File No. 837.911/31.
Minister Gonzales to the Secretary of State.
Habana, June 16, 1914.
Sir: I have the honor to request authority to ask President Menocal for the pardon of Enrique Maza.
On August 27, 1912, Maza, a young Cuban, was a reporter on the Cuban newspaper La Noche. That day, after much public agitation, Mr. H. S. Gibson, then Charge, went to the Cuban State Department with the Second Secretary of Legation and with the American contractor, and collected the Keilly claim amounting to more than $500,000. The Government’s check was declined, and the Cuban authorities were required to bring the currency and deliver it to Mr. Gibson in the State Department.
That evening Enrique Maza assaulted Mr. Gibson in the lobby of the Miramar Hotel, striking him from behind with his fists and knocking him down. Mr. Bell, the Second Secretary, interposed and knocked down Maza.
The following day Maza was indicted and placed in jail. On October 7, 1912, he was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment. He has served more than twenty months of the sentence and has been in prison for nearly twenty-two months.
[Page 190]The Cuban administration at that time was pronouncedly anti-American and in speaking to reporters Secretary of State Sanguily unquestionably incited them to attacks upon the American attitude. I believe from information received here that Maza, having received a distorted idea of his country’s wrongs and having a temperament that lent itself to a morbid patriotism, imagined that he was striking a blow for his country’s honor when he assaulted Mr. Gibson. He was in reality an irresponsible instrument through which the antagonism of high Cuban officials was expressed.
The only formal appeal made to me in behalf of Maza has come from an association of working women of Cuba. President Menocal has ignored all pleas for pardon made by the Cuban press association.
I think the punishment already suffered by Maza is sufficient and the dignity of the United States fully sustained. Should Maza be permitted to serve the remaining nine months of his sentence he would emerge from prison a popular idol, hailed as a martyr for his country. On the other hand, his pardon, secured on the initiative of the United States, would not only prevent any recurrence of anti-American sentiment but would increase friendly feeling. An opportunity would be offered, also, for a statement of the true obligations of a worthy press of any country, and such an understanding is greatly needed in Cuba.
I have [etc.]