peninsula. Imán appealed to the indigenous Maya population, providing them with firearms. He promised to give them land free of tribute and exploitation. With their support, he prevailed in battle. In February 1840, Imán proclaimed Yucatán's return to a federal regime, then in 1841, declared it to be an independent republic. Antonio López de Santa Anna, head of the Mexican government, did not accept this independence, and invaded Yucatán in 1842, establishing a blockade. Land invasion followed, but the Mexican forces were frustrated in their attempts to take either Campeche or Mérida and withdrew to Tampico. As Yucatán was struggling against Mexican authority, its population became divided into factions. One faction, based in Mérida, was led by Miguel Barbachano, who leaned toward reintegration with Mexico. The other faction was led by Santiago Méndez, based in Campeche. He feared reintegration would expose the region to attack by the United States, as tensions loomed on the northern border that would soon break out in the Mexican–American War. By 1847, the Yucatán Republic had effectively two capitals in the two cities. At the same time, in their struggle against the central government, both leaders had integrated numerous Maya into their armies as soldiers. The Maya, having taken up arms in the course of the war, decided not to set them down again. War breaks out The War was rooted in the defense of Santa Cruz Indian communal lands against the expansion of private ownership, which had accompanied the boom in the production of henequen, or agave, an industrial fiber used in rope production. After discovering the value of the plant, from 1833 the wealthier Hispanic Yucatecos developed plantations to cultivate it on a large scale. Not long after the henequen boom, a boom in sugar production led to more wealth for the upper class. They expanded their sugar and henequen plantations by encroaching on Maya communal lands and typically abused their Maya workers by treating them poorly and underpaying them. (See also Wikipedia article on Mérida). In their correspondence with British Honduras (Belize), rebel Maya leaders cited oppressive taxation as the immediate cause of the war. Jacinto Pat, for example, wrote in 1848 that "what we want is liberty and not oppression, because before we were subjugated with the many contributions and taxes that they imposed on us." Pat’s companion, Cecilio Chi, added in 1849 that promises made by the rebel Santiago Imán,