ABSTRACT
According to the American version, the United States defeated Spain and helped establish democracy in Cuba. It then occupied Cuba for only four years, during which time it helped write a democratic constitution and fought disease. The United States gave full independence to the island, had none of the colonial aspirations of Europe, and wanted to establish relations of equality. During three years of war, Cuban independence fighters had battled Spanish colonialism to a standstill. After the war, however, the United States ignored the guerrillas and the local independence leaders. The United States carried out similar actions after it conquered Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as part of the same Spanish-American War. The United States gave ministerial-level jobs to trusted Cuban exiles, hoping to maintain power by working through those trusted exiles, landlords and businessmen. According to another declassified CIA document, Robert Kennedy thought the United States hadn't done enough to encourage Cuban exiles to attack Cuba.
