March 1934 · Haitianmonth known
The League asks the government for a licence and Vincent turns suspicious
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By the end of March 1934 the new League had officers and a written programme and lacked only government authorisation. Its leaders filed the petition expecting approval within days. They had reason to. Many members moved in the same circles as Sténio Vincent, and the Garoute family had entertained the Vincents at their home in Jérémie. Vincent had been elected four years before the occupation ended, a founding member of the Union Patriotique with real nationalist credentials and, as the historian Matthew Smith has shown, wide popular appeal early on. The pressure of the American marines was part of what held that appeal together. As it lifted, Vincent grew afraid of losing his standing as the man who had delivered the country from the United States, and the American military backing that had propped up his authority went home with the troops. Old friendships stopped protecting anyone. He used executive power to watch and break up organisations, unions and gatherings, religious ones included. What worried him most was the younger nationalists turning toward Marxism.
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