Y el tercer mal de la Republica acorde a Guggenheim (y a su historia) Closely related to the abuse of amnesties and par- dons is a third fundamental abuse, that of the im- munity of members of the Cuban Congress. The Con- stitution of Cuba provides that members of the Congress, unless they are taken flagrante delicto, shall be arrested or indicted only with the permission of the body to which they belong. The sense of soli- darity and mutual courtesy among Cuban Senators and Representatives is very deep, so deep that the req- uisite permission for the arrest or indictment of a member of the Congress is almost invariably with- held. In practice, therefore, the personal and political acts of a Cuban Senator or Representative are re- strained only by his sense of honor and propriety. The political consequences of the immunity are un- fortunate. For this reason Cuban newspapers and occasionally business organizations have on their staff a member of Congress who takes responsibility for the acts of these organizations and can aid them with his personal im- munity. In all the efforts to establish political re- forms the greatest resistance was encountered to sug- gestions for modifying this Congressional immunity. The student movement, whatever its weaknesses and ineptitudes, had its origin in a revolt against Cu- ban political practices and was stimulated by the greed and lack of foresight of the politicians. It is difficult for the North American to comprehend a situation in which the students take such a prominent part in gov- ernment. When I asked a Cuban friend after the fall of Machado whether the University of Havana, which had been closed for three years would reopen, he answered: The University will reopen, but I do not know who will attend, as the students are all busy governing. The North American must understand that the Latin American youth in the past has not found an outlet for his surplus energies and maturing ambi- tions in athletics and other highly organized student activities, which are such an important part of Anglo- Saxon university life. In addition, the intrigue and conspiracy which dominated Cuban life for centuries were ingrained in the youth of the country. A natural gift for oratory coupled with youths usual tendency toward radical experiment and change, makes the Latin-American university an incubator for political movements. Also, there is a Cuban tradition for student martyr- dom, that played its part in the recent sanguinary guerrilla warfare between the Machado regime and the students. In 1871, eight students were tried for the offense of violating a tomb in connection with a political incident. They were found guilty after an un- fair trial and shot. Their innocence was afterwards pronounced by the Spanish Cortes. Today one of the prominent landmarks of Havana is a fragment of the firing wall against which these students were placed for execution. The wall is now surrounded by a little Greek temple and a tablet bears this inscription: On the 27th of November 1871 there were sacrificed in front of this place by the Spanish Volunteers of Havana, the eight young Cuban students of the First Year of Medi- cine. The student group has employed as one of the rallying calls the catch phrase—Yankee Imperial- ism. Originally this widespread cry was a protest against the extension of the territory of the United States at the expense of Latin America; later, against views such as that of Secretary Olney claiming the United States is practically sovereign on this Con- tinent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition; and still later against so- called dollar diplomacy and the policy of pre- ventive intervention. In very recent years with the disappearance of these causes for protests and with the advent of the world depression, there has devel- oped a tendency to direct the fire against the for- eigners whose capital is developing the resources of the country. In so far as the protest against Yankee Business Imperialism is an attack on the foreign in- vestor, it should take into consideration the present accepted policy stated by former President Hoover, that it ought not to be the policy of the United States to intervene by force to secure or maintain con-
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 17:02:10 +0000
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