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Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed
military dictator A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the ...
from 1952 to 1959, when he was overthrown by the
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
. Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants, which overthrew the provisional government of
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada (August 12, 1871 – March 28, 1939) was a Cuban writer, politician, diplomat, and President of Cuba. Early life and career He was the son of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Ana Maria de Quesada y Loinaz. ...
. Batista then appointed himself chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member "pentarchy" that functioned as the collective head of state. He maintained control through a string of
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move ...
presidents until 1940, when he was elected president on a populist platform. He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba and served until 1944. After finishing his term, Batista moved to Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup against President
Carlos Prío Socarrás Carlos Manuel Prío Socarrás (July 14, 1903 – April 5, 1977) was a Cuban politician. He served as the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new e ...
that pre-empted the election. Back in power and receiving financial, military and logistical support from the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
government,'' Fidel: The Untold Story''. (2001). Directed by Estela Bravo. First Run Features. (91 min)
Viewable clip
"Batista's forces were trained by the United States, which also armed them with tanks, artillery, and aircraft."
Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans.''Historical Dictionary of the 1950s'', by James Stuart Olson, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, , pp. 67–68. Eventually it reached the point where most of the
sugar industry The sugar industry subsumes the production, processing and marketing of sugars (mostly sucrose and fructose). Globally, most sugar is extracted from sugar cane (~80% predominantly in the tropics) and sugar beet (~ 20%, mostly in temperate cl ...
was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land.'' Fidel: The Untold Story''. (2001). Directed by Estela Bravo. First Run Features. (91 min)
Viewable clip
As such, Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships both with the
American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its memb ...
, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts.''Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution'', by
T.J. English T. J. English (born October 6, 1957) is an American author and journalist known primarily for his non-fiction books about the Irish mob, organized crime, criminal justice and the American underworld. Biography T. J. English was born in Tacoma, ...
, William Morrow, 2008, .
To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent
student riot Student riots, college riots, or campus riots are riots precipitated by students, generally from a college, university, or other school. Student riots are often an aspect of student protests. Reasons As with riots in general, the causes are var ...
s and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his
Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities The Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (Buró para Represión de las Actividades Comunistas, or BRAC) was the Cuban secret police agency that President Fulgencio Batista maintained in the 1950s, which gained a reputation for brutalit ...
secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic ...
to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions. These murders mounted in 1957, as socialist ideas became more influential. Many people were killed, with estimates ranging from hundreds to about 20,000 people killed.CIA (1963). Political Murders in Cuba -- Batista Era Compared with Castro RegimeWickham-Crowley, Timothy P. (1990). Exploring Revolution: Essays on Latin American Insurgency and Revolutionary Theory. Armonk and London: M.E. Sharpe. P. 63 "Estimates of hundreds or perhaps about a thousand deaths due to Batista's terror are also supported by comments made by Fidel Castro and other Batista critics during the war itself."Guerra, Lillian (2012). Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolution, Redemption, and Resistance, 1959–1971. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 42 "The likely total was probably closer to three to four thousand." These tactics ultimately failed to quell unrest and instead were the catalyst for more widespread resistance. For two years (December 1956 – December 1958)
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...
's
26th of July Movement The 26th of July Movement ( es, Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates its 26 July 1953 attack on the army barracks on San ...
and other rebelling elements led an urban- and rural-based guerrilla uprising against Batista's government, which culminated in his eventual defeat by rebels under the command of
Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...
at the
Battle of Santa Clara The Battle of Santa Clara was a series of events in late December 1958 that led to the capture of the Cuban city of Santa Clara by revolutionaries under the command of Che Guevara. The battle was a decisive victory for the rebels fighting ag ...
on New Year's Day 1959. Batista immediately fled the island with an amassed personal fortune to the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
, where strongman and previous military ally
Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...
held power. Batista eventually found political asylum in
Oliveira Salazar Oliveira may refer to: People * Oliveira (surname), which includes D'Oliveira * Oliveira (footballer, born 1981), full name Ederaldo Antonio de Oliveira, Brazilian football goalkeeper * Oliveira (footballer, born 1985), full name Bruno Giglio d ...
's
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
, where he first lived on the island of
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and then in Estoril. He was involved in business activities in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
and was staying there in Guadalmina at the time of his death from a heart attack on August 6, 1973.


Early life

Batista was born in the town of Veguita, located in the municipality of Banes, Cuba in 1901 to Belisario Batista Palermo and Carmela Zaldívar González, who had fought in the
Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Little War (1879–1880). The final three months ...
. He was of Spanish, African, Chinese, and possibly some
Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...
descent. His mother named him Rubén and gave him her last name, Zaldívar. His father did not want to register him as a Batista. In the registration records of the Banes courthouse, he was legally Rubén Zaldívar until 1939, when, as Fulgencio Batista, he became a presidential candidate and it was discovered that this name did not exist in the birth certificates; he thus had to postpone the presentation of his candidacy and pay 15,000 pesos to the local judge. Both Batista's parents are believed to have been of mixed race and one may have had Indigenous Caribbean blood. Batista was initially educated at a public school in Banes and later attended night classes at an American Quaker school.Batista y Zaldívar, Fulgencio
by Aimee Estill, Historical Text Archive.
He left home at age 14, after the death of his mother. Coming from a humble background, he earned a living as a laborer in the cane fields, docks, and railroads. He was a tailor, mechanic, charcoal vendor and fruit peddler. In 1921, he traveled to Havana, and in April joined the army as a private. After learning shorthand and typing, Batista left the army in 1923, working briefly as a teacher of stenography before enlisting in the ''
Guardia Rural In Mexico, the term ''Rurales'' (Spanish) is used in respect of two armed government forces. The historic Guardia Rural ('Rural Guard') was a rural mounted police force, founded by President Benito Juárez in 1861 and expanded by President Por ...
'' ( rural police). He transferred back to the army as a corporal, becoming secretary to a regimental colonel. In September 1933, he held the rank of sergeant stenographer and as such acted as the secretary of a group of non-commissioned officers who led a "sergeants' conspiracy" for better conditions and improved prospects of promotion.


1933 coup

In 1933, Batista led an uprising called the
Sergeants' Revolt The Cuban Revolution of 1933 ( es, Revolución cubana de 1933), also called the Revolt of the Sergeants, was a coup d'état that occurred in Cuba in September 1933. It began as a revolt of sergeants and enlisted men in the military, who soon allie ...
, as part of the coup that overthrew the government of
Gerardo Machado Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933. Machado entered the presidency with widespread popularity and support from the major polit ...
.American Experience: Fulgencio Batista
by ''PBS''.
Machado was succeeded by
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada (August 12, 1871 – March 28, 1939) was a Cuban writer, politician, diplomat, and President of Cuba. Early life and career He was the son of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Ana Maria de Quesada y Loinaz. ...
, who lacked a political coalition that could sustain him and was soon replaced.Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1933. The American Republics: Volume V, p. 384. http://images.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/EFacs/1933v05/reference/frus.frus1933v05.i0010.pdf A short-lived five-member presidency, known as the
Pentarchy of 1933 Pentarchy of 1933, formally known as the Executive Commission of the Provisional Government of Cuba, was a coalition that ruled Cuba from September 5 to September 10, 1933 after Gerardo Machado was deposed on August 12, 1933. Prior to the Pentar ...
, was established. The Pentarchy included a representative from each anti-Machado faction. Batista was not a member, but controlled Cuba's armed forces. Within days, the representative for the students and professors of the
University of Havana The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the firs ...
, Ramón Grau San Martín, was made president—and Batista became the Army Chief of Staff, with the rank of colonel, effectively putting him in control of the presidency.Frank Argote-Freyre. ''Fulgencio Batista: Volume 1, From Revolutionary to Strongman''.
Rutgers University Press Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University. History Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New B ...
, New Jersey.
The majority of the commissioned officer corps were forced to retire or, some speculate, were killed. Grau remained president for just over 100 days before Batista, conspiring with the U.S. envoy
Sumner Welles Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of Sta ...
, forced him to resign in January 1934. Grau was replaced by
Carlos Mendieta Carlos Mendieta y Montefur (4 November 1873 – 27 September 1960) was a Cuban politician and interim President of Cuba. A chief opponent of Gerardo Machado, Mendieta was installed as interim President of Cuba in 1934 by a coup led by Fulgen ...
, and within five days the U.S. recognized Cuba's new government, which lasted eleven months. Batista then became the strongman behind a succession of puppet presidents until he was elected president in 1940. After Mendieta, succeeding governments were led by
José Agripino Barnet José Agripino Barnet y Vinajeras (June 23, 1864 – September 18, 1945) was a Cuban politician and diplomat who served as interim President of Cuba from December 11, 1935 to May 20, 1936.Staff report (September 20, 1945). Jose Barnet, Ex-He ...
(five months) and
Miguel Mariano Gómez Miguel Mariano Gómez y Arias (October 6, 1889 – October 26, 1950) was a Cuban politician who served as the seventh President of Cuba for just over eight months in 1936. Compared to other administrations, there was general peace and tranquill ...
(seven months) before Federico Laredo Brú ruled from December 1936 to October 1940.


First presidency (1940–1944)

Batista, supported by the
Democratic Socialist Coalition The Democratic Socialist Coalition ( es, Coalición Socialista Democrática, CSD) was a Cuban political coalition, led by Fulgencio Batista. The party was founded in 1939, and served for the 1940 general elections, won by Batista. The foundin ...
which included
Julio Antonio Mella Julio Antonio Mella McPartland (25 March 1903 – 10 January 1929) was a Cuban political activist and one of the founders of the original Communist Party of Cuba. Mella studied law at the University of Havana but was expelled in 1925. He was wor ...
's
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
, defeated Grau in the first presidential election under the new
Cuban constitution Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions si ...
in the 1940 election, and served a four-year term as President of Cuba, the first and to this day only, non-white Cuban in that office. Batista was endorsed by the original Communist Party of Cuba (later known as the Popular Socialist Party), which at the time had little significance and no probability of an electoral victory. This support was primarily due to Batista's
labor law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee ...
s and his support for
labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...
s, with which the Communists had close ties. In fact, Communists attacked the anti-Batista opposition, saying Grau and others were "fascists" and " reactionaries." During this term in office, Batista carried out major social reforms and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies. Cuba entered World War II on the side of the Allies on December 9, 1941, declaring war on Japan two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 11, the Batista government declared war on Germany and Italy. In December 1942, after a friendly visit to Washington, Batista said Latin America would applaud if the Declaration by United Nations called for war with
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
's
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, calling the regime "fascist".


Post-presidency

In 1944, Batista's handpicked successor,
Carlos Saladrigas Zayas Carlos Saladrigas Zayas (''Carlos Eduardo Ramón Saladrigas y Zayas''; October 13, 1900 – 15 April 1956) was a Cuban politician and diplomat. Career He was an abogado-notario who served as Senator (1936-1940), Minister of Justice (1934), ...
, was defeated by Grau. In the final months of his presidency, Batista sought to handicap the incoming Grau administration. In a July 17, 1944, dispatch to the U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Ambassador Spruille Braden wrote: Shortly after, Batista left Cuba for the United States. "I just felt safer there," he said. He divorced his wife, Elisa, and married Marta Fernández Batista in 1945. Two of their four children were born in the United States. For the next eight years, Batista remained in the background, spending time in the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and a home in Daytona Beach, Florida. He continued to participate in Cuban politics, and was elected to the Cuban Senate ''in absentia'' in 1948. Returning to Cuba, he decided to run for president and received permission from President Grau, whereupon he formed the United Action Party. On taking power he founded the Progressive Action Party, but he never regained his former popular support, though the unions supported him until the end.Biography of Fulgencio Batista—Fulgencio Batista Profile
About.com.


Military coup and second presidency (1952–1959)

In 1952, Batista again ran for president. In a three-way race,
Roberto Agramonte Roberto Daniel Agramonte y Pichardo (3 May 1904 – 12 December 1995) was a philosopher and Cuban politician. Education and Career He graduated from the University of Havana School of Law. Dr. Agramonte was also the Dean of School of Philosophy ...
of the
Orthodox Party The Party of the Cuban People – Orthodox ( es, Partido del Pueblo Cubano – Ortodoxos, PPC-O), commonly shortened to the Orthodox Party ( es, Partido Ortodoxo), was a Cuban populist political party. It was founded in 1947 by Eduardo Chibás i ...
led in all the polls, followed by
Carlos Hevia Carlos Hevia y de los Reyes-Gavilan (March 21, 1900 – April 2, 1964) was the interim President of Cuba, serving for less than three days. During the third week of 1934, Hevia was President from 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 15, until 1:20 ...
of the Authentic Party. Batista's United Action coalition was running a distant third. On March 10, 1952, three months before the elections, Batista, with army backing, staged a coup and seized power. He ousted outgoing President
Carlos Prío Socarrás Carlos Manuel Prío Socarrás (July 14, 1903 – April 5, 1977) was a Cuban politician. He served as the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new e ...
, canceled the elections and took control of the government as a provisional president. The United States recognized his government on March 27. When asked by the U.S. government to analyze Batista's Cuba,
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a s ...
said
The corruption of the Government, the brutality of the police, the government's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic justice ... is an open invitation to revolution.


Economy of Cuba

Upon his seizure of power, Batista inherited a country that was relatively prosperous for Latin America. According to Batista's government, although a third of Cubans still lived in poverty, Cuba was one of the five most developed countries in the region. In the 1950s, Cuba's
gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is of ...
(GDP) per capita was roughly equal to that of Italy at the time, although still only a sixth of that of the United States. Moreover, although corruption and inequality were rife under Batista, Cuban industrial workers' wages rose significantly. In 1953, the average Cuban family only had an income of $6.00 a week, 15% to 20% of the labor force was chronically unemployed, and only a third of the homes had running water.Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at Democratic Dinner, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1960
from the ''
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963), the 35th president of the United States (1961–1963). It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neigh ...
''.
Despite this, according to the
International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
, the average industrial salary in Cuba became the world's eighth-highest in 1958, and the average agricultural wage was higher than some European nations (although, according to one sample from 1956-7, agricultural workers could only find employment for an average of 123 days per year while farm owners, rural tenants and sharecroppers worked an average of only 135 days per year).


Relationship with organized crime

Throughout the 1950s, Havana served as "a hedonistic playground for the world's elite", producing sizable gambling, prostitution and drug profits for the
American mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its memb ...
, corrupt law-enforcement officials, and their politically elected cronies.William Morgan: A Rebel "Americano" in Cuba
at ''The Cuban History'', May 16, 2012.
In the assessment of the Cuban-American historian Louis Perez, "Havana was then what Las Vegas has become." Relatedly, it is estimated that by the end of the 1950s the city of Havana had 270 brothels.Cuba Before the Revolution
by Samuel Farber, ''Jacobin Magazine'', September 6, 2015.
In addition, drugs, be it marijuana or cocaine, were so plentiful at the time that one American magazine in 1950 proclaimed "Narcotics are hardly more difficult to obtain in Cuba than a shot of rum. And only slightly more expensive." As a result, the playwright Arthur Miller described Batista's Cuba in ''The Nation'' as "hopelessly corrupt, a Mafia playground, (and) a bordello for Americans and other foreigners." In a bid to profit from such an environment, Batista established lasting relationships with
organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, notably with American mobsters Meyer Lansky and
Lucky Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumen ...
, and under his rule Havana became known as "the Latin
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...
".Fulgencio Batista
fun facts by ''History of Cuba''.
Batista and Lansky formed a friendship and business relationship that flourished for a decade. During a stay at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in the late 1940s, it was mutually agreed that, in return for kickbacks, Batista would give Lansky and the Mafia control of Havana's racetracks and casinos. After World War II, Luciano was paroled from prison on the condition that he permanently return to Sicily. Luciano secretly moved to Cuba, where he worked to resume control over American Mafia operations. Luciano also ran a number of casinos in Cuba with the sanction of Batista, though the American government eventually succeeded in pressuring the Batista government to deport him. Batista encouraged large-scale gambling in Havana. In 1955, he announced that Cuba would grant a gaming license to anyone who invested US$1 million in a hotel or $200,000 in a new nightclub—and that the government would provide matching public funds for construction, a 10-year tax exemption, and waive duties on imported equipment and furnishings for new hotels. Each casino would pay the government $250,000 for the license, plus a percentage of the profits. The policy omitted background checks, as required for casino operations in the United States, which opened the door for casino investors with illegally obtained funds. Cuban contractors with the right connections made windfalls by importing, duty-free, more materials than needed for new hotels and selling the surplus to others. It was rumored that, besides the $250,000 to obtain a license, an additional "under the table" fee was sometimes required. Lansky became a prominent figure in Cuba's gambling operations, and exerted influence over Batista's casino policies. The Mafia's Havana Conference was held on December 22, 1946, at the
Hotel Nacional de Cuba The Hotel Nacional de Cuba is a historic Spanish eclectic style hotel in Havana, Cuba, opened in 1930. Located on the sea front of Vedado district, it stands on Taganana Hill, offering commanding views of the sea and the city. History Design ...
; this was the first full-scale meeting of American underworld leaders since the Chicago meeting in 1932. Lansky set about cleaning up the games at the Montmartre Club, which soon became the "place to be" in Havana. He also wanted to open a casino in the Hotel Nacional, the most elegant hotel in Havana. Batista endorsed Lansky's idea over the objections of American expatriates such as
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
, and the renovated casino wing opened for business in 1955 with a show by
Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song " Santa ...
. The casino was an immediate success. As the new hotels, nightclubs, and casinos opened, Batista collected his share of the profits. Nightly, the "bagman" for his wife collected 10% of the profits at Santo Trafficante's casinos, the Sans Souci cabaret, and the casinos in the hotels Sevilla-Biltmore, Commodoro, Deauville, and Capri (partly owned by the actor
George Raft George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...
). His take from the Lansky casinos—his prized Habana Riviera, the Hotel Nacional, the Montmartre Club, and others—was said to be 30%. Lansky was said to have personally contributed millions of dollars per year to Batista's Swiss bank accounts.


Support of U.S. business and government

In a manner that antagonized the Cuban people, the U.S. government used its influence to advance the interests of and increase the profits of the private American companies, which "dominated the island's economy". By the late 1950s, U.S. financial interests owned 90% of Cuban mines, 80% of its public utilities, 50% of its railways, 40% of its sugar production and 25% of its bank deposits—some $1 billion in total. According to historian Louis A. Pérez Jr., author of the book ''On Becoming Cuban'', "Daily life had developed into a relentless degradation, with the complicity of political leaders and public officials who operated at the behest of American interests."Before the Revolution
by Natasha Geiling, ''Smithsonian Magazine'', July 31, 2007.
As a symbol of this relationship,
ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three business ...
, an American-owned multinational telephone company, presented Batista with a Golden Telephone, as an "expression of gratitude" for the "excessive telephone rate increase", at least according to Senator John F. Kennedy, that Batista granted at the urging of the U.S. government.
Earl E.T. Smith Earl Edward Tailer Smith (July 8, 1903 – February 15, 1991) was an American financier and diplomat, who served as ambassador to Cuba from 1957 to 1959 and mayor of Palm Beach 1971 to 1977. Early life Smith was born in Newport, Rhode Island ...
, former U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, testified to the U.S. Senate in 1960 that, "Until Castro, the U.S. was so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that the American ambassador was the second most important man, sometimes even more important than the Cuban president." In addition, nearly "all aid" from the U.S. to Batista's government was in the "form of weapons assistance", which "merely strengthened the Batista dictatorship" and "completely failed to advance the economic welfare of the Cuban people". Such actions later "enabled Castro and the Communists to encourage the growing belief that America was indifferent to Cuban aspirations for a decent life." According to historian and author James S. Olson, the U.S. government essentially became a "co-conspirator" in the arrangement because of Batista's strong opposition to communism, which, in the rhetoric of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
, seemed to maintain business stability and a pro-U.S. posture on the island. Thus, in the view of Olson, "The U.S. government had no difficulty in dealing with him, even if he was a hopeless despot." On October 6, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy, in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. presidency, decried Batista's relationship with the U.S. government and criticized the Eisenhower administration for supporting him:
Fulgencio Batista murdered 20,000 Cubans in seven years ... and he turned Democratic Cuba into a complete police state—destroying every individual liberty. Yet our aid to his regime, and the ineptness of our policies, enabled Batista to invoke the name of the United States in support of his reign of terror. Administration spokesmen publicly praised Batista—hailed him as a staunch ally and a good friend—at a time when Batista was murdering thousands, destroying the last vestiges of freedom, and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the Cuban people, and we failed to press for free elections.


Batista, Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution

On July 26, 1953, just over a year after Batista's second coup, a small group of revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Barracks in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...
. Government forces easily defeated the assault and jailed its leaders, while many others fled the country. The primary leader of the attack,
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...
, was a young attorney who had run for parliament in the canceled 1952 elections. Although Castro was never officially nominated, he felt that Batista's coup had sidetracked what would have been a promising political career for him. In the wake of the Moncada assault, Batista suspended constitutional guarantees and increasingly relied on police tactics in an attempt to "frighten the population through open displays of brutality." Batista held an election in 1954, running as the candidate of a political coalition that included the Progressive Action Party, the Radical Union Party and the Liberal Party. The opposition divided into abstentionists and electoralists. The abstentionists favored boycotting the elections regardless of the circumstances in which they were held, whereas the electoralists sought certain rights and guarantees to participate.Manuel Marquez-Sterling. Cuba 1952–1959: The True Story of Castro's Rise to Power. Wintergreen, Virginia. Kleiopatria Digital Press. 2009. The CIA had predicted that Batista would use any means necessary to ensure he won the election. Batista lived up to their expectations, utilizing fraud and intimidation to secure his presidency. This led most of the other parties to boycott the elections. Former President Ramón Grau San Martín, leading the electoralist factions of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, participated through the political campaign but withdrew from the campaign days before election day, charging that his supporters had been terrorized. Thus Batista was elected president with the support of 45.6% of registered voters. Despite the boycott, Grau received the support of 6.8% of those who voted. The remaining voters abstained. By late 1955, student riots and anti-Batista demonstrations had become frequent, and unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. These were dealt with through increasing repression. All youth were seen as suspected revolutionaries. Due to its continued opposition to Batista and the large amount of revolutionary activity taking place on its campus, the University of Havana was temporarily closed on November 30, 1956 (it did not reopen until 1959 under the first revolutionary government). On March 13, 1957, student leader José Antonio Echeverría was killed by police outside Radio Reloj in Havana after announcing that Batista had been killed in a student attack on the Presidential Palace. In reality, Batista survived, and the students of the Federation of University Students (FEU) and the Directorio (DR) who led the attack were killed in the response by the military and police. Castro quickly condemned the attack, since July 26 Movement had not participated in it.''Historia de Cuba: Desde Colon hasta Castro''. Carlos Márquez Sterling. Miami, Florida. 1963. In April 1956, Batista called popular military leader Col. Ramón Barquín back to Cuba from his post as military attaché to the United States. Believing Barquín would support his rule, Batista promoted him to General. However, Barquín's ''Conspiración de los Puros'' (Conspiracy of the Pure) was already underway and had already progressed too far. On April 6, 1956, Barquín led hundreds of career officers in a coup attempt, but was frustrated by Lieutenant Ríos Morejón, who betrayed the plan. Barquín was sentenced to solitary confinement for eight years on the Isle of Pines, while some officers were sentenced to death for treason. Many others were allowed to remain in the military without reprimand.Francisco Tabernilla Palmero and Gabriel E. Taborda. ''Palabras esperadas: Memorias de Francisco H. Tabernilla Palmero''. Ediciones Universales. Miami, Florida. 2009. The purge of the officer corps contributed to the inability of the Cuban army to successfully combat Castro and his guerrillas. Batista's police responded to increasing popular unrest by torturing and killing young men in the cities. However, his army was ineffective against the rebels based in the Sierra Maestra and
Escambray Mountains The Escambray Mountains () are a mountain range in the central region of Cuba, in the provinces of Sancti Spíritus, Cienfuegos and Villa Clara. Overview The Escambray Mountains are located in the south-central region of the island, extending a ...
. Another possible explanation for the failure to crush the rebellion was offered by author Carlos Alberto Montaner: "Batista does not finish Fidel out of greed ... His is a government of thieves. To have this small guerrilla band in the mountains is to his advantage, so that he can order special defense expenditures that they can steal." Batista's rule became increasingly unpopular among the population, and the Soviet Union began to secretly support Castro. Some of Batista's generals also criticized him in later years, saying that Batista's excessive interference in his generals' military plans to defeat the rebels hampered Army morale and rendered all operations ineffective. In an effort to gather information about Castro's army, Batista's secret police pulled in people for questioning. Many innocent people were tortured by Batista's police, while suspects, including youth, were publicly executed as a warning to others who were considering joining the insurgency. Additionally, "Hundreds of mangled bodies were left hanging from lamp posts or dumped in the streets in a grotesque variation of the Spanish colonial practice of public executions."''Invisible Latin America'', by Samuel Shapiro, Ayer Publishing, 1963, , p. 77. The brutal behavior backfired and increased support for the guerrillas. In 1958, 45 organizations signed an open letter supporting July 26 Movement, among them national bodies representing lawyers, architects, dentists, accountants, and social workers. Castro, who had originally relied on the support of the poor, was now gaining the backing of the influential middle classes. The United States supplied Batista with planes, ships, tanks and the latest technology, such as
napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated alu ...
, which he used against the insurgency. However, in March 1958, the U.S. announced it would stop selling arms to the Cuban government. Soon after, the U.S. imposed an arms embargo, further weakening the government's position, although land owners and others who benefited from the government continued to support Batista. Elections were scheduled for June 1958, as required by the Constitution, but were delayed until November 1958, when Castro and the revolutionaries called for a general strike and placed several bombs in civilian areas of the country. Three main candidates ran in the elections:
Carlos Márquez Sterling Dr. Carlos Márquez Sterling y Guiral (September 8, 1898 – May 3, 1991) was a Cuban lawyer, writer, politician and diplomat. Political career Born Carlos Guiral y Márquez Sterling on September 8, 1898, in Camagüey, Cuba, Márquez Sterling ...
of the Party of the Free People, former President Ramón Grau San Martín of the Cuban Revolutionary Party-Authentic, and Andrés Rivero Agüero of the government coalition. According to Carlos Márquez Sterling, all three were threatened by Castro, and several assassination attempts were made on both Ramón Grau San Martín and Carlos Márquez Sterling. On Election Day, estimates on the turnout range from 30 to 50% in the areas where voting took place, which did not include parts of Las Villas and Oriente, which were controlled by Castro.Carlos Márquez Sterling. Memorias de un estadista. Ediciones Universales. Miami, Florida. 2005. Márquez Sterling also stated that the initial results were favorable to him, but the military ordered the counting to stop as they changed the actual ballots for fraudulent ones. However, Grau San Martín, as he had previously done in the 1954 elections, withdrew his candidacy within a few hours of the election day. Batista declared Rivero Agüero the winner. The U.S. rejected the results of the elections and announced plans to withhold diplomatic recognition of the Rivero Agüero government. The American ambassador to Cuba Earl Smith informed Agüero that the United States would not give aid and support to his government. Smith also informed Batista that the U.S. believed him incapable of maintaining effective control and that he should retire. On December 31, 1958, at a New Year's Eve party, Batista told his cabinet and top officials that he was leaving the country. After seven years, Batista knew his presidency was over, and he fled the island in the early morning. At 3:00 a.m. on January 1, 1959, Batista boarded a plane at Camp Columbia with 40 of his supporters and immediate family members and flew to Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. A second plane flew out of Havana later in the night, carrying ministers, officers and the Governor of Havana. Batista took along a personal fortune of more than $300 million that he had amassed through graft and payoffs. Critics accused Batista and his supporters of taking as much as $700 million in fine art and cash with them as they fled into exile. As news of the fall of Batista's government spread through Havana, ''The New York Times'' described jubilant crowds pouring into the streets and automobile horns honking. The black and red flag of July 26 Movement waved on cars and buildings. The atmosphere was chaotic. On January 8, 1959, Castro and his army rolled victoriously into Havana. Already denied entry to the United States, Batista sought asylum in Mexico, which also refused him. Portugal's leader
António Salazar Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...
allowed him to settle there on the condition that he completely abstain from politics. Historians and primary documents estimate between hundreds and 20,000 Cubans were killed under the Batista regime.''Invisible Latin America'', by Samuel Shapiro, Ayer Publishing, 1963, , pg 77. "All told, Batista's second dictatorship cost the Cuban people some 20,000 dead"''The World Guide 1997/98: A View from the South'', by University of Texas, 1997, , pg 209. "Batista engineered yet another coup, establishing a dictatorial regime, which was responsible for the death of 20,000 Cubans."''The Third World in Perspective'', by H.A. Reitsma & J.M.G. Kleinpenning, , pg 344. "Under Batista at least 20,000 people were put to death."'' Fidel: The Untold Story''. (2001). Directed by Estela Bravo. First Run Features. (91 min)
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"An estimated 20,000 people were murdered by government forces during the Batista dictatorship."


Personal life


Marriages and children

Batista married Elisa Godínez y Gómez (1900–1993) on July 10, 1926. They had three children: Mirta Caridad (1927–2010), Elisa Aleida (born 1933), and Fulgencio Rubén Batista Godínez (1933–2007). By all accounts, she was devoted to him and their children throughout their marriage, and their daughter remembered them as a "happy, young couple" until their sudden divorce. Much to her surprise, he divorced her in October 1945 against her will in order to marry his longtime mistress Marta Fernandez Miranda. He married Marta Fernández Miranda (1923–2006) on November 28, 1945, shortly after his divorce became final, and they had five children: Jorge Luis (born 1942), Roberto Francisco (born 1947), Carlos Manuel (1950–1969), Fulgencio José (born 1953) and Marta María Batista Fernández (born 1957).


Extramarital affairs

Batista was an inveterate philanderer who engaged in numerous extramarital affairs throughout his first marriage. He cheated on his first wife with multiple women, and his children eventually became aware of his relationships. His first wife, who supported her husband throughout his political career and found his philandering humiliating, never considered divorce and tolerated his multiple affairs. However, Batista became enamored with the much younger Marta Fernandez Miranda, who became his longtime mistress. He filed divorce papers shortly before his first grandchild was born. His first wife and their children were astounded and devastated by the divorce. In 1935, he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Fermina Lázara Batista Estévez, whom he supported financially. Biographers suggest that Batista may have fathered several more children out of wedlock.


Death

After he fled to Portugal, Batista lived in
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, then later in Estoril. He died of a heart attack on August 6, 1973, at Marbella, Spain, two days before a team of assassins from Castro's Cuba allegedly were planning to assassinate him. Marta Fernández Miranda de Batista, Batista's widow, died on October 2, 2006. Roberto Batista, her son, says that she died at her home in West Palm Beach, Florida. She had suffered from
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...
. She was buried with her husband and son in the Cementerio Sacramental de San Isidro in Madrid.


In popular culture

Actors who have portrayed Batista in film include Tito Alba in '' The Godfather Part II'' (1974), Wolfe Morris in ''Cuba'' (1979) and Juan Fernández de Alarcón in ''The Lost City'' (2005). In literature and movies, Batista's regime is commonly referred to as the "greens" (opposite the Communist "reds"), because of the green uniforms his soldiers wore.


Books written by Batista

* ''Estoy con el Pueblo'' (I am With the People), Havana, 1939 * ''Respuesta'', Manuel León Sánchez S.C.L., Mexico City, 1960 * ''Piedras y leyes'' (Stones and Laws), Mexico City, 1961 * ''Cuba Betrayed'', Vantage Press, New York, 1961 * ''To Rule is to Foresee'', 1962 * ''The Growth and Decline of the Cuban Republic'', Devin-Adair Company, New York, 1964 Source:


References


External links


Fulgencio Batista
from ''The History of Cuba''

from ''The Latin American Studies Organization''

by Ana Simo, ''The Gully (magazine)''
January 1, 1959: "Cuban Dictator Batista Falls From Power"
by '' The History Channel'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Batista, Fulgencio 1901 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Cuban people 20th-century Cuban politicians 1940s in Cuba 1950s in Cuba Burials in Madrid Anti-Masonry Cuban anti-communists Cuban exiles Cuban people of Spanish descent Cuban politicians of Chinese descent Cuban Roman Catholics Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Indigenous leaders of the Americas Leaders who took power by coup Liberal Party of Cuba politicians People from Banes, Cuba People of the Cold War People of the Cuban Revolution Politicide perpetrators Presidents of Cuba Prime Ministers of Cuba Progressive Action Party politicians World War II political leaders