Manuel Benítez y González was a Cuban Machadista (follower of
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933.
Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...
) and soldier in the
Cuban Liberation Army
The Cuban Liberation Army (), colloquially known as the Mambises, Mambí Army () was an insurgency, insurgent army which was formed in the last third of the 19th century and fought for independence from Spain and the abolitionism, abolition of ...
who helped purge the
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
from
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, and later a journalist for the
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
Benítez was 14 years old when he joined the
Cuban Liberation Army
The Cuban Liberation Army (), colloquially known as the Mambises, Mambí Army () was an insurgency, insurgent army which was formed in the last third of the 19th century and fought for independence from Spain and the abolitionism, abolition of ...
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933.
Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...
, Benítez - as Commander of the 8th Regiment of the Rural Guard - was dismissed from his command and imprisoned at
La Cabaña
''Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña'' (Fort of Saint Charles), colloquially known as La Cabaña, is an 18th-century fortress complex, the third-largest in the Americas, located on the elevated eastern side of the harbor entrance in Havana, ...
. When he was released from prison, he joined the
Liberal Party of Cuba
The Liberal Party of Cuba (), was one of the major political parties in Cuba from 1910 until the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s, when it was exiled.
History Liberal governments
Founded as the Autonomist Liberal Party (, PLA), in 1878 and rena ...
.
Under the presidency of
Federico Laredo Brú
Federico Laredo Brú (; April 23, 1875, Remedios, Las Villas, Cuba – July 7, 1946, Havana, Cuba) was an attorney and served as President of Cuba from 1936 to 1940. He was married to Leonor Gomez-Montes. Laredo Bru was a Colonel in the Cuban ...
, Benítez served as the director general of Immigration, and was a welcome recipient of Jewish refugees from Europe. In 1939, Benítez sold forged permits to German Jewish refugees for 150 dollars each, allowing them to enter the country for sanctuary and
asylum
Asylum may refer to:
Types of asylum
* Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome
* Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute
* Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea
* ...
.
However, certain people in the government did not appreciate this, and these forged permits were eventually denied entry into Cuba by the Cuban president. This scandal by the palace eventually forced the entire transatlantic ship to return to Europe with over 900 Jews on board, after having been anchored in Havana for a full week. This is considered one of the darkest moments in Cuban-Jewish relations, and is known today as the "Voyage of the Damned."
Benítez was later elected to the
Constituent Assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
, where he signed the Cuban Constitution of 1940. He later became a Cuban Senator, and head of the Senate Defense Committee. Benítez died in 1946.