Cuban historian Rolando Gallardo openly questions the label of "dictator" applied to former Cuban president Gerardo Machado (who governed from 1925 to 1933) and argues that the prevailing view of that period is constructed from a Marxist-Leninist approach that unjustly demonized a politician who came to power through democratic means. Gallardo made these statements in an interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba, as part of a series of discussions on republican history that this platform broadcasts live on Tuesdays at 11:30 AM, from Miami.
"The view we have today of the Revolution of the 1930s and the alleged dictatorship of Gerardo Machado is a completely communist perspective with this Marxist-Leninist foundation. They portray Gerardo Machado as the worst of human beings," said Gallardo.
Costa commented on the difficulty he encountered while researching for interviews with sources that were not exclusively pro-Castro. In this regard, Gallardo pointed out that nearly all the available historiography from that period was produced by the Castro regime or by communists since the 1920s and 1930s, which, in his view, invalidates the official narrative.
"I have come across the fact that almost all the reviews or writings about the Revolution of '30 have been done by the dictatorship, by the regime. So I say, if they've fed me half-truths or narratives constructed around other things, I can't trust this," Tania Costa stated as she introduced the topic.
Gallardo emphasizes that Machado became president in 1925 after winning the 1924 elections, with no criminal record or history of corruption. "He was a man who made promises and kept them. And this is something rare among Cuban politicians, who generally promise something and then do not deliver," he underscored.
The central point of the analysis revolves around the constitutional reform of 1928, which extended the presidential term from four to six years. Gallardo emphasizes that it was not a unilateral imposition. “The constitutional reform of 1928, which he does not impose, is taken directly to Congress and is also approved by deputies of different political trends, something that in Cuba we no longer recognize as a type of political diversity.”
To illustrate the double standard with which the left judges similar cases, Gallardo brings up former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who also resorted to a constitutional reform to extend his time in power, serving three terms when the law allowed for only two. “The fact that a communist did it does not make that formula good, but it is legal. Let's say it is legal,” Costa reproached the historian.
However, the comparison that Gallardo finds definitive is the one that juxtaposes Machado's mandate extension—an additional two years on a four-year term—with the more than 67 years that Castroism has been in power since 1959. "We have six years, against 60," he declared.
This difference in scale makes it, in his view, impossible to equate Machado with the current Cuban regime. Gallardo added with irony that he can raise this debate precisely because he has no background as a ruler.
The historian also highlights the specific legacy of Machado in public works such as the Central Highway —approximately 1,139 kilometers constructed in less than four years— and the National Capitol of Havana, inaugurated in 1929, as evidence of a president who fulfilled his promises, implicitly contrasting with the leaders who came after 1959.
This interview is part of a critical review of Cuban republican history that Gallardo has developed alongside Tania Costa, questioning the official Castro narrative regarding the period from 1902 to 1958 and arguing that this history was deliberately distorted to justify the 'Revolution' of 1959.
Filed under: