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The Junta went to work as best it could. To placate the hotheads they declared all Machado properties confiscated. They named a revolutionary tribunal to hear charges against Machado suspects. They promised "immediate removal and punishment of all delinquents of the former [Machado] regime." To placate the U. S., which had recognized the de Cespedes government, they promised "strict respect of the debts and obligations of the Republic." They declared all the laws on the books still in force until voided by their Junta's unanimous decree. To placate everybody, they promised to turn over the government to "the Constituent Assembly, which is to be called.'' But Commissioner Grau San Martin (pronounced "Grou Sahn Marteen") explained quietly that, before an election could be held, a new census would be needed to clean up the election rolls. To the sugar-workers of the interior, he added that the Junta "has no anti-agrarian tendencies." From the Palace balcony, Commissioner Carbo roared to the crowd, "For the first time in history the Cuban people will rule their own destinies."
Their show was good enough to get the nominal support of some of the other political groups. But the important ones turned their backs. Some of the ABC men admitted their support of the de Cespedes government had been a mistake and threw in with the Junta. Other ABC men drove through Havana in automobiles bristling with machine-guns. One thousand joined the commissioned officers in the National Hotel. The strongest one-man organization in Cuba, the followers of bearded ex-President Mario G. Menocal, joined with the officers in demanding that the Junta appoint a President and Cabinet, someone who could be either supported or thrown out.