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Born
in Banes in 1901. He held power in Cuba, first as President,
later as Dictator, for two separate non-continuous terms.
The preceeding president, Ramón Grau, lasted only a
year before Batista forced his resignation in 1934. Batista
was then the Army's Chief of Staff, and very powerful in Cuba.
His influence remained very strong over the years. In 1940,
he was elected President of Cuba, gaining approximately 60%
of the votes. In 1944, the hand-picked successor to Batista
lost the election to Ramón Grau.
Batista
tolerated this temporary fall from power until 1952. Batista
staged a military coup in 1952, overthrowing Carlos Prío
and becoming Dictator of Cuba. After that point, Batista abandoned
the Cuban constitution by allowing only staged elections in
which his victory would be guaranteed. His government was
on good terms with the United States. |
