Fulgencio Batista

Fulgencio Batista
9th and 12th President of Cuba
In office 10 March 1952 – 1 January 1959
Prime Minister	Andrés Domingo Jorge García Montes Andrés Rivero Agüero Emilio Núñez Portuondo Gonzalo Güell
Preceded by	Carlos Prío Socarrás
Succeeded by	Anselmo Alliegro
In office 10 October 1940 – 10 October 1944
Prime Minister	Carlos Saladrigas Zayas Ramón Zaydín Anselmo Alliegro
Preceded by	Federico Laredo Brú
Succeeded by	Ramón Grau
Cuban Senator
In office 2 June 1948 – 10 March 1952
Constituency	Las Villas
Personal details
Born	Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar January 16, 1901 Banes, Cuba
Died	August 6, 1973 (aged 72) Marbella, Andalusia, Spain
Political party	Liberal Party of Cuba (1948–1949) United Action Party (1949–1952) Progressive Action Party (1952–1959)
Spouse(s)	Elisa Godínez Gómez (m. 1926; div. 1946) Marta Fernandez Miranda (m. 1946; d. 2006)
Children	8
Military service
Allegiance	Cuba
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1921–1940
Rank	Colonel

Fulgencio Batista Zaldívar (Spanish: [fulˈxensjo βaˈtista i salˈdiβar]; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and U.S.-backed dictator from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown during the Cuban Revolution. Fulgencio Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants that overthrew the authoritarian rule of Gerardo Machado. He then appointed himself chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member Presidency. He maintained this control through a string of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was himself elected President of Cuba on a populist platform. He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba, considered progressive for its time, and served until 1944. After finishing his term he lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup that preempted the election.

Back in power, and receiving financial, military, and logistical support from the United States government, 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. Eventually it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land. As such, Batista's increasingly corrupt and repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships with both the American Mafia, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts. To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions; ultimately killing anywhere from hundreds to 20,000 people.

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