While today millionaires are focused on their own space race to “save humanity from itself,” in the 19th century millionaires concentrated all this momentum on independently conquering the lands of third countries, using their own private armies, and ruling their colonies as before. feudal lords.

Such was the case of William Walker, considered by many to be the “last great bandit” and acting as an independent mercenary who conquered territories in Mexico and Nicaragua.

William Walker: Central American dictator of Tennessee. William Walker’s story is one of ambition, power, and the formation of Latin American identity. Born in Tennessee in 1824, Walker was the son of businessmen who were highly influential in local politics. He studied medicine, journalism and law.

However, he abandoned these professions to become a bandit, a type of private mercenary who incites revolutions that are not authorized by any country in order to seize land and its resources.

Manifest Destiny, carte blanche for colonists to privatize regions. To understand the context of specific invasions of countries, it is important to know the concept on which the Doctrine of Manifest Destiny is based. This doctrine is one of the founding pillars of the United States.

This 19th-century doctrine justified the United States’ territorial expansion in North America based on the belief that it was a “chosen” nation with the divine right to expand its civilization. This idea was associated with the annexation of territories such as Texas and California to the United States and with wars such as those between Mexico and Spain, promoting the idea that expansion was clear and predetermined and “by divine authority or of God.” “. This ideology influenced the policies of interventionism and expansionism, best expressed in Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote: “America has a hemisphere of its own.”

Conquer Mexico on your own. In 1853, when he was just 29 years old, Walker recruited 32 American slave mercenaries and set out, like Hernán Cortés, to conquer the country’s southern borders in search of power and wealth. The raid wasn’t bad for them, and they conquered the Mexican cities of La Paz and Ensenada, declared themselves president of the Sonoran Republic, and set about enforcing new laws allowing slavery to get a quick return on their conquests. His presidency was short-lived as Mexican resistance and lack of supplies forced him to retreat five months later.

In a troubled river, invaders win. Far from being discouraged after the failure of the first attempt at private colonialism, William Walker formed an alliance with the Nicaraguan Democratic Party, which was at the time embroiled in a territorial dispute with the Legitimist party over control of the Central American country.

Walker saw an opportunity to capitalize on the issue and offered to assist the local bourgeoisie militarily to achieve their goals and further advance their own economic interests in the process. After winning the battle in Granada with an army of mercenaries called “Immortals,” he was symbolically elected president and imposed American policies and customs.

Make Nicaragua Great Again. William began to implement his colonial policy in the region by initiating a government policy with decrees that reinstated slavery, established English as the official language, and encouraged the arrival of Americans, as well as changing the country’s constitution and flag. country.

By decree he determined that all property of “enemies of the State” would be confiscated in favor of the Republic and distributed by a generous Privy Council, especially in the interests of William Walker and the United States.

The “germ” of the Panama Canal. Given the strategic nature of the region, this conquest did not go unnoticed by the United States, which quickly recognized the legitimacy of the new republic created by William Walker.

US interest in controlling this region was based on the importance of creating a transoceanic trade route connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific. A causeway connecting both oceans was immediately established via the San Juan River in the south of the country.

hero’s return. Under pressure from business interests and neighboring countries, Walker’s government is overthrown and the millionaire must return to his hometown of Tennessee, where he is hailed as a victorious hero.

His exile would not last long, as three years later William Walker returned to his old ways and planned to conquer Honduras. This coup adventure lasted less than the previous one. Walker is captured by British troops stationed in the area and quickly handed over to local authorities in Trujillo; there he is tried without further delay and sentenced to death.

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Image | Wikimedia Commons (Mathew Benjamin Brady, Nicaragua-CIA_WFB_Map.p), Pexels (aboodi vesakaran)