President Diaz-Canel recalls history of US intervention in Cuba

President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Wednesday recalled the explosion of the battleship Maine, an event that 125 years ago triggered the intervention of the United States in the war for Cuba's independence.

On his Twitter account, the head of State noted that “125 (years) ago today of the Maine explosion in the Bay of Havana Bay. It was the Yankee pretext to intervene in the war that Cuba was already winning against Spain.”

He pointed out that “they took over the country until 1959. Today they do not forgive us for our independence.”

Historians have verified that the Government of the United States used that event as a pretext to declare war on Spain and interfere in the war that Cuba was waging against the colonial regime.

A report by President William Mackinley requesting authorization to go to war with Spain was approved by Congress.

At the same time, a draft joint resolution was presented in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which Spain’s resignation of its sovereignty over Cuba was demanded and McKinley was authorized to use force to achieve the stated objectives.

On April 25, 1898, war was officially declared, although a naval blockade was already established on April 22, and the first landing of US soldiers took place east of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba on June 22.