The United States and the Mexican Revolution"In 1911, Mexicans overthrew a long-standing dictator and brought Francisco I. Madero to power. Two years later, a new repressive dictator, General Victoriano Huerta, deposed and murdered Madero. The Constitutionalists, led in part by liberal reformer VenustianoCarranza, undertook an armed revolt against Huerta’s rule. When President Woodrow Wilson took office in 1913, he refused to recognize Huerta’s counterrevolutionary government. Moreover, using the slim pretext of a minor insult to the U.S. Navy, Wilson sent troops into Vera Cruz, Mexico, in April 1914. Wilson’s strategy—to force Huerta out and gain the support of Venustiano Carranza—backfired, however, and anti-U.S. sentiment erupted throughout Mexico. Carranza wrote the following letters, printed in major Mexican newspapers, to the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile congratulating them for their solidarity with Mexico and warning of the dangers of U.S. intervention. (An English translation follows the original letters in Spanish.)" GMU History Matters