The act provoked an uprising of the opposing Liberal Party, which in turn unleashed the
events leading to another US intervention. For almost three years (1906-1909), the Island
was once more under a US administration.
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One of the camps set by the interventionist Northamerican troops
since 1906. Gardens of the Parade Ground, in front of the former Palace of the Capitanes
Generales. La Habana. |
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Again, the period will contribute to define the traits of the republican system by means
of a curious combination of juridical norms and government corruption.
Under the empire of the Platt Amendment, two major political parties, the Liberal and the
Conservative, founded on the dominance of the local bosses and on the needs of clienteles,
disputed power one to the other by means of electoral cheating and riots.
The winner’s loot would be the public treasure, a source of wealth for a
"political class," which, given the growing control of the Cuban economy by US
capitals, could not find a better area in which to use, in a more profitable way, its
talents. Government management would thus become the motive for frequent scandals.
Scandals would be frequent during
the government of José Miguel Gómez (1909-1913).
His government would be also marked by the bloody repression
of the uprising of the Independientes
de Color (Colored Independents), amovement in which
many blacks and mulattos tried to fight against racial
discrimination, though without a clear awareness of
how to do it.
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| General Major José Miguel Gómez (1858-1921). He climbed to the
presidency on January 28, 1909, considering the second military occupation of United
States finished. His government was characterized by the increase in the administrative
and political corruption and by the political crimes. |
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The severe conservatism of his successor, Mario
García Menocal (1913-1920) was not enough to hide corruption, which was in this case
favored by the economic boom after the First World War. Menocal managed to win a
reelection with the already usual and normal procedures, which, in turn, caused another
liberal uprising and the resulting interventionist haste from the United States.
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General Mario García Menocal Deop (1866-1941). Third president of
the neo-colonial republic symbolized the climbing of the neo-colonial oligarchy to power.
He finished his term with a huge personal fortune and in process to becoming a planter. |
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