Carlos Prío Socarrás
| Carlos Prío Socarrás | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 11th President of Cuba | |
|
In office October 10, 1948 – March 10, 1952 |
|
| Preceded by | Ramón Grau |
| Succeeded by | Fulgencio Batista |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 14, 1903 Bahia Honda, Cuba |
| Died | April 5, 1977 (aged 73) Miami, Florida, United States |
| Political party | Cuban Revolutionary Party (Authentic) |
| Spouse(s) | Gina Karel María Antonieta Tarrero |
| Relations | Celia Touzet |
| Children | Rocio Guadalupe Prío-Karell Maria Antonetta Prío-Tarrero Maria Elena Prío-Tarrero Carlos Prio-Touzet Rodolfo Prio-Touzet Carlos Miguel Prio |
| Alma mater |
Colegio de Belen University of Havana |
| Profession | Attorney |
Carlos Prío Socarrás (July 14, 1903 – April 5, 1977) was 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 elections were to be held. He was the first president of Cuba to be born in an independent Cuba and the last to gain his post through universal, contested elections.
In 1940, Prío was elected senator of Pinar del Río Province. Four years later, fellow Partido Auténtico member Ramón Grau became president, and during the Grau administration, Prío served turns as Minister of Public Works, Minister of Labor and Prime Minister. On June 1, 1948, he was elected president of Cuba as a member of the Partido Auténtico. Prío was assisted by Chief of the Armed Forces General Genobebo Pérez Dámera and Colonel José Luis Chinea Cardenas, who had previously been in charge of the Province of Santa Clara.
The eight years under Grau and Prío, were, according to Charles Ameringer,
[...] unique in Cuban history. They were a time of constitutional order and political freedom. They were not 'golden years' by any means, but in two elections (1944 and 1948), Cubans has the opportunity to express their desire for a rule of civil liberties, primacy of Cuban culture, and achievement of economic independence. If there were sharp contradictions in Cuban society under the Autenticos, the circumstances differed only in degree from the complexities and dynamics encountered in free societies everywhere (how often did Cubans compare Havana with Chicago?).
Prío, called El presidente cordial ("The Cordial President"), was committed to a rule marked by civility, primarily in its respect for freedom of expression. Several public works projects and the establishment of a National Bank and Tribunal of Accounts count among his successes.
However, violence among political factions and reports of theft and self-enrichment in the government ranks marred Prío's term. The Prío administration increasingly came to be perceived by the public as ineffectual in the face of violence and corruption, much as the Grau administration before it.
With elections scheduled for the middle of 1952, rumors surfaced of a planned military coup by long-shot presidential contender Fulgencio Batista. Prío, seeing no constitutional basis to act, did not do so. The rumors proved to be true. On March 10, 1952, Batista and his collaborators seized military and police commands throughout the country and occupied major radio and TV stations. Batista assumed power when Prío, failing to mount a resistance, boarded a plane and went into exile.
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Wikipedia