Death of Penate

Something had happened that Col. Roberto Mendez Penate, Secretary of Justice in Provisional President Mendieta's cabinet, could not forget. He had been at the Palace for a cabinet meeting until after midnight. The little, soft-voiced Castilian rose early, had a cheerful breakfast. Half a dozen people were waiting in the outer office to see him. He went into his private orifice and said to his secretary: "I cannot understand why the President made Carlos president of the State Council. Why? Why?'' Later he said with decision, "The Government's problems will be settled within an hour." He went into his sleeping room, closed the door, took a revolver out of a drawer, shot himself once in the throat and fell to the floor. His wife rushed in and bent over him. He half-raised himself, turned his face toward her and motioned her to go away. Hour and a half later, on an operating table, he died.

If an able, sincere, well-loved member of President Roosevelt's New Dealers had killed himself last week in the midst of his work, his death would have shaken the U. S. with fear, doubt, curiosity. It began to seem last week that Col. Penate in death had struck one of his most powerful blows for his principles. No one will ever know all that was in his mind when he pressed the steel muzzle against his windpipe, but last week every Cuban who had been keeping track of local affairs had a lot of ideas about it.

The "Carlos" of whom he had spoken was Carlos Manuel de la Cruz, who is the business partner of the man who was Tyrant Machado's Secretary of Public Works. Although a Menocalist he was a good friend of Secretary of State Cosmo de la Torriente, who is a leader in the Union Nacionalista and enjoys President Mendieta's confidence. Penate. Mendieta and de la Torriente were united against Machado. All had once been prominent in the Government, all had staked their political futures on getting rid of Machado, all were exiled. Particularly warm grew the friendship between Penate and Mendieta. They were probably the two most popular men in Cuba. When Penate sailed into Havana Harbor after Machado's overthrow, a mob of 40,000 cheered him home. Observers had predicted that when Mendieta passed on the Government some time next year to a regularly elected president, it would be to his friend Penate. Against that possibility one man stood firm: de la Torriente. Last week President Mendieta was forming his Council of State of half a hundred men to advise the cabinet. It was to be the nearest thing to a legislative branch in the present Cuban Government and it needed a president, who would naturally be in line to be next president of Cuba. Penate frankly wanted the job. De la Torriente's candidate was de la Cruz. And, day before Penate shot himself, his old friend Mendieta gave the job to de la Cruz.

But Col. Penate was no child. He was 63 and he had won his rank in the Cuban War of Independence. He had held important judgeships, been Governor of Santa Clara Province. He had joined Mendieta in the unsuccessful Gibara revolt in 1931 against Machado, had served his term in jail. Childless, he had many friends, a brother Rodolfo who was Mendieta's Secretary of Labor. He was the head of the most powerful single faction to survive all the shuffles in Cuban politics, The Union Nacionalista. One defeat was hardly enough to make him quit. And so last week all Cuba decided that Penate knew something of the Government's plans, probably a strong swing to the Right, that impressed him as the finishing blow to all he had fought and waited for.

The immediate results of Penate's suicide were that President Mendieta went to bed and refused to see anybody except doctors, and that members of the ABC demanded the resignations of de la Cruz and de la Torriente. Rodolfo Penate and two others resigned from the cabinet. A whisper of apprehension swept over Cuba. President Mendieta ordered a three-day period of mourning. But he could not force Penate's widow to accept any official honors at the funeral and he was too ill and dismayed to go himself.

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