Oreste Zamor

Who was Oreste Zamor?

Emmanuel Oreste Zamor served as president of Haiti in 1914.

During the Haitian civil war of 1912, Oreste Zamor and his brother Charles, both generals, supported Caimito Ramírez and harbored his troops within their districts. In 1914, the two brothers entered the war, resulting in a "short and extremely chaotic" presidency for Oreste from February 8 to October 29 of that year. He was opposed in his bid for the presidency by General Davilmar Theodore, who refused to recognize his authority, and by U.S. businessmen who had financial interests in Haiti.

The U.S. government sought American control of customs in Haiti and of the Môle-Saint-Nicolas from the Zamor government, which first demanded U.S. recognition of its legitimacy. The French and German governments opposed U.S. demands, and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan submitted a modified proposal to Charles Zamor. The Zamors declined to accept the plan unless the U.S. created the appearance that they were under military pressure to do so. The plan was never implemented, and civil strife in Haiti was renewed in the summer of 1914. After four months of fighting, Oreste Zamor was ousted from the presidency and succeeded by Theodore. He was executed the next year by the government of Vilbrun Guillaume Sam.