Fulgencio Batista

General Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the de facto leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940 and the country's de jure President from 1940 to 1944 and again, after a coup, from 1952 to 1959.

Second rule

Batista staged an almost bloodless coup d'état on March 10, 1952, removing Carlos Prío Socarrás (elected in 1948) and becoming President three months before new elections were to be held. The new government received diplomatic recognition from the United States, a number of American corporations continued to swell in Cuba, and the island became a major tourist destination, attracting unprecedented prosperity for the island. In addition, the public was somewhat accepting of the coup at first, hoping Batista would restore stability to the island after the political violence, labor unrest, and government corruption that had occurred during Prío's tenure. Batista's ethnicity and origins, plus his ties to Afro-Cuban religions led to support from darker pigmented Cubans who would with some frequency kill and die for their perceived leader. Despite economic prosperity in the 1950s, Batista's corruption, particularly his unsettlingly close relationship with the Havana Mafia, saw a rise in general opposition to his regime, from the rich and middle class Cubans, advocates of liberal democracy who viewed his presidency as unconstitutional and unacceptable. Cross class urban resistance grew despite high causualties and the country folk (guajiros) increasingly turned to irregular armed resistance. The overt communist party, Partido Socialista Popular, supported Batista until about the middle of 1958.

Related Topics:
March 10 - 1952 - Carlos Prío Socarrás - 1948 - United States - Havana - Mafia - Liberal democracy

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