The Fragile Republic 45Miguel Gomez, but it had strength in Matanzas and Oriente
also. Both factions favored immediate independence. The
Union Democratica, the third political group, was led by
Havana conservatives, many of whom favored continued
American tutelage. In the election itself, regional loyalties
prevailed; the Federal Republicans elected all their candi
dates in Santa Clara and Matanzas, the Nationalists theirs in
Havana. The Uni6n Democratica, labeled the American party,
collapsed from lack of support.
In the elections for delegates to the Constitutional Conven
tion in the fall of 1900, the same alignments held, despite
Wood's restriction of the suffrage to literates, property owners,
and veterans. Elected by province on the basis of population,
the delegates, whether Nationalist or Federal Republican,
were (with one exception) leaders of the independence
movement and unfriendly to American control. Among the
thirty-one men were "generals of the wars of independence,
distinguished conspirators, patriots ennobled by emigration
and banishment, noted specialists in Public Law."^47 Among
the more prominent members were Gonzalo de Quesada,
member of the revolutionary junta and soon to be minister
to the United States; General Juan Rius Rivera, former
Secretary of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce and civil
governor of Havana; General Emilio Nunez, governor of
Havana; General Alejandro Rodriguez, former mayor of Ha
vana and commander of the Rural Guard; Havana lawyer
Alfredo Zayas; General Pedro Betancourt and Domingo
Mendez Capote, political bosses from Matanzas; Salvador
Cisneros Betancourt, planter from Camaguey, ex-president of
the insurgent government and former Marquis of Santa Lucia;
Juan Gualberto Gomez, Negro orator and editor from Oriente.
The Santa Clara delegation included General Jose Miguel
Gomez, General Jose de Jesus Monteagudo, General Jose B.
Aleman, mulatto lawyer Martin Morua Delgado, General Jose
Luis Robau and Colonel Enrique Villuendas, all in the ruling
clique of the Federal Republicans. In all, the delegates were
Cuba's political elite.