1830-January-15: A major security scare emerged when a confidential Mexican agent named Basadre arrived in Baltimore, reportedly on a mission to Haiti.

1830-January-15: A major security scare emerged when a confidential Mexican agent named Basadre arrived in Baltimore, reportedly on a mission to Haiti. Rumors circulated that Mexico was seeking Haitian assistance to organize a massive insurrection of enslaved people in Cuba to destabilize Spanish rule. It was further alleged that the British minister in Mexico had issued blank privateering licenses to support this scheme. Although the British minister in Washington, Vaughan, dismissed the plan as “visionary,” the American government expressed “considerable alarm.” The prospect of Haiti serving as a base for spreading slave revolts to neighboring islands remained the primary nightmare for American policymakers.