THE CUBA REVIEW 



elected Senator from Matanzas and after 

 that retired to private life until his recent 

 appointment as Secretary of Agriculture. 



General Pedro E. Betancourt 



Secretary of Agriculture 



General Pedro Betancourt, Secretary of 

 Agriculture, Commerce and Labor, of Cuba, 

 is well fitted for that office by virtue of his 

 close attention to agricultural interests 

 during his retirement from public office. 

 He was born in Seiba Mocha, province of 

 Matanzas, in 1858. He studied medicine in 

 Philadelphia and later in Madrid, where he 

 received his degree in 1881. When the war 

 of 1895 broke out he was among the first to 

 enUst in defense of Cuban freedom. He 

 was imprisoned for a time in the castle of 

 San Severino, then transferred to Havana 

 and sent to Spain as a pohtical prisoner. 



While in Spain he met Gen. Calixto 

 Garcia, who helped him to escape to France. 

 In the French capital he joined Dr. Betances 

 and served in a commission and afterwards 

 went to New York, to join the Revolutionary 

 Junta. Gen. Betancourt enlisted in four 

 different expeditions for Cuba and was at 

 one time seized by the British cruiser 

 "Patridge" and imprisoned in Nassau. 

 Finally he was set free and eventually 

 landed on the coast of Cuba under Gen. 

 Garcia. He fought in the ranks of Gen. 

 Lacret until the end of the war. After the 

 war he was made civil governor of Matanzas. 

 He was chosen to interview President 

 McKinley with respect to the fuU meaning 

 of the Piatt Amendment. Later he was 



Dr. Aristides Agramonte 



Secretary of Sanitation 



Dr. Aristedes Agramonte, Cuban Secretary 

 of Sanitation, was born in Camaguey, Cuba, 

 on June 3, 1869. He was educated in the 

 public schools of New York and in 1886 was 

 graduated from the College of the City of 

 New York. Later in 1892 he took his degree 

 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of 

 New York, after obtaining the Harsen Prize. 

 He .was house surgeon at the Roosevelt 

 Hospital for two years and visiting physician 

 at Bellevue Hospital for several years. He 

 served in the United States Army engaged 

 in research work in connection with infec- 

 tious diseases in Cuba. 



Dr. Agramonte has been closely con- 

 nected with the Havana University, being 

 professor of bacteriology and experimental 

 pathology in that university. He has been 

 sent as delegate to medical congresses held 

 in Lisbon, Berlin and Washington, and is 

 the author of many scientific works. A 

 member of the United Spanish War Veterans, 

 he was commander of Havana Camp No. 1 

 in 1910. 



