On November 28, 1897, Spain granted autonomy to Puerto Rico after the Independence Party’s coup of September 23, 1868, El Grito de Lares. General elections were held in March/July of 1898 and Puerto Rico's autonomous government began to function, but not for long.
BUCHANAN: “… We liberated Puerto Rico. We offered Puerto Rico the freedom to go independent, to go commonwealth, to go statehood.”
The Spanish American War broke out and on July 25, 1898 when Puerto Rico was invaded by the U.S. The Spanish forces retreated and on October 18, 1898 Puerto Rico's autonomous government was officially changed to an American military government. The Treaty of Paris was signed and it stated that Spain was to cede Puerto Rico, Guam and Philippines to the U.S. Under this treaty Cuba would become a protectorate of the U.S. The Foraker Act of 1900, changed Puerto Rico’s military government to a civil government.
The President of the U.S. appointed the governor, cabinet and delegates. Puerto Ricans were distressed after having been granted autonomy by Spain, it had now taken a step back to colonialism. On March 2, 1917 President Woodrow Wilson signed the Jones Law. Granting Puerto Ricans American citizenship.
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Hardball, April 20, 2009 (guests Pat Buchanan and Lawrence O’Donnell)http://bit.ly/SyCk6
MATTHEWS: OK, let me ask you about—let‘s get to the facts here before we move on, a little history here. We have two veterans here of history…. What is the legitimate complaint by Latin America against the United States, Lawrence, because Pat says you‘ve got one. What is it? In terms of Latin America, where have we been bad? Where have we been bad. Let‘s hear the worst….
The double standards of the United States politics is what bothers and enfuriates Latin Americans as well as the rest of the world. The U.S. wants to have policies for their own protection and will not grant the same courtesy to other countries. Nuclear weapons, torture, invasion of other countries… etc.
The great historian, Pat Buchanan, was totally misinformed as to what he called the “liberation” of Puerto Rico from the Spanish, when the Spain had already given them the autonomy!
BUCHANAN: Sergeant Batista came to power, I believe, in 1932 under— ‘34, under the Good Neighbor” policy of FDR. He was in power to 1959. Is that our fault, or is it Cuba‘s fault that they can‘t get rid of dictators? Good heavens, there‘s been dictators all over that place. Juan Peron—that‘s all our fault? Blame America first because we did it all!
You indicate that Obama should not be fraternizing with dictators as Chavez but let me help you Pat with a bit of the history this since you seem to be a bit cloudy in this matter. The U.S. was fraternizing with dictators when they gave the green light and back-up to Battista to do as he pleased.
On April of 1933 U.S. Ambassador Benjamin Sumner Welles was sent to Cuba to mediate differences between the government and opposing political groups and he said to Battista, "I will lay down no specific terms; the matter of your government is a Cuban matter and it is for you to decide what you will do about it." To Batista, this was an invitation to rule. So on September 4, 1933 an uprising known as the "Revolt of the Sergeants," Batista took over the Cuban government and he emerged as self-appointed chief of the armed forces and a favored U.S. strong man.
From 34 to 40 Batista ran the country with puppet presidents and was a friend of the U.S. and the mafia until 1940 when defeated Grau San Martín in the first presidential election under a new Cuban constitution and U.S. trade relations increased. But in 1944 Grau San Martin was elected president Batista was forced to relinquish control.
On March 10 1952, 23 months before the upcoming elections (because he was sure to lose) Batista took over the government against elected Cuban president Carlos Prío Socorras. FYI: Also running in that election (for a different office) was a young, energetic lawyer named Fidel Castro. On March 27 Batista's government was formally recognized by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Note Pat Buchanan: Batista was acting as a dictator at this point because he did not get elected with total and full support from the U.S.
Batista opened the way for large-scale gambling in Havana, and he reorganized the Cuban state so that he and his political appointees could harvest the nation's riches. He announced that his government would match, dollar for dollar, any hotel investment over $1 million, which would include a casino license, and Lansky became the center of the entire Cuban gambling operation. Under Batista, Cuba became profitable for American business and organized crime making Havana the "Latin Las Vegas," a playground of choice for wealthy gamblers, and very little was said about democracy, or the rights of the average Cuban.
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