Evening star., 1934-01-28
|MENDIETA RECOGNITION
MAY EMBARRASS u. S.
Latin America May Interpret Haste as
Indication We Still Reserve Right
to Judge Regimes.
Mistakes and abuses Of past admins

mistakes and abuses Of past admins
trations.
And last, but by no means least, the
armed forces may be-for the time
being, anyhow-behind Col. Mendieta's
regime, Batista's non-commissioned
army having undone, by a curious
about-face, its earlier coup in favor Of
the left sector. OF course, this support
alone might seem sufficient. but one
should not forget that of all the ele-
ments on which the Mendieta govern
ment may rely, this is the one which
offers less assurances of permanency,
or even constancy.
1t is true, say, that all these various
sectors of Cuban public opinion-which
have until now controlled public opinion
without being public opinion Itself
may be today supporting Col Mendieta,
compromise choice 1t Is also true
that, perhaps because of this very fact,
perhaps because he offers them, too,
the best guarantee Of protection for
foreign lives and property, foreign gov
ernments have not concealed their SYM
pathies for the Mendieta regime.
But, apart from the fact that con-
ditions have been so uncertain In Cuba
that the present alignment may be
| altered any moment-maybe even be-
fore these lines are printed-there is
something else with which to reckon.
That something is the radical. or
left sector. which has been growing
stronger since the breakdown of the
Machado rule, and Is bound to grow
even more so under a conservative
| regime which will be unable to solve
at once the innumerable and complex
problems it has inherited.
Left Elements Divided.
The Left elements are themselves
aligned in various groups, ranging
from the moderate radicals who held
power under Grau San Martin and the
directorio estudiantil to the extreme
radicals and Communists. who have
made inroads in the farming popula-
| ton, the intellectual youth and GER
| tain sectors of the army and navy.
! The followers of Guiteras and the 48-
! hour President Hevia occupy a middle
| position between these two
/ Thrown into the opposition camp.
4 and left alone in it, all these radical
/ groups are going to be encouraged into
merging their forces and presenting a
united front, unless unexpected devel-
I opments in the next few days change
! the present outlook. And the possib:li-
( ties OF such a merger should not be
are already much closer to the heart
of the Cuban masses than the con-
/ servatives and "old-timers."
The events which have been taking
place in Cuba since last August give
/ indication that there is among the
Cuban people a widespread movement
of discomfort not only against particu-
! lar political leaders, but against the
whole order of things as they stand
today. There is movement for re-
form-actual reform. quick reform. rad
ical reform.
/ This is only natural after an eight
year dictatorship. in which the Cubans
had an opportunity TO get acquainted
with all the evils Of the present sys-
| TEN. 1t is even more so after three
| decades of so-called f-government
/ under which the Cubans have seen one
bad government succeeded by another
or by worse one-while they were
being constantly exploited by the
'moneyed" classes, national and for
eign.
Who knows but that this movement
might not develop into something like
the Mexican revolution which started
in 1910 with the fall Of Porflrio Diaz,
and is still incomplete?
The elements for re-enactment OF
the Mexican drama are certainly
there. The scenario, the plot the char
acters. are there, even though the lead
ing actors have not as yet appeared on
the stage.
Those who attempt to force an i'm
mediate solution to the Cuban crisis
should bear this in mind Nothing can
be judged with certainty from this dis
tance. but they, may be trying to drown
a genuinely popular movement, re-
generating movement. when they rally
too soon and too earnestly behind the
first conservative who offers them tram
sient domestic peace and continuance
of the existing order of things.