The Politics of Intervention

The Reconstruction of the Cuban Armed Forces 229

tions, etc., which they allege make it impossible for an armed force to

be non-political or to assume the attitude of the soldiers of the United

States towards political affairs.

Instead, most of the Cubans would rather accept the military
weakness of the police rather than have a politically powerful
army. Even though the Liberals were confident of victory
in the next election, they opposed an enlarged Rural Guard.
In all, Magoon concluded, he still favored the General Staff
board's proposals.^23
Roosevelt, after digesting the problem, directed Magoon
to begin reorganizing the Rural Guard and other services
into the ten-thousand-man force recommended by the board,
Magoon, and General Bell.^24 This news brought political up­
roar in Cuba to a new pitch; all the Havana press opposed the
government, the Moderates being more critical than the Lib­
erals.^25 The Spanish La Lucha best presented the conservative
argument. Although it did not doubt the military wisdom of
the General Staff officers' plans, La Lucha worried about the
political factors. First, the September, 1906, law which placed
the legal size of the Cuban armed forces at ten thousand men
was an expedient passed by a discredited government in
panic. The law did not represent the wishes of the Cuban
people. Rather, there must be more public discussion. A plan
of reorganization of the Rural Guard in Cuba could be
dictated not only by military technicism. There were "a great
many factors which must be taken into consideration....
The economic, the administrative, and the political aspect
cannot be disdained in a matter of this kind."^26
While Magoon weighed Cuban criticism, the Liberal
Committee took the initiative and suggested the creation
of an entirely new force, a Permanent Army of Cuba. To
accomplish its goal, it put together arguments blending
political expediency, fiscal policy, and military theory. The
Liberals used North America rhetoric to convince Wash­
ington and to outreason the American officers who opposed
the Permanent Army. Much of their purpose was undoubtedly