from
Public Philosopher; Selected letters of Walter Lippmann
Edited by John Morton Blum.
New York, Ticknor & Fields, 1985, pp. 220-221.


Letter to Orestes Ferrara
Cuban Ambassador to the United States

June 18, 1928

Dear Mr. Ambassador:

I thank you for your letter of June 14th, and I assure you that in writing the article for Foreign Affairs, I had no desire to make inaccurate assertions or arbitrary deductions. I feel, after reading your letter, that while there is room for honest difference of opinion in the interpretation of the facts, there is nothing in the article to which you have called my attention which meets your descriptions.

You speak, first, of the question of dictatorship. That, to be sure, is a matter of definition, but in my opinion the character of your election laws, the absence of opposition parties and the denial of freedom of the press, constitute dictatorship.

Second, as to the spending of public money, that is a matter of judgment which, however, is confirmed by the opinion of Americans wholly friendly to Cuba and well acquainted with its history.

Third, the question as to whether or not there is ground for revolution. My statement meant that since open political opposition and free elections are not tolerated in Cuba, a revolution would sooner or later be inevitable as the only feasible way of changing the government, but that the Platt amendment' stands in the way.

On your fourth point, in regard to the tariff, I am, in agreement with you. I see no ground for dispute. The fact that the modification of the sugar tariff would be of benefit to the United Sates does not alter the fact that such modification is greatly desired by the Machado administration.

As to the question of loans, I think you have not quite understood me. It is true that the question of loans does not fall within the scope of the Platt amendment. But it does fall within the discretion of the State Department.

I see nothing in my statements which casts any reflection upon the conduct of the Cuban delegation at Havana. It acted as any official delegation is bound to act, in accordance with its conception of the national self-interest. By all prevailing standards you are justified in describing it as just, honorable and true. All I did was to state rather bluntly certain of the concrete elements which were bound to enter into the Cuban Government's conception of its own interest. I appreciate your remark as to my own motives and good will in the matter. I can assure you that I have the utmost good will towards Cuba and a great admiration for her people and for their achievements.

NOTES:

1. Orestes Ferrara, Cuban ambassador to the United States.

2. The Platt Amendment of 1901, which Cuba had accepted as one condition for its independence, authorized the United States to intervene to preserve Cuban independence and maintain law and order.

3. Gerardo Machado, Cuban president and later dictator.

4. At the Havana Conference of Inter-American States in 1928, the United States delegation blocked a resolution, supported by Cuba, that declared "no state has the right to intervene in the internal affairs of another."