In the summer of 1941 Gustavo Gutiérrez resigned as Speaker of the House. The caption below the photograph states, " Professor Gustavo Gutiérrez resigning as Speaker of the House, presented his resignation as "irrevocable" due to the lack of cooperation on the part of the congressmen." Professor Gutiérrez was unable to reach a quorum to vote on pending legislation. In other words, enough members of the House wouldn't show up for work to reach a quorum to pass bills and vote. This action on the part of Gutierrez prompted the press to produce a series of cartoons satirizing and poking fun of the scandal. (see G.G. Resigns as House Speaker #2)In the October 19, 1941 edition of Carteles Magazine, at the top, the same is stated in more detail.
In the chapter The Cuban Parliamentary System in Action, 1940-1947, in The Journal of Politics, published by Cambridge University Press, William S. Stokes states, "Disturbances, heckling, absences and even fist fights characterized the session of both houses. Dr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, one of the strongest and most able advocates of the parliamentary system, resigned as President of the House because of the difficulty of obtaining quorums and the general indifference of members to their congressional responsibilities."
Carlos Marquez-Sterling, who would replace Dr. Gutierrez as Speaker stated this in 1976 in an article published in El Diario de las Americas, "A very difficult period since the House of Representatives erroneously respected the mandates of the members elected two years prior and as a result of the subsequent elections, the House consisted now of 243 representatives, with the earlier budget created for 120 representatives (The amount of elected representatives more than doubled), making the job of the Speaker a terrible nightmare in so far as running that legislative body."
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