Power Politics and International Public Law: Lessons from Benito Cereno (Law, Literature, Postcoloniality‪)‬

I. Introduction Alone on the high seas, on the verge of the 19th century, the Spanish galleon San Dominick, captained by Benito Cereno, is engulfed in revolution when its cargo decides to alter their status. (1) The slaves' rebellion, led by their most intelligent, Babo, and their strongest, Atufal, upends the Spaniards' routine transportation of their "legal property" to the New World. When an American ship crosses paths with the San Dominick, its captain, Amasa Delano, boards the Spanish galleon as Cereno's guest, blissfully unaware that Cereno is no longer in power. Knowing that his rebellion will be quickly quashed if the Americans discover the slaves' mutiny, Babo orchestrates an elaborate act, in which the slaves pretend to be slaves, and the masters pretend to be masters, on pain of death. Eventually, though, Cereno manages to alert the naive Delano to the situation, and the Americans promptly overpower the slaves with their superior strength, numbers, and firepower. In the battle, Atufal is shot and killed, and Babo is captured. He is taken back to land and subjected to a trial under Spanish law. With all "due process," Babo is tried, and hanged.