Thursday, December 15, 2016

The mysterious apperance of John J. Hawes

The national press was reporting this day that John J. Hawes, an American businessman with connections in Mexico, had announced himself as a emissary from Villa with proposals for peace.

Hawes is an enigmatic figure.  He was a legitimate, but apparently somewhat slick, businessman who operated to make money on the war in Mexico.  His connections with Villa were vague at the time and remain that way.

Still, his assertions that Villa was resurgent were not without some credit, given that Villa had gone from desperate back in March to a serious opponent, once again, of Carranza with an army in the field that had to be taken seriously by November.

This wouldn't be Hawes sole appearance in the Mexican drama and as matters progressed, while he gathered skepticism, he also seems to have gathered some support here and there from American business interests and even a few political figures.  In the short term, we can expect his name to appear in the local papers the next few days as the Press continued to attempt to follow what was going on south of the border.  Suffice it to say, while the drama seemed to be concluding in some ways, it would become all the odder in others.

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