ALEXANDER JOSÉ ATOCHA
Date of birth and death unknown
Very little is known about Atocha before the U.S.-Mexico War. Although Spanish born, Atocha was also a naturalized citizen of the United States. It is believed he spent time living in New Orleans, but largely made his living in Mexico as a speculator in Mexican government contracts. When Santa Anna was exiled in January 1845, the central government also expelled Atocha - a close associate of the general's - confiscating his property and business interests.
In December 1845, General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga organized the overthrow of moderate federalist President José Joaquín de Herrera. Paredes publicly denounced the notion of any territorial concessions to the United States (including Texas) but privately understood that Mexico could not financially support a war effort in its present state. He hoped the war would be brief and ultimately yield Mexico a better deal.
As war between Mexico and the U.S. became increasingly likely, Atocha emerged on the diplomatic scene as Santa Anna's agent. Exiled in Cuba, Santa Anna dispatched Atocha to Washington D.C. On February 13, 1846, Atocha met President Polk at the White House. The two had actually met the year before to discuss Atocha's substantial claim against the Mexican government. This time, however, he represented Santa Anna and proposed an arrangement he claimed would bring a swift end to the seemingly inevitable war.
According to Atocha, Santa Anna promised to recognize the Rio Grande as the southern boundary of Texas if returned to power. Furthermore, the boundary line would be extended all the way to the port of San Francisco. Atocha informed Polk that Santa Anna could come back to power with some U.S. assistance. Atocha requested $500,000 immediately, the exiled general would require passage through the U.S. naval blockade, and the territorial concessions would come at a price of $30 million. Atocha stressed, however, that the territorial concession would only be politically palatable to the Mexican public if the U.S. applied military pressure. Mexico, he and Santa Anna insisted, could not sustain a war.
President Polk, suspicious of Atocha, conferred with his cabinet, which received the proposal with opposition. Polk met with Atocha again on February 16. The two discussed the particular military pressures that would likely convince the Mexican Congress to accept the proposed boundary line and buyout.
Intrigued by the proposal, Polk sent naval commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie to Cuba to speak with Santa Anna directly in July. The meeting apparently convinced the administration of Santa Anna's sincerity. Mackenzie informed Santa Anna that he would be allowed to pass through the naval blockade, and, once back in power, the U.S. would suspend military operations upon his announcing his intention to negotiate. Santa Anna accepted the arrangement and, passing through the naval blockade, returned to Mexico in August. Paredes was overthrown shortly afterwards and Santa Anna reassumed the presidency.
Instead of declaring for peace negotiations, however, Santa Anna took control of his country's military operations and raised an army for a counter-offensive.
On January 14, 1847, Atocha once again met with the administration in Washington D.C. Sent by Santa Anna, Atocha informed Secretary of State Buchanan that the Mexican government wanted to negotiate a peace. Polk and Buchanan rejected Mexico's proposition (just California for fifteen to twenty million dollars, and the designation of the area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces Rivers as an unsettled buffer zone), and sent Atocha back to Mexico City with a counter-proposal (Mexico would turnover California and New Mexico for no compensation, and the Rio Grande would be the southern boundary with no buffer zone). J. M. Ortiz Monasterio, Mexico's foreign minister, rejected the counter-proposal on February 22. Then-President Valentín Gómez Farías, who wanted to discredit Santa Anna and his agent, published a falsified version of the counter-proposal and claimed Atocha drafted it.
After the war ended, Atocha spent years in U.S. court pressing claims against the Mexican government over money lost when he was expelled in 1845. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo held that the U.S. would assume all financial claims against Mexico.
Bibliography
Bauer, Karl Jack. The Mexican War, 1846-1848. New York: MacMillan, 1974.
Crawford, Mark, David S. Heidler, and Jeanne T. Heidler. Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1999.
Griswold del Castillo, Richard. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Legacy of Conflict. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990.
Tucker, Spencer C. The Encyclopedia of the Mexican-American War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2012.
