Machado had fought in the War for Independence and afterward was a political figure rising to President.
It was a murky time for Cuba and the US was discontented with the turbulence within the country. The USA appointed Governors to Cuba from from 1906 to 1909. The first Governor would eventually be the 27th President taking office in 1909, William Howard Taft.
Oddly interesting, the USA had control over Cuba following the Spanish-American War, but, relinquished that authority in 1902 forming the Republic of Cuba.
Under Cuba's new constitution, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under the Platt Amendment, the U.S. leased the Guantánamo Bay naval base from Cuba.
Machado would be overthrown in 1933 in a bloodless coup relieving Cuba of authoritarian rule.
