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Gerardo Machado y Morales was born in 1871 in
Santa Clara, Cuba. In 1924, with the support of
outgoing President Zaya's approval, Machado was
elected president of Cuba and became Cuba's leader
from 1925 to 1933. With the support of many sectors
of the Cuban populace who opposed the Platt Amendment,
he ran on a nationalist agenda that focused on
building a national infrastructure.
In 1927, with Machado's support, the Cuban constitution
was amended to extend the president's time in
office. This allowed for Machado to extend his
tenure two more years from the stipulated four,
giving him more time in office without going to
reelection. In 1928, he was granted a further
six years which meant he would remain in office
until 1935.
Machado's
increasingly autocratic rule coupled with the
economic crisis of the 1920's led to civil unrest
in Cuba. A widely popular uprising forced Machado
to flee the country on August 12, 1933. Ambassador
Carlos Miguel de Cespedes was left to run the
government but was quickly removed by revolutionary
forces. Between Machado's overthrow and the middle
of 1934, Cuba was immersed in violence and confusion.
Gerardo Machado spent several years in exile in
the Bahamas, Europe, and Montreal and finally
in the United States. In the early years of his
exile, Machado worked with his supporters, also
living in exile, to develop a plan for his return
to Cuba. In October 21, 1934, the "Plan Miami"
was drafted. This plan called for the recognition
of the Revolution of 1933 and for the establishment
of an interim government that would oversee a
change in Constitutional law with a return of
Machado elements to the political process. It
also contained overtures to Washington by requesting
its involvement in the reorganization of the Cuban
military and recognition of the financial obligations
of Machado's former government to the U.S. None
of the goals spelled out in the plan where carried
out and Machado died in Miami Beach in 1939 without
ever returning to Cuba.
This document forms part of the Gerardo Machado
y Morales Collection of the Cuban Heritage Collection
(CHC) of the University of Miami Libraries. This
collection was donated to the CHC by Machado's
great-grandson, Francisco X. Santeiro, in 1992.
Along with this document, the collection contains
correspondence, business and legal papers, speeches,
and photographs of Gerardo Machado's years in
exile as well as some materials related to his
presidency. |
