Randy Pang
LLAS 1190W
Research Paper
July 26, 1953 marked the beginning of an historical revolution in Cuba. Fidel
Castro and his supporters worked together to overthrow Fulgencio Batista, the current
dictator of Cuba. Batista was the previous elected president from 1940 – 1944. He
decided to rerun for president in 1952 against Fidel Castro, but realized that he was not
going to win. The people of Cuba were starting to show interest and preference in
democracy, which Castro was offering. So with the power that he still had, Batista
cancelled elections, which enraged the people, especially Fidel. Thus start the events
leading to the victory of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959.
Batista and Castro grew up in opposite situations. Batista was born in to poverty
and was never accepted because he was an illegitimate child while Castro was born in to
a wealthy family and lived more of a high quality life. How is it that these two different
people come head to head in a revolution? Through examining the backgrounds and how
each Batista and Castro grew up, we will be able to get an insight in the decision making
of both political figures. We will learn about the long efforts and planning it took to
over throw Batista as well as the efforts of Batista of overthrowing the previous leaders
before him. Knowing about someone’s background emphasizes the understanding of the
major decisions made during and prior to the revolution. It can be seen how these
decisions, even small ones, make the biggest difference in the events to that led, took
place, and resulted in the Cuban revolution.
Ruben Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar was born on January 16, 1901 in Cuba’s
Oriental Province. His father was a sharecropper farmer and was never married, so
Batista was born into extreme poverty as well as being illegitimate. Being an illegitimate
child made things very difficult for him. Out of his three other siblings, Batista was the
only one not recognized by his family. There was even a large social rejection towards
him and his family because of the illegitimate circumstances.
In 1921, Batista joined the army as a private and later became a military sergeant
in 1932. The following year he organized his first coup called the “Revolt of the
Sergeants.” Batista overthrew Gerardo Machado, who was the current leader of the
liberal government. This coup marked the start of the army’s influences as organized
forces against the Cuban government. Benjamin Summer Welles, a U.S. Ambassador
came to Cuba to help fix differences between the government and opposing groups.
There he met with Batista and did not tell him what to do rather, told him to make
decisions that will best benefit the Cubans. Batista took this as an invitation to appoint
himself as the Cuban government’s new ruler. For many years following this interaction,
Batista controlled the country using puppet presidents that he appointed. In 1940,
Batista decided, himself, to become the official president of Cuba. He was supported by
many political parties and also by the communists. During his term, trade relations with
the United States increased and war taxes were being imposed on the people of Cuba.
1944 marked the ending of his term as well as the start of the newly elected president,
Grau San Martin – Martin was Batista’s opponent in the previous election.
March 10, 1952 would mark the second time Batista took over the government,
which currently was being ran by elected Carlos Prio Socorras. This time, it took place
only three months before the elections and this time Batista knew he was going to lose.
United States President Eisenhower recognized Batista’s government and once he was
put in to the power, he suspended constitutional guarantees. He even went on to establish
a new constitutional code.
Fulgencio Batista is what you call a dictator. Under his ruling, Batista opened
opportunites for large scale gambling. He re-established Cuba in a way so that he and his
appointees could harvest and benefit from the riches of the large scale gambling in
Havana. Any opposition was taken care of quickly, which caused fear among the Cuban
population of the new government. “ Under Batista, Cuba became profitable for
American business and organized crime. Havana became the “Latin Las Vegas,”
playground for wealthy gamblers, and very little was said about democracy, or the rights
