ns out of work and thereby rekindling their desire for rebellion. Public feeling in the US supported the rebels since American investment in Cuba, mainly in sugar and mining were rising steadily. The Cleveland administration tried to protect American rights in Cuba but avoided involvement beyond an offer of mediation. America's posture of neutrality changed sharply when McKinley entered office. He had been elected on a platform that endorsed independence for Cuba. In 1897, Spain's queen offered Cuba autonomy in return for peace, but Cubans rejected the offer. On February 9 Hearst's New York Journal released the text of a letter form Spanish minister Depuy de Lome to a friend in Havana, stolen from the post office by a Cuban spy. In the letter, he called President McKinley "weak and a bidder for the administration of the crowd, besides being a politician who tries to leave a door open behind himself while keeping on good terms with the jingoes of his party." This is one information that Zinn left out in his book, bu
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