The Revolt That Never Was 181The conspiracy itself began to unravel as it became apparent
in Havana that the Provisional Government was aware of the
plot, but not panic-stricken. In the towns of Pinar del Rio, San
Juan y Martinez and Consolation del Sur, the local politicos
hastily denied complicity and pledged their loyalty to the
Provisional Government.^52 Both the Zayistas and Miguelistas
were loud in their condemnation of Masso Parra. At the heart
of their denunciations, the Military Information Division re
ported, was their fear of a Negro revolution. On the other
hand, Cuban conservatives, the Spaniards, and the Germans
hoped a Negro revolt would break out because it would
force the United States to establish a military government and
end the "Negro problem" and "the chance of Negro control"
of an independent Cuba.^53 Since these views were widely
publicized, the Negro associations, the suspected backbone
of the revolt, must have had some second thoughts. Signs
of panic among the probable backers of the revolt, the annex
ationists, appeared in a news release drafted by the Havana
Merchant's Association and published by the New York
World. The World article pictured Cuba as on the brink of
a great antiforeign rebellion caused by Magoon's leniency with
the Cuban radicals and the reduction of the Army of Cuban
Pacification to three thousand men. Cuba, the World reported,
was near chaos, and its credit was ruined.^54
In Havana, Magoon, upon learning that the leaders of the
plot were assembled for the last time before going off to the
countryside, ordered their arrest. Under the direction of
Captain James A. Ryan, the Havana police on the morning of
September 26 arrested seven men; Masso Parra, Lara Miret,
and Juan Ducasse were among them. They were charged and
indicted for conspiring "to burn property of foreigners, ex
cepting Spaniards" and to revolt.^55 In Pinar del Rio a troop
of the Eleventh Cavalry patrolled the towns the plotters had
visited and found them tranquil.^56
With the arrest of Masso Parra and his associates, the
conspiracy collapsed. The comparative ease with which it
was broken and the improbable violence of Masso Parra's