The “Cuban Assembly” composed of delegates elected by 31 corps of the Army of Liberation and summoned by the Council of Government to meet at Santa Cruz del Sur on October 14, 1898. After President Masó had charged the assembly with ensuring Cuban independence, the paying off of the army and getting the country back into working order, the council formally dissolved itself in favor of the new body. A commission headed by Calixto García Iñiguez was sent to Washington to negotiate with the U.S. government. President McKinley, realizing that the assembly’s main concern was the army’s pay, refused its formal recognition or any discussion of other topics. Calixto García’s maladroit bargaining and his untimely death, plus, the recruitment of Assembly President Méndez Capote by the occupation administration, allowed the United States to ignore the assembly and negotiate the payment and disbanding of the rebel army directly with Máximo Gómez. The assembly reacted by dismissing Gómez, thereby depriving itself of any popular support and sympathy. Totally frustrated, the assembly dissolved itself April 4, 1899.
