CUBA-USA: UNPLEASANT MEMORIES By Dr. Néstor García Iturbe July 11, 2015 A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann. In a recent article, in which I mentioned mainly the Marines, one paragraph stated: "In the early years of the neo-colony (some do not like to call it so, and prefer to call those times ‘The First Years of the Republic’), on various occasions, the Marines or other members of the US armed forces landed in Havana. Their purpose was mainly to repress the population, face those who rose against the government, or impose a ruler that was to the liking of the United States." As can be verified, although the title of the article referred only to the Marines, in one paragraph we stated that other members of the armed forces of the United States were sent to our country for different purposes. They left no fond memories of their visits. I recently received an e-mail by Rene Gonzalez Barrios, President of the Institute of History. He sent me some (I underline only some) of the incidents caused by the US military presence in our country between 1913 and 1959. As suggested by compañero René, his sending this list does not mean rekindling fires or grudges, but rather to highlight these historical facts which help to understand our anti-imperialism and our interest in building a relationship where such incidents are not repeated. I reiterate that the list includes only a few incidents. If any reader wishes to provide information on other incidents –before or after the dates indicated here– I will be much obliged and will publish them. Especially all the provocations that over the years have been staged from the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay would significantly increase this list which I will take as a starting point to put together a historical account of these incidents. Here is the list I received from the President of the Institute of History: On April 2, 1913, the New York correspondent of the newspaper El Comercio published the article "Yankee Amnesties", where he denounced that "... in the days of the Second Intervention, a sergeant and two soldiers from the 27th Infantry Regiment, stationed in Pinar del Rio, robbed and cowardly killed two fishermen of La Coloma. The evidence of the murder was so conclusive that Governor Magoon swiftly extracted the murderers from the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, to avoid the stigma –so it was said – that a fair sentence could lay on the occupying army. The culprits were acquitted by the court-martial due to… lack of evidence!!! Then they were brought to the United States and here they were released. !! They were never sentenced!! ". In February 1915, a group of sailors in underwear went around the streets of Guantanamo on horseback. The daily La Voz del Pueblo commented: “Funny Americans”: Yesterday afternoon, some of the American sailors who currently visit us, and who by the way, are equestrian sports fans, played the joke of going horseback riding in our streets wearing nothing else than shorts and sleeveless undershirts. Surely the police and the public had to witness that show without a peep. The pranksters were Americans. Had they been simple employees of any store, merely to show themselves in their undershirts would have earned them a fine, short of being thrown in jail. But as we already said, they were Americans whose pranks must be tolerated with our mouths shut ". On April 23, 1917, US Marines burst into the post office of the city of Baracoa, and interrupted communications. On April 1918, a sergeant in the US Navy slapped a Cuban in a coffee shop in Guantanamo, causing a brawl. A case was brought forward but the decision to try the sergeant was left to the discretion of the US since Cuba had no jurisdiction in these cases. On March 5, 1919, drunken US sailors caused riots in the streets of Manzanillo. On March 12, 1919, crew members of the USS Pretel were used in Cienfuegos as strikebreakers on the ground, intimidating railway workers with their presence. On July 25, 1919, in Bayamo, during a brawl in a cafe, two American soldiers were wounded. On July 30, 1919, four crew members of a US warship attacked and robbed Cuban citizen José Guerrero, in Santiago de Cuba and took all his money. When the police came three of them fled; the fourth was arrested. Soon after, an American captain showed up at the station and, revolver in hand, took the prisoner away. On June 10, 1919, a drunken sailor killed a child with a rifle shot. The incident occurred in the Confluente Sugar Mill, province of Oriente. On January 13, 1920, sailors from eight destroyers landed in Manzanillo. Totally drunk, they accosted and abused women in the streets and invaded homes swearing and uttering profanities. Neighbors who stood up to them were injured. The sailors stole a case of liquor from a store after destroying several tables. The next day, they started a brawl with Cuban soldiers which resulted in several wounded. On June 23, 1920, a group of sailors burst into a tenement on Calle Genios, in Havana, and tried to throw the policeman who came to arrest them over the balcony. When he was attacked, he shot and wounded one of the sailors. On November 20, 1920, two Marines attacked a barbershop in Camaguey and stole the barbers' and customers' money. On December 18, 1920, at the Hotel Camaguey, a drunk marine punched the Corrections Judge Dr. Andreu González. On December 25, 1920, there was a street fight in Calle San Isidro, Havana, between US Marines and Cuban soldiers. Commander Rice of the USS Edsall said the cause of the fights was that Havana was not ready to offer fun to the marines, but only to take money from them. On December 27, 1920, at the brothel at 49 Crespo Stret, in Havana, US marines beat prostitute Claudette Cuvelier. That same year, US officer Leroy Foster, after an altercation with two Cuban railroad worker brothers, invaded gun in hand and accompanied by other US officials, the houses of both brothers. The door of one of the houses was kicked down. The incident occurred in the city of Camagüey. At the trial on November 25, 1921, the two Cubans were sentenced to 60 days in jail. This triggered angry protests from hundreds of people. On January 20, 1922, several marines stormed the cook of a soda factory in Camagüey, and stole 20 pesos from him. On January 24, 1922, drunken marines entered the Rincón Bellaco farm and killed a cow. The attackers were interrupted by cowhand Ramon Garcia. This was reason enough for one of the marines, Donald J. Money, to shoot and kill Garcia. Camagüey courts could not judge the killer. The marine's chiefs sent him to resume his service in Guantanamo. In March 1926, a farmer in Caimanera filed a complaint against the US soldiers and sailors stationed at the Base: "... in my home located in a place known as Paso Cayama near River Jaibo, the life of families becomes unbearable and dangerous. The same happens on the surrounding public roads, because almost daily, but particularly on Saturdays and Sundays, the soldiers and sailors of the fleet anchored at the Naval Station of the United States, have made this place and its surroundings into a target-shooting range, a brothel and gambling den. They fire their regulation Army rifles and pistols to right and left; and as they are almost always fully inebriated, they hurt the livestock that is under my custody and several times have hit the house where I live. " On March 6, 1928, without authorization or notice to the Cuban authorities, the US warship Hannibal, docked in the port of La Fe, Pinar del Rio and its crew –authorized by captain WW Smith– landed and spread in the town and its surroundings. The authorities of the province reported the incident to the Ministry of the Interior. On December 12, 1936, an American soldier shot and killed a woman in the town of Boqueron. He argued that he had been hunting. On December 17, 1940, US Marines savagely beat and killed Lino Rodriguez Grenot in a boat. This was witnessed by dozens of Cubans on the waterfront of Caimanera. His crime: boarding the vessel without authorization. The young man only hoped to get a job at the naval base. A complaint was filed against the four perpetrators but the question of competence was not properly formulated and the case was dismissed. In January 1959, rebel army fighters prevented the lynching of a drunken US Marine. He had entered a home and improperly touched a Cuban woman. The angry locals followed the man to the barracks. The incident occurred on the street Paseo de Adelaida in Manzanillo. René González Barrios President Instituto de Historia de Cuba |
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CUBA.- EU.- RECUERDOS DESAGRADABLES
Por Dr. Néstor
García Iturbe
En un reciente artículo, en el cual mencioné principalmente a los
Marines, uno de los párrafos planteaba:
· El 2 de abril de 1913, el corresponsal en New York
del periódico El Comercio, publicó el artículo “Las Amnistías Yanquis”,
donde denunciaba que “…en los días de la Segunda Intervención, un
sargento y dos soldados del 27 Regimiento de Infantería, destacados en
Pinar del Río, robaron y asesinaron cobardemente a dos pescadores de La
Coloma. Eran tan concluyentes las pruebas del asesinato, que el
gobernador Magoon se apresuró a sustraer a los asesinos de la
jurisdicción de los tribunales ordinarios, para evitar –así se decía– el
estigma que una condena justa podría arrojar sobre el ejército de
ocupación. Los culpables fueron absueltos por el Consejo de Guerra, por
¡¡¡Falta de pruebas!!! Y después los trajeron a los Estados Unidos y
aquí los dejaron en libertad. ¡¡Ni llegaron a condenarlos!!”
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