History of Cuba: American Intervention
American Intervention
In 1898 the battleship "Maine", sent to protect American citizens in Cuba, mysteriously exploded in Havana's harbor, causing the death of 266 American marines. As Jose Martí had feared, the American government had been biding its time before it tried to claim the island. The Maine's explosion gave the US the perfect excuse to blame Spain and intervene in the war that the Cubans had by now practically won. In order to manipulate the American public opinion, previous to this event, sensationalist stories had been publisher in the USA, often inaccurate, about the horrors that the Spaniards had inflicted upon the Cuban population. In this way, the spark of war and justification were provided. Today, the cause of the ship's explosion remains a mystery and it will probably never be solved, as the wreck of the Maine was raised from Havana's bay in 1911 and sunk in deep waters to avoid navigation hazards.
After this event, with public opinion on its side, the American government offered to resolve the conflict by buying Cuba for 300 million dollars, which Spain flatly rejected. Trying to avoid a conflict with the Americans, the Spaniards declared a cease-fire and lifted the re-concentration of farmers. Nevertheless, these measures failed to impress the Americans who declared war on Spain in April 1898. The Spaniards knew they were doomed from the very beginning and were just looking for a quick defeat which allowed them to surrender to the superior force. Surrender without offering at least some resistance provoked an uprising in Spain and the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy.
The only action on land was the Battle of San Juan Hill, in which 6000 American troop spent a whole day to defeat 700 Spanish defenders. Blocked inside Santiago de Cuba's port, the Spanish fleet attempted to break out of the bay, unfortunately for them some of the galleons caught fire in a strong tail wind. A large number of sailors made it to land and surrendered. After tightening the naval blockade on the port of Santiago de Cuba, Spain finally surrendered on July 17, 1898. The Americans wouldn't let the Cuban General Calixto García, Commander of the rebel forces in the East, march into the city for the official surrender ceremony, on the grounds that García´s troop were largely black. As a result, the Cuban population lent little help to the American army when they started dying of yellow fever and malaria. The Cuban army moved to other cities to obtain the Spanish surrender when the depleted American troops retreated back to the States.
On December 12, 1898 the Treaty of Paris was signed, without Cuban representation, putting an end to the Spanish-American war. The US annexed Puerto Rico, Guam and The Philippines. Cuba was placed under martial law until 1902. During these 4 years, the American governors allowed the former Spanish authorities to remain in their posts and disbanded the rebel army. One of them, Leonard Wood, launched a campaign to improve the health system, taking into account the long history of yellow fever epidemics which regularly affected the island. Despite the fact that in 1881 the Cuban doctor Carlos J. Finlay had discovered the mosquito Aedes as the carrier, the Spaniards did not take the measures suggested to them. Wood took up the fight and finally eradicated yellow fever in Cuba.
Around 1900, Wood summoned a meeting of Cuban delegates to issue a Constitution similar to that of the US. However, a bill called the Platt Amendment was added (named after Senator Orville Platt from Connecticut) which guaranteed the US, among other things, the right of intervention whenever they saw fit. The Cubans had the choice but to accept the amendment or remain under martial law indefinitely. The Platt Amendment was accepted as the lesser of two evils and it also laid the groundwork for the acquisition of the Guantánamo naval base in 1903 which remains in the hands of the United States.
