Salvador Cisneros Betancourt

Salvador Cisneros y Betancourt (February 10, 1828 - February 28, 1914) was a Cuban revolutionary and statesmen, who was the only Cuban to become the president of the Republic of Cuba twice.

Early life
Salvador Cisneros y Betancourt was born in Puerto Principe (now Camagüey), Spanish Cuba on February 10, 1828.

Born into a noble and wealthy family of planters, he inherited the title of II Marquis of Santa Lucía in 1846. The King of Spain granted the title to his father following a donation of the lands on which the town of Nuevitas in Puerto Principe was founded. He was a relative of Gaspar Betancourt Cisneros.

When his uncle relocated to the United States to settle in Philadelphia in the late 1840s, Salvador's father sent him to get his education in the country. He graduated at the top of his class with a degree in Civil Engineering. From the 1850s, he engaged in early activities of Cuba's bid for independence from the Spanish Empire, joining the annexationist movement. For his political actions, he was banished and exiled from Cuba.

In 1866, he joined the Tínima masonic lodge in Camagüey. He organized and presided over the Revolutionary Committee of Puerto Príncipe (Camagüey) with Ignacio Agramonte and Eduardo Arteaga.

Ten Years' War
At the outbreak of the Ten Years' War, he resigned his title of Marquis, granted freedom to his slaves, and put his assets at the service of Cuban independence. His estates were confiscated, but were partially restored following the Pact of Zanjón in 1878.

While he was in Havana, news reached him, prompting him to leave for Guáimaro, a town in Camagüey. Delegated by Camagüey to the Constitutional Assembly of Guáimaro, he was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and presided over the single-chamber legislature. On February 26, 1869, the President of the House of Representatives signed the Decree of Abolition of Slavery (Abolición de la Esclavitud) along with Eduardo Agramonte, Ignacio Agramonte, Francisco Sánchez y Betancourt and Antonio Zambrana. On April 10, 1869, fifteen parliamentarians formed the Constituent Assembly, and the Constitution of Guáimaro was signed by Salvador Cisneros Betancourt and others. In the following months, he organized the second Revolutionary Cuban Junta.

He succeeded Carlos Manuel de Céspedes as the President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms from 1873 to 1875. Juan Bautista Spotorno became his successor upon his resignation.

In 1878, he rejected the Pact of Zanjón, and when the insurgents' cause collapsed, he sought refuge in New York, and spent eight years there before returning to Cuba.

Cuban War of Independence
During the Cuban War of Independence from 1895 to 1898, Cisneros Betancourt employed himself in favor of Cuban independence and joined the Mambises.

After José Marti, who was at the head of the third Cuban Junta, died in May 1895, the Ten Years' War veteran took over. As members of the Jimaguayú Constitutional Assembly of 1895, delegates from all the Cuban provinces met in September 1895. The Jimaguayú Constitution was adopted on the 16th of the month. The members established a civil government of the Cuban Republic in Arms consisting of a president, vice-president, and cabinet. On September 19, 1895, Salvador Cisneros Betancourt was elected as the President of the Provisional Government of Cuba with Bartolomé Masó as vice-president and Tomás Estrada Palma, the delegate plenipotentiary. General-in-chief Máximo Gómez and Lieutenant General Antonio Maceo were elected and exercised sole authority over all military operations. Although, Cisneros Betancourt advocated that even during wartime, the military should be under the authority of the civil government rather than acting independently. His first cabinet included Secretary of Internal Affairs Santiago G. Canizares, Secretary of Agriculture Severo Pina, Secretary of Foreign Affairs Rafael Portuondo, Secretary of War Carlos Roloff and Vice-Secretary of War Mario G. Menocal. He held office until October 10, 1898.

In August 1900, he visited President William McKinley in Washington to protest abuses inflicted upon the Cuban people by the United States Military Government in Cuba, especially under Military Governor Leonard Wood. He published the Appeal to the American People on Behalf of Cuba on August 24, 1900.

He opposed the Platt Amendment in 1901, which specified the terms for the United States' termination of its military occupation in Cuba. In 1902, Salvador Cisneros Betancourt was elected to the Cuban Senate following the 1901 Cuban general election. On October 10, 1907, he established the Revolutionary Junta of Havana, to oppose closer ties with the United States.

He held the position of president of the National Veterans' Council in 1911 and, in 1913, headed the Committee for the Abolition of the Platt Amendment.

Death
Salvador Cisneros Betancourt died in Havana, Cuba on February 28, 1914.