Brigands, bandits, and rebels are not considered prisoners of war, and when captured are treated as criminals.
Up to the time of the capture of Victoria de las Tunas, the Spaniards utterly refused to exchange prisoners with the Cubans. They have insisted that the Cubans were rebels, and have shot their captives without mercy.
The Cubans have tried in every way to get the Spaniards to treat them fairly and acknowledge their rights as a nation at war, but have been unable to do so.
Now the situation is changed, and Spain has at last acknowledged the belligerency of Cuba to a certain extent.
When it was found that Las Tunas could hold out no longer, an unarmed officer was sent out to parley with the Cubans. He said that the commander would surrender if the Cuban General would consent to spare the lives of the garrison, and grant them their liberty in case an exchange of prisoners could be arranged.
General Garcia was only too pleased to agree to these terms, and the forts were delivered over to him.
Eighty-seven Spaniards were afterward exchanged for an equal number of Cubans.
It is thought that the Cubans will endeavor to improve the advantage they have gained by holding the city of Las Tunas, and establishing their government there.
One of the reasons why both Mr. Cleveland and President McKinley have hesitated to acknowledge the war rights of Cuba was that the Cubans did not hold one important city in which to establish a government. Their government was carried on in secret and hidden places, and the army wandered from camp to camp, without one stronghold to call its own.
Should the Cubans fortify Las Tunas, all these objections will be removed, and the United States may be able to grant these brave people the rights they ask for.