Evening star., 1933-09-11
CUBAN BITTERNESS
AGAINST US. GROWS
Mass Meeting Brings Evil
dence of Intense Feeling
Aroused by Ships Presence.
BY COL. FREDERICK PALMER.

BY COL. FREDEhfSh TALMLh.
By Radio to The Star.
HAVANA September II (N.AN.A).
The increasing bitterness Of the Gu
bans against the Americans owing to
Sie presence in the harbor Of the
? S. S. Mississippi, which was the
.-sdiug feature of the days talk, came
- head in the Fuera la Marina
Yanqui mass meeting called by the Liga
Anti-Imperialista Guiana Cuban Anti
Imperialist League) in protest against
the American naval demonstration in
Cuban waters.
Perfervid orators dripped perspira-
ton under the tropical sun as they
pictured the wrongs Cubans have suf-
fered from the United States meddling
in their affairs and their exploitation
by American capitalists and indus
trialists without relieving Cuba's eco
Eomic distress.
Fifteen hundred persons listened in
the park itself while other orators
found bootblack stands convenient
platforms for their appeals to 500 more
spectators who refused to be drawn
from the shade of the neighboring
arcade.
Ask Free Gasoline.
Placards demanded: Down with
Platt and WelleS," the end of Ameri-
can imperialism in Cuba and the eX-
pulsion of United States warships, and
ore said Compel the Standard Oil
TO give the Cuban government free
gasoline" which, plus the Cuban tax,
costs % cents a gallon. big banner
OF red cloth with white lettering begged
Cuban sailors and soldiers to join the
Communist movement
When 7 ctrOllpS ammo tho iernon-
strators I met a few scowls but in
answer to my smile and Americana"
they good-natu turedly let me pass.
Old American residents in Cuba in
siSt bitterness exists nevertheless, and
violent demonstrations may yet develop.
I saw crowd begin to disperse with
out having given the police, who stood
about armed with rifles, any trouble.
The Fuera La Marina Yanqui posters
were also evident in long funeral pro-
cession of soldiers, sailors and students
which filed past the presidential palace
in honor of soldier killed Saturday by
the accidental discharge of his machine
gun.
Meetings Are Permitted.
The Grau San Martin government
seems to be following the example Of
the De Cespedes government in giving
people whom former President Machado
never allowed to hold public meetings
permission to meet in small groups to
work off eight years accumulation Of
emotion.
Aside from the anti-American as
sembly, there was an induction of the
new President by firing salutes from
Moro Castle in honor of the event and
visit to the sea wall by those who
l., ~ 1,A hot hi
sippi They noted that the Mississippi
did not join the salutes and they are
being fed on rumors that Spain and all
the South American nations already
have recognized the junta government.
Americans with long experience in
Cuba are far from being treasured by
the new tuIn of events. Notably pres
ent at the Inauguration of the new
President. Ramon Grau San Martin,
were the radical left wing of the A. B. c.
which has now split INTO several fac
tions, and the radical student groups.
The third new administration in a
month takes over Cuba, in which 2,000,-
900 people are on the borderline of star
vation and in which the main depart
ments of the government have not been
functioring for month.
Court Cases Delayed.
Lawyers say they will not press cases
in court lest. though they win judg
nent. it be held null and void because
the San Martin government is uncon-
stitutional.
Pressure from Washington, the COM
ing of the U. S. S. indianapolis with
Secretary of the Navy Swanson on
board. the presence of the battleship
Mississippi, all brought the danger of
intervention as the actual determining
factor in the reaching of an agreement
among the factions on the third night
after three days and two nights of
counsel
The general opinion Is that the new
government is controlled by the junta
and is radical. and that it has made
some appointments to propitiate the
conservatives while hoping for recog
milton by the United States as de facto.
San Martin as the head and Batista,
former sergeant. now colonel and chief
of staff. have become the dominating
factors. With Batista rests the re-
sponsibility for order. He tells his men
he is still Sergeant Batista, their COM
rade and friend. and, for the time be-
ing, this honeymoon of the new regime
preserves order.
Americans Are Fearful.
But 1000 Americans in Havana and
1000 scattered through the island are
not relieved of their fears when it is
known to them that Batista continues
in power His answer is that no one
has been harmed yet.
Former army officers on the veranda
of the Hotel National. seeing big
limousine passing along the Malecon by
the sea wall point it out as being at
present the official car of the former
sergeant.
The Hotel National has become the
fort of the deposed army officers and
the right wing of the A. B. C.'S and is
in a siege. Any one entering the
grounds must show his identity and his
car is thoroughly searched for arms by
Batistas soldiers However, I found
that saying I was an American was
sufficient passport.
The A. B. C.'s are posted with rifles
while machine guns in adjoining build
ings sweep the approaches to the hotel.
The officers and the A. B. C.'S in this
siege wander about the corridors, sew
eral enjoying the swimming pool of
Hayanas finest tourist hotel, while
soldiers of BatiSta's squad take shelter
from the sun by a monument, their
rifles leaning against its base. Batista'S
evident policy is to let his former supe-
riorS stew while he commands the army
Rumors persist that the officers and
the armed A. B. C.'s may make a sally
when the soldiers and police are busy
preserving order at the mass meetings
held in protest against the American
SPECIAL NOTICES.