COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 5-Continued ART. IV. All Acts of the United States in Cuba during its military Occupancy thereof are ratified and validated, and all lawful rights acquired thereunder shall be maintained and protected. ART. V. The Government of Cuba will execute, and as far as necessary extend, the plans already devised or other plans to be mutually agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of the island, to the end that a recurrence of epidemics and infectious diseases may be prevented thereby assuring protection to the people and commerce of Cuba, as well as to the commerce of the southern ports of the United States and the people residing therein. ART. VI. The Isle of Pines shall be omitted from the boundaries ART. VII. To enable the United States to maintain the indepen- roosevelt corollary A Section of President Theodore Roosevelt's ....It is not true that the United States feels any land hunger or entertains any projects as regards the other nations of the Western Hemisphere save such as are for their welfare. All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the United States. Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power. If every country washed by the Caribbean Sea would show the progress in stable and just civilization which with the aid of the Platt amendment Cuba has shown since our troops left the island, and which so many of the republics in both Americas are constantly and brilliantly showing, all question of interference by this Nation would be at an end. Our interests and those of our southern neighbors are in reality identical. They have great natural riches, and if within their borders the reign of law and justice obtains, prosperity is sure to come to them. While they thus obey the primary laws of civilized society they may rest assured that they will be treated by us in a spirit of cordial and helpful sympathy. We would interfere with them only in the last resort, and then only if it became evident that their inability or unwillingness to do justice at home and -3 COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 5-Continued abroad had violated the rights of the United States or had invited foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations. It is a rere truism to say that every nation, whether in America or anywhere else, which desires to maintain its freedom, its independence, must ultimately realize that the right of such independence can not be separated from the responsibility of making good use of it. In asserting the Monroe Doctrine, in taking such steps as we have taken in regard to Cuba, Venezuela, and Panama, and in endeavoring to circumscribe the theater of war in the Far East, and to secure the open door in China, we have acted in our own interest as well as as in the interest of humanity at large. There are, however, cases in which, while our interests are not greatly involved, strong appeal is made to our sympathies.... But in extreme cases action may be justifiable and proper. What form the action shall take must depend upon the circumstances of the case; that is, upon the degree of the atrocity and upon our power to remedy it. The cases in which we could interfere by force of arms as we interfered to put a stop to intolerable conditions in Cuba are necessarily very few. -9 lodge Senator Lodge's amendment to the Monroe Doctrine was passed by the Senate, August 2, 1912 RESOLVED, That when any harbor or other place in the COMMITTEE EXHIBIT No. 5-Continued 1868-1968 CIEN AÑOS DE LUCHA by Sharon Krebs In the early 19th century Cuba was one of Spain's most valuable possessions. The Spanish colonialists had begun to exploit the sugar-growing potential of the Cuban soil, turning vast areas into sugar plantations and sugar mills. The huge fields of sugar cane needed millions of hands for planting, weeding and cutting. Since the Spaniards who had "discovered" Cuba had already killed off the Indians whose land it was, African slaves were brought into Eastern Cuba from Haiti, bringing with them the struggle for freedom which was already blazing across the Haitian skies. The Cubans who led the struggle against the Spanish in 1868 and for 10 years after that were ex-slaveholders and plantation owners who were wealthy enough to merchanize their sugar harvesting and free their slaves. Emerging from the 10-year liberation war were the first signs of a unified language for all inhabitants of the island--made up of Cuban and African expressions-and a Cuban culture that belonged to a majority for the first time. Spain had to acknowledge that slavery had ceased to exist and future revolutionaries had to deal with the problem of vast numbers of ex-slaves who were still impoverished. Most of the reforms granted by the Spanish were superficial and Cuban revolutionaries again prepared for a war against Spain. Their military leaders were Maceo and Gomez. Their guiding spirit was Jose Martí, who envisioned a Cuban society based on work and brotherhood. In 1895 war for liberation broke out all over the island. The Spanish forces developed styles of battle designed to isolate the rebels. "Trochas" (entrenchments, barbed-wire fences and lines of blockhouses) were set up across the narrow parts of the island and "reconcentracion" of civilians into camps guarded by Spanish troops was widespread. The reconcentrados were not fed by their captors, but were forced to beg from local inhabitants. These counterinsurgency tactics, brutal and effective, have been studied and adapted by every imperialist power since the Spanish. Cuba was being carefully watched in its suffering by its neighbor to the north. Earlier in the century, the U.S. had tried to buy Cuba outright for $100 million. Although Spain refused to sell, U.S. businesses began to invest in Cuban sugar and mines. Investments soared toward the end of the century, when Cuban land, devastated by the fierce fighting with Spain, was for sale cheap. COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 5- Continued By 1869 U.S. investments in Cuba were $30 million--10% of Cuba's total sugar production came from American-owned mills. In the same year, American mining properties were worth about $15 million and tobacco plantations another $5 million. American Congressmen were making speeches about Cuba's fate. "It is our destiny to have Cuba and it is folly to debate the question." On Feb. 15, 1898 the USS Maine was blown up by unknown persons in Havana Harbor, and that incident served to rally U.S. public opinion to support a war with Spain. The U.S. won the Spanish-American War. The booty included the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. Since the war was theoretically waged over Cuban independence, that was granted. The catch was that the U.S. would see to "protection of private property and the pacification of Cuba." On Jan. 1, 1899 the Spanish troops left Cuba and the U.S. troops began to protect and pacify. On March 3, 1901 the Cuban Constitutional Convention was forced under threat of a constant and continuing American military occupation (in fact, Marines surrounded the convention hall) into accepting the Platt Amendment as part of its new Constitution: -12 Article III. The Government of Cuba consents that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty..... Article VII. To enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defence, the Cuban Government will sell or lease to the United States the land necessary for coaling or naval stations... |
