/c. w.

See alsoDefense, National ; Mexico, Relations with .