Western Hemisphere 67
Domingo Improvement Company. During 1903 and 1904, their claims for payment
resulted in a favorable outcome. By 1904, amidst further domestic unrest, the Domini-
can government invited the United States to administer the custom houses in order to
recoup the revenue necessary to pay off foreign debts. The dispute culminated in a
show of force by France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands in 1904 when the par-
ties sent naval vessels to Santo Domingo to enforce their claims. The United States
intervened to arrange some settlement with the Dominican Republic and its European
creditors.
A January 20, 1905, executive agreement was signed between both sides regard-
ing the distribution of income from the customs houses, mostly a 55–45 split with 55
percent of the revenues going to pay off foreign debt. European creditors, initially
skeptical of the San Domingo Improvement Company in 1903 and 1904, were satis-
fied with this agreement. The US Senate was not. To appease rivals in the Senate,
Roosevelt submitted it as a treaty, which required ratification. When Democratic
opposition seemed likely to kill the treaty, he reclassified the accord as a modus
vivendi on April 1. The modus vivendi held for the next two years when, on July 25,
1907, the US Senate approved the treaty with only minor revisions.
Coding changes: Dropped from the dispute: 2 United States of America. Added to the
dispute: 210 Netherlands, 220 France, 255 Germany, and 325 Italy.
MID#1002
Started in April 1963. See the narrative in the 41 Haiti/42 Dominican Republic dyad
dispute list.
42 Dominican Republic/220 France
MID#1644
Dispute Number: 1644
Date(s): January 10, 1895 to March 11, 1895
Participants: 220 France/2 United States of America, 42 Dominican Republic
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: Noel Caccavelli, a naturalized Frenchman, was murdered in the port of
Samana during a private fight. On January 10, 1895, France used the murder as an
excuse, blamed the local authorities, and threatened to blockade Dominican ports and
support revolutionists if the Dominican dictator did not execute Caccavelli’s assassin,
pay indemnity for the murder and imprisonments, and agree to submit all other mat-
ters disputed by the French. The dictator, Heureaux, refused and turned to the United
States for assistance. The US ambassador went to Paris, and on February 6, Heureaux
complied with the first request and executed Caccavelli’s assassin.
Still, the French consul in Santo Domingo informed the French government that the
Dominican Republic was unsafe for foreigners, especially the French. These allega-
tions were deemed unfounded by authorities in Haiti and in the Dominican Republic.