ns for American intervention in Cuba.Certain improvements, notably the eradication of yellow fever, had beenaccomplished in Cuba during the U.S. occupation. Simultaneously, U.S.corporate interests invested heavily in the Cuban economy, acquiring control ofmany of its resources, especially the sugar-growing industry. Populardissatisfaction with this state of affairs was aggravated by recurring instances offraud and corruption in Cuban politics. The first of several serious insurrectionsagainst conservative control of the republic occurred in August 1906. In the nextmonth the U.S. government dispatched troops to the island, which remainedunder U.S. control until 1909. Another uprising took place in 1912 in OrienteProvince, resulting again in U.S. intervention. With the election of Mario GarcaMenocal to the presidency later in the same year, the Conservative Partyreturned to power. On April 7, 1917, Cuba entered World War I on the side ofthe Allies.Growing Instability Mounting economic difficulties, caused by complete U.S. domination of Cubanfinance, agriculture, and industry, marked the period following World War I. Inan atmosphere of crisis, the Liberal Party leader, Gerardo Machado y Morales,campaigned on a reform platform and was elected president in November 1924.Economic conditions deteriorated rapidly during his administration, the chiefaccomplishment of which, an ambitious public-works program, was achieved byfloating huge loans abroad. Before the end of his second term, he succeeded inacquiring dictatorial control of the government. All opposition was brutallysuppressed during his administration, which lasted until a general uprising inAugust 1933, supported by the Cuban army, forced him into exile. A protractedperiod of violence and unrest followed Machado's overthrow, with frequentchanges of government. During this period the United States instituted variousmeasures, including abrogation of the Platt Amendment, in an effort to q...
