Fulgencio Batista

Fulgencio Batista was a Cuban sergeant who rose through the army to become the dominant figure in Cuban politics from 1933, serving as elected president (1940-1944) before seizing power in a coup on 10 March 1952 — three months before an election he was losing. His second regime (1952-1959) was characterized by close alliance with the United States, the Mafia (Havana casinos run by Meyer Lansky and Santos Trafficante), and United Fruit Company sugar interests, combined with increasingly brutal repression through his secret police (SIM). The torture and murder of opponents, particularly university students, alienated even the Cuban middle class and business community that had initially welcomed his coup. His army proved unwilling to fight Castro's guerrillas — demoralized, corrupt, and lacking popular legitimacy. When the guerrilla columns of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos captured Santa Clara on 31 December 1958, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic, then Portugal, and finally Spain, where he died. His flight made the Cuban Revolution bloodless in its final phase.

• Lived: 1901 CE – 1973 CE
• Nationality: cuban
• Roles: dictator, general, head_of_state

Related

• The Cold War
• The Cuban Revolution — Fall of Batista and Rise of Castro