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==Early life==
==Early life==
Batista was born in [[Banes, Cuba]] in 1901, to Belisario Batista Cruz<ref>[http://cubagen.org/mil/mambi/ "Mambí Army" Data Base]</ref> and Carmela Zaldívar González, who had fought in the [[Cuban War of Independence]]. Apparently Belisario Batista Cruz (date of enrollement March 10th 1895)<ref>[http://cubagen.org/mil/mambi/ "Mambí Army" Data Base]</ref> was part of the Sergeant's rebellion of 1897 lead by Facundo Vidal Aldana<ref>[http://cubagen.org/mil/mambi/ "Mambí Army" Data Base]</ref> <ref> Escalante Beatón, Ánibal 1946 Calixto García, su campaña en el 95. Arrow Press, Havana, Cuba pages 242-250. </ref> that followed the Mambi victory at Tunas in August of that year <ref> Escalante Beatón, Ánibal 1946 Calixto García, su campaña en el 95. Arrow Press, Havana, Cuba pages 219-262, for mutiny see 248-250. </ref>, which was foiled when Major General [[Calixto Garcia]] faced them down. His mother named him Rubén and gave him her last name, Zaldívar. His father did not "recognize" him legally as his son, that is allow him the use of his own last name. In the registration records of the Banes courthouse he was legally Rubén Zaldívar until 1939, when, as Fulgencio Batista, he became a presidential candidate and it was discovered that being illegitimate he did not carry his father's name. It is alleged that a judge was bribed 15,000 Cuban pesos (about the same amount in U.S. dollars at the time) to fix the discrepancy.<ref>[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y06/mar06/13a7.htm His given name was Rubén Zaldivar (Spanish)]</ref>
Batista was born in [[Banes, Cuba]] in 1901, to Belisario Batista Cruz<ref>[http://cubagen.org/mil/mambi/ "Mambí Army" Data Base]</ref> and Carmela Zaldívar González, who had fought in the [[Cuban War of Independence]]. Apparently Belisario Batista Cruz (date of enrollment March 10th 1895)<ref>[http://cubagen.org/mil/mambi/ "Mambí Army" Data Base]</ref> was part of the Sergeant's rebellion of 1897 lead by Facundo Vidal Aldana<ref>[http://cubagen.org/mil/mambi/ "Mambí Army" Data Base]</ref> <ref> Escalante Beatón, Ánibal 1946 Calixto García, su campaña en el 95. Arrow Press, Havana, Cuba pages 242-250. </ref> that followed the Mambi victory at Tunas in August of that year <ref> Escalante Beatón, Ánibal 1946 Calixto García, su campaña en el 95. Arrow Press, Havana, Cuba pages 219-262, for mutiny see 248-250. </ref>, which was foiled when Major General [[Calixto Garcia]] faced them down. His mother named him Rubén and gave him her last name, Zaldívar. His father did not "recognize" him legally as his son, that is allow him the use of his own last name. In the registration records of the Banes courthouse he was legally Rubén Zaldívar until 1939, when, as Fulgencio Batista, he became a presidential candidate and it was discovered that being illegitimate he did not carry his father's name. It is alleged that a judge was bribed 15,000 Cuban pesos (about the same amount in U.S. dollars at the time) to fix the discrepancy.<ref>[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y06/mar06/13a7.htm His given name was Rubén Zaldivar (Spanish)]</ref>


Of mixed European, African, Chinese and Amerindian descent, Batista was considered a [[mulatto]] socially. He was educated in an American [[Quaker school]].<ref name=estill/> Coming from a humble background, he earned a living as a laborer in the cane fields, docks and railroads.<ref name="evolution"/> He was a tailor, mechanic, charcoal vendor, fruit peddler, and an Army stenographer.<ref name="evolution">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775003,00.html|title=Evolution of a Dictator|publisher=Time Magazine | date=June 12, 1944 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> In 1921, he traveled to Havana and joined the army.<ref>[http://www.lacasaazul.org/LindenLaneMagazineVolumen4/ReneDayreAbellaLaPieldelaMemoria.htm La piel de la memoria] by René Dayre Abella.</ref> After promotion to Sergeant, he became the union leader of Cuba's soldiers.
Of mixed European, African, Chinese and Amerindian descent, Batista was considered a [[mulatto]] socially. He was educated in an American [[Quaker school]].<ref name=estill/> Coming from a humble background, he earned a living as a laborer in the cane fields, docks and railroads.<ref name="evolution"/> He was a tailor, mechanic, charcoal vendor, fruit peddler, and an Army stenographer.<ref name="evolution">{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775003,00.html|title=Evolution of a Dictator|publisher=Time Magazine | date=June 12, 1944 | accessdate=May 3, 2010}}</ref> In 1921, he traveled to Havana and joined the army.<ref>[http://www.lacasaazul.org/LindenLaneMagazineVolumen4/ReneDayreAbellaLaPieldelaMemoria.htm La piel de la memoria] by René Dayre Abella.</ref> After promotion to Sergeant, he became the union leader of Cuba's soldiers.

Revision as of 16:18, 19 November 2010

"Batista" redirects here. For other uses, see Batista (disambiguation).
Fulgencio Batista
Batista in 1938
President of Cuba
In office
10 October 1940 – 10 October 1944
Vice PresidentGustavo Cuervo Rubio
Preceded byFederico Laredo Brú
Succeeded byRamón Grau
In office
10 March 1952 – 1 January 1959
Preceded byCarlos Prío
Succeeded byAnselmo Alliegro y Milá
Personal details
Bornthumb
(1901-01-16)January 16, 1901
Banes, Cuba
DiedAugust 6, 1973(1973-08-06) (aged 72)
Guadalmina, Spain[1]
Resting placethumb
Political partyUnited Action Party, Progressive Action Party
Spouse(s)1st Elisa Godinez-Gómez
2nd Marta Fernandez Miranda de Batista
ChildrenMirta Caridad Batista Godinez
Elisa Aleida Batista Godinez
Fulgencio Rubén Batista Godinez
Jorge Batista Fernández
Roberto Francisco Batista Fernández
Carlos Batista Fernández /> Fulgencio José Batista Fernández
Parent
  • thumb

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (Spanish pronunciation: [fulˈxenθjo βaˈtista i θalˈdiβar]; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban President, dictator, and military leader closely aligned with and supported by the United States. He served as the leader of Cuba from 1933–1944, and 1952–1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution.[2]

Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 "Revolt of the Sergeants" that overthrew the government of Gerardo Machado, becoming the Army Chief of Staff, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlling the five-member Presidency. He maintained this control until 1940, when he was himself elected President of Cuba, serving until 1944. From 1944-1952 he lived in the United States, returning to Cuba as leader of a U.S. backed coup that preempted the 1952 elections in which Batista was running a distant third.

Throughout the 1950s, Batista's corrupt and repressive regime systematically profited from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, in partnership with U.S. corporations and the American Mafia.[3] As a result, for three years Fidel Castro's July 26th Movement and other rebelling elements led a guerrilla uprising against Batista's regime which culminated in his eventual defeat following the Battle of Santa Clara on New Year's Day 1959. Batista immediately fled the island with an amassed personal fortune.

Batista eventually found political asylum in Portugal, where he lived until dying of a heart attack on August 6, 1973 near Marbella, Spain.[4]

Early life

Batista was born in Banes, Cuba in 1901, to Belisario Batista Cruz[5] and Carmela Zaldívar González, who had fought in the Cuban War of Independence. Apparently Belisario Batista Cruz (date of enrollment March 10th 1895)[6] was part of the Sergeant's rebellion of 1897 lead by Facundo Vidal Aldana[7] [8] that followed the Mambi victory at Tunas in August of that year [9], which was foiled when Major General Calixto Garcia faced them down. His mother named him Rubén and gave him her last name, Zaldívar. His father did not "recognize" him legally as his son, that is allow him the use of his own last name. In the registration records of the Banes courthouse he was legally Rubén Zaldívar until 1939, when, as Fulgencio Batista, he became a presidential candidate and it was discovered that being illegitimate he did not carry his father's name. It is alleged that a judge was bribed 15,000 Cuban pesos (about the same amount in U.S. dollars at the time) to fix the discrepancy.[10]

Of mixed European, African, Chinese and Amerindian descent, Batista was considered a mulatto socially. He was educated in an American Quaker school.[1] Coming from a humble background, he earned a living as a laborer in the cane fields, docks and railroads.[11] He was a tailor, mechanic, charcoal vendor, fruit peddler, and an Army stenographer.[11] In 1921, he traveled to Havana and joined the army.[12] After promotion to Sergeant, he became the union leader of Cuba's soldiers.

The Coup of 1933

The "Pentarchy of 1933" was a five-man Presidency of Cuba, including José M. Irisari, Porfirio Franca, Guillermo Portela, Ramon Grau, and Sergio Carbó. Fulgencio Batista, who controlled the armed forces, appears at far right.

Dictator Gerardo Machado was forced to leave August 24, 1933 by a combination of forces, a general strike which the communists under Fabio Grobart (Stalin's senior representative in Cuba) refused to participate, the secret organization called the ABC, the forces of Blas Hernadez, pressure from the regular Cuban armed forces and the U.S. Ambassador Sumner Welles.

On September 4th, 1933, Batista led an uprising known as the "Revolt of the Sergeants," about one month after the fall the government of Gerardo Machado.[13]. After Machado left for exile he was succeeded by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, who lacked a political coalition that could sustain him and was replaced a short time thereafter. Then Batista made his coup.

A short-lived five-member presidency, known as the Pentarchy of 1933, was established, including a representative from each anti-Machado faction; Batista was not a member but was in control of Cuba's armed forces. Within days the representative for the students and professors of the University of Havana, Ramón Grau San Martín, was made president and Batista became the Army Chief of Staff, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the presidency.[14] The majority of the commissioned officer corps were forcefully retired or, as some speculate, killed.[14]

Grau himself remained president for just over 100 days before Batista, conspiring with the U.S. envoy Sumner Welles, forced him to resign in January 1934.[13] Grau was replaced by Carlos Mendieta, and within five days the U.S. recognized Cuba's new government, which lasted eleven months. Batista then became the strongman behind a succession of "puppet presidents" until he was himself elected president in 1940.[13] After Mendieta, succeeding governments were led by José Barnet (5 months) and Miguel Mariano Gómez (7 months) before Federico Laredo Brú ruled from December 1936 to October 1940.

First Presidency (1940–1944)

A young Batista.

Batista, supported by a coalition of political parties, defeated Grau in the first presidential election under the new Cuban constitution in the 1940 election, and served a four year term as President of Cuba.[15][16] Although Batista was a capitalist and an admirer of the United States, he was endorsed by the old Communist Party of Cuba, which at the time had little significance and no chance of an electoral victory. This support was primarily due to Batista's labor laws and his support for labor unions with which the communists had close ties.[17] In fact, Communists attacked the anti-Batista opposition, saying Grau and others were "fascists" and "reactionaries"[18] During this term in office, Batista carried out major social reforms[16] and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies.[18]

Cuba entered World War II on the side of the Allies on December 8, 1941, declaring war on Japan the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 11, the Batista government declared war on Germany and Italy. In December 1942, after a friendly visit to Washington, Batista said Latin America would applaud a decision by the United Nations to go to war with Francisco Franco's Spain.[19][20]

Post-Presidency

In 1944, Batista's handpicked candidate for President, Carlos Saladrigas Zayas,[21] was defeated by Grau. In the final months of his presidency, Batista sought to handicap the incoming Grau administration. In a July 17, 1944, dispatch to the U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Ambassador Spruille Braden wrote:

It is becoming increasingly apparent that President Batista intends to discomfit the incoming Administration in every way possible, particularly financially. A systematic raid on the Treasury is in full swing with the result that Dr. Grau will probably find empty coffers when he takes office on October 10. It is blatant that President Batista desires that Dr. Grau San Matin should assume obligations which in fairness and equity should be a matter of settlement by the present Administration.[22]

Shortly after the inauguration of his successor Batista left Cuba for the United States. "I just felt safer there," he said. He divorced his wife, Elisa, and married Marta Fernández Batista in 1945; two of their four children were born in the United States.

For the next eight years Batista remained in the background, spending time between the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and a home in Daytona Beach, Florida.[13]

He continued to participate in Cuban politics and was elected to the Cuban Senate in absentia in 1948. Returning to Cuba, he decided to run for president and was given permission by President Grau, whereupon he formed the Unitary Action Party.[23]

Second Coup and Presidency (1952–1959)

Fulgencio Batista in 1952.

The corruption of the Government, the brutality of the police, the regime's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic justice ... is an open invitation to revolution.

— Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., when asked by the U.S. government to analyze Batista's Cuba [24]

In 1952, Batista again ran for president. In a three-way race, Roberto Agramonte of the Ortodoxos party led in all the polls, followed by Dr. Carlos Hevia of the Auténtico party, while Batista was running a distant third.

On March 10, 1952, three months before the elections, Batista, with army backing, staged a coup and seized power. He ousted outgoing President Carlos Prío Socarrás, canceled the elections and assumed control of the government as "provisional president". Shortly after the coup, the United States government recognized his regime.

Upon his return to power, Batista did not continue the progressive social policies of his earlier term. He was consumed by a desire for recognition by the upper strata of Cuban society, which had never accepted him in their social circles and clubs. He also worked to increase his personal fortune.

Meanwhile, poverty on the island was growing. In 1953, the average Cuban family had an income of $6.00 a week, 15 to 20 percent of the labor force was chronically unemployed, and only a third of the homes had running water.[25]

The Dallas industrialist Jack Crichton joined with several other oilmen to negotiate drilling rights in Cuba under the Batista administration. Standard Oil of Indiana signed an agreement with the Cuban-Venezuelan Oil Voting Trust Company, a unit originally established by William F. Buckley, Sr., for access to fifteen million acres. CVOVTC was during the middle 1950s one of the four or five most traded entities on the American Stock Exchange. (Batista's successor, Fidel Castro, reduced the size of claims for oil exploration to a maximum of twenty thousand acres and ended large-scale explorations by private companies.[26])

Relationship with organized crime

Brothels flourished. A major industry grew up around them; government officials received bribes, policemen collected protection money. Prostitutes could be seen standing in doorways, strolling the streets, or leaning from windows. One report estimated that 11,500 of them worked their trade in Havana. Beyond the outskirts of the capital, beyond the slot machines, was one of the poorest, and most beautiful countries in the Western world.

— David Detzer, American journalist, after visiting Havana in the 1950s[24]

Batista established lasting relationships with organized crime, notably with American mobsters Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, and under his rule Havana became known as "the Latin Las Vegas."[27] Batista and Lansky formed a friendship and business relationship that flourished for a decade. During a stay at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in the late 1940s, it was mutually agreed that, in return for kickbacks, Batista would give Lansky and the Mafia control of Havana’s racetracks and casinos.

After World War II, American mobster Lucky Luciano was paroled from prison on the condition that he permanently return to Sicily. However, Luciano secretly moved to Cuba, where he worked to resume control over American mafia operations. Luciano also ran a number of casinos in Cuba with the sanction of Batista, though the American government eventually succeeded in pressuring the Batista regime to deport Luciano.

Batista encouraged large-scale gambling in Havana, announcing in 1955 that Cuba would grant a gaming license to anyone who invested U.S. $1 million in a hotel or $200,000 in a new nightclub - and that the government would provide matching public funds for construction, a 10-year exemption from taxes, and impose no duties on imports of equipment and furnishings for new hotels. From each casino the government was to receive U.S. $250,000 for the license and a percentage of the profits. The policy waived the background checks that were required for casino operations in the United States, and opened the door for casino investors with illegally obtained sources of funding. Cuban contractors with the right connections made windfalls by importing, duty-free, more materials than were needed for new hotels and selling the surplus to others. It was rumored that besides the U.S. $250,000 to obtain a license, an additional fee was sometimes required under the table.

Lansky became a prominent figure in Cuba's gambling operations,[13] and exerted influence over Batista's casino policies. Lansky associate Chauncey Holt described Batista as "always in Lansky's pocket."[24] Lansky also turned Cuba into an international drug trafficking port. The Mafia's Havana Conference was held on December 22, 1946 at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba. This was the first full-scale meeting of American underworld leaders since the Chicago meeting in 1932.

Lansky set about cleaning up the games at the Montmartre Club, which soon became the in place in Havana. He also wanted to open a casino in the Hotel Nacional, the most elegant hotel in Havana. Batista endorsed Lansky’s idea over the objections of American expatriates like Ernest Hemingway and the renovated casino wing opened for business in 1955 with a show by Eartha Kitt. The casino was an immediate success.[28]

As the new hotels, nightclubs and casinos opened Batista wasted no time collecting his share of the profits. Nightly, the "bagman" for his wife collected 10 percent of the profits at Trafficante's interests; the Sans Souci cabaret, and the casinos in the hotels Sevilla-Biltmore, Commodoro, Deauville and Capri (partly owned by the actor George Raft). His take from the Lansky casinos – his prized Habana Riviera, the Hotel Nacional , the Montmartre Club and others – was said to be 30 percent.[29]

Support of U.S. business and government

The gold-plated telephone presented to Batista now resides in Havana's Museum of the Revolution as a symbol of the Batista era's corruption.

At the beginning of 1959 United States companies owned about 40 percent of the Cuban sugar lands - almost all the cattle ranches - 90 percent of the mines and mineral concessions - 80 percent of the utilities - practically all the oil industry - and supplied two-thirds of Cuba's imports.[25]

In a manner that antagonized the Cuban people, the U.S. government used their influence to advance the interests of and increase the profits of the private American companies, which "dominated the island's economy."[25] As a symbol of this relationship, ITT Corporation, an American-owned multinational telephone company, presented Batista with a gold-plated telephone, as an "expression of gratitude" for the "excessive telephone rate increase" which Batista had granted at the urging of the U.S. government.[25]

Earl T. Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, testified to the U.S. Senate in 1960 that "until Castro, the U.S. was so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that the American ambassador was the second most important man, sometimes even more important than the Cuban president."[30] In addition, nearly "all aid" from the U.S. to Batista's regime was in the "form of weapons assistance", which "merely strengthened the Batista dictatorship" and "completely failed to advance the economic welfare of the Cuban people".[25] Such actions later "enabled Castro and the Communists to encourage the growing belief that America was indifferent to Cuban aspirations for a decent life."[25]

Senator John F. Kennedy, in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. Presidency, described Batista's relationship with the U.S. government and criticized the Eisenhower Administration for supporting him, on October 6, 1960:

Fulgencio Batista murdered 20,000 Cubans in seven years ... and he turned Democratic Cuba into a complete police state - destroying every individual liberty. Yet our aid to his regime, and the ineptness of our policies, enabled Batista to invoke the name of the United States in support of his reign of terror. Administration spokesmen publicly praised Batista - hailed him as a staunch ally and a good friend - at a time when Batista was murdering thousands, destroying the last vestiges of freedom, and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the Cuban people, and we failed to press for free elections.[25]

Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution

I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country’s policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear.

— U.S. President John F. Kennedy, interview with Jean Daniel, October 24, 1963 [31]

Just over a year after Batista's second coup, a small group of revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago on July 26, 1953. The assault was easily defeated and many of its leaders executed, while others were jailed. Among those jailed was the primary leader of the attack, Fidel Castro, a young attorney who had been running for parliament in the canceled 1952 elections. In the wake of the Moncada assault, Batista suspended constitutional guarantees and increasingly relied on police tactics in an attempt to "frighten the population through open displays of brutality."[13]

Batista held an election in 1954, which the opposition boycotted. Just before the election his opponent, Grau, withdrew from the campaign, charging that his supporters had been terrorized. Thus, Batista was elected president with 45.1% of the votes. Grau received only 6.8%.

By late 1955, student riots and anti-Batista demonstrations had become frequent. These were dealt with in the violent manner his military police had come to represent. All youth were seen as suspects, and merely to be a "University student, was enough in many cases to warrant a sentence of death."[32] Due to its continued opposition to Batista, the University of Havana was temporarily closed on November 30, 1956. (It would not reopen until early 1959, after a revolutionary victory.) Student leader Jose Antonio Echeverría was killed by police outside a radio station he had taken over to make broadcasts, in concert with an attack on the Presidential Palace on March 13, 1957.

In April 1956, Batista called popular military leader, Col. Ramón Barquín back to Cuba from his post as military attaché to the United States. Believing Barquín would support his rule, Batista appointed him General and Chief of the Army.[33] However, Barquín's Conspiración de los Puros (Conspiracy of the Pure) was already underway and had already progressed too far. On April 6, 1956, Barquín led a coup by hundreds of career officers but was frustrated by Lieutenant Ríos Morejón, who betrayed the plan. Barquín was sentenced to solitary confinement for eight years on the Isle of Pines, while many officers were sentenced to death.[33]

The purge of the officer corps contributed to the inability of the Cuban army to successfully combat Castro and his guerrillas.[33][34] Batista's police responded to increasing popular unrest by torturing and killing young men in the cities; his army, however, was ineffective against the rebels based in the Sierra Maestra and Escambray mountains.[13] Another possible explanation for the failure to crush the rebellion was offered by author Carlos Alberto Montaner: "Batista does not finish Fidel out of greed ... His is a government of thieves. To have this small guerrilla band in the mountains is to his advantage, so that he can order special defense expenditures that they can steal."[13] Batista's rule became increasingly unpopular among the population, and the Soviet Union began to secretly support Castro.[35]

It is clear that counterterror became the strategy of the Batista government. It has been estimated by some that as many as 20,000 civilians were killed.[36]

In an effort to gather information about Castro's army, people were pulled in by Batista's secret police for questioning. Many innocent people were tortured by Batista's police, while suspects, including children, were publicly executed as a warning to others who were considering joining the insurgency.[24] Additionally, "Hundreds of mangled bodies were left hanging from lamp posts or dumped in the streets in a grotesque variation of the Spanish colonial practice of public executions."[32] The behavior of Batista's forces backfired and increased support for the guerrillas. In 1958, forty-five organizations signed an open letter supporting the 26th of July movement, among them national bodies representing lawyers, architects, dentists, accountants and social workers. Castro, who had originally relied on the support of the poor, was now gaining the backing of the influential middle classes.[24]

The United States supplied Batista with planes, ships, tanks, and the latest technology such as napalm which were used in his battle against the insurgency.[24] However, in March 1958, the U. S. announced it would stop selling arms to the Cuban government.[37] Soon after, the U.S. imposed an arms embargo and recalled their ambassador, further weakening the government's position,[38] although land owners and others who benefited from the regime continued to support Batista.[17]

In March 1958, President Eisenhower, disillusioned with Batista's performance, suggested he hold elections. Batista did, but the people showed their dissatisfaction with his government by refusing to vote. Over 75% percent of the voters in the capital, Havana, boycotted the polls. In some areas, such as Santiago, it was as high as 98 percent. The election placed another Batista puppet, Andrés Rivero, in the president's chair, but Batista knew losing the support of the U.S. government meant his days in power were numbered.[24]

On December 11, 1958, U.S. Ambassador Earl Smith visited Batista at his hacienda, "Kuquines". There Smith informed him that the United States could no longer support his regime. Batista asked if he could go to his house in Daytona Beach. The ambassador denied his request and suggested instead that he seek asylum in Spain.

On December 31, 1958, Batista raised a New Year's Eve toast to his cabinet members and senior military officers and told them hasta la vista. After seven years, Batista knew his presidency was over and fled the island in the early morning hours as rebel forces entered Havana.[39] At three A.M. on January 1, 1959, Batista boarded a plane at Camp Columbia with one hundred and eighty of his supporters and flew to Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. With him went his personal fortune of more than US$300 million amassed through graft and payoffs.[40] Critics accused Batista and his supporters of taking as much as US$700 million in fine art and cash with them as they fled into exile.[41][42]

As news of the fall of Batista's government spread through Havana, The New York Times described the scene as one of jubilant crowds pouring into the streets and automobile horns honking. The black and red flag of the 26th of July Movement waved on automobiles and buildings. The atmosphere was chaotic. On January 8, 1959, Castro and his army rolled victoriously into Havana.[43]

Batista was not welcome in the Dominican Republic. Having already been denied entry to the United States, he sought asylum in Mexico, which also refused him entry. Portugal's dictator António Salazar allowed him to settle there on condition he completely remove himself from politics.

By the end of Batista's rule, described by U.S. President John F. Kennedy as "one of the most bloody and repressive dictatorships in the long history of Latin American repression",[25] 20,000 Cubans had been killed.[44][45][46][47]

Personal life and death

He was married to Elisa Godinez-Gómez (1905–?) on July 10, 1926, and they had three children: Mirta Caridad (April 1927), Elisa Aleida (1933), and Fulgencio Rubén Batista Godinez (1933–2007).[48] He later married Marta Fernandez Miranda de Batista (1920–2006), and they had two sons: Jorge and Roberto Francisco Batista Fernández.

Batista later moved to Madeira, then Estoril, outside Lisbon, Portugal, where he lived and wrote books the rest of his life. He was also the Chairman of a Spanish life insurance company which invested in property and mortgages on the Spanish Riviera.

He died of a heart attack on August 6, 1973, at Guadalmina, near Marbella, Spain,[4] two days before a team of assassins from Castro's Cuba could carry out a plan to kill him.[13]

Marta Fernandez Miranda de Batista, Batista's widow, died on October 2, 2006.[41] Roberto Batista, her son, says that she died at her West Palm Beach home.[42] She had suffered from Alzheimer's disease[42] and had a heart attack on September 8, 2006.[citation needed] Batista was buried with her husband in San Isidro Cemetery in Madrid after a Mass in West Palm Beach.

Books written by Batista

  • Estoy con el Pueblo (I am With the People), Havana, 1939
  • Repuesta, Manuel León Sánchez S.C.L., Mexico City, 1960
  • Piedras y leyes (Stones and Laws), Mexico City, 1961
  • Cuba Betrayed, Vantage Press, New York, 1961
  • To Rule is to Foresee, 1962
  • The Growth and Decline of the Cuban Republic, Devin-Adair Company, New York, 1964

Images

  • Fulgencio Batista (left) and U.S. General Malin Craig at Arlington National Cemetery in the United States, while waiting for the arrival of President Roosevelt, 1938.
    Fulgencio Batista (left) and U.S. General Malin Craig at Arlington National Cemetery in the United States, while waiting for the arrival of President Roosevelt, 1938.
  • Batista, his wife Elisa Godinez-Gómez, and the ambassador from Cuba to the United States, Dr. Pedro Fraga, at the Cuban Embassy, 11/10/38
    Batista, his wife Elisa Godinez-Gómez, and the ambassador from Cuba to the United States, Dr. Pedro Fraga, at the Cuban Embassy, 11/10/38
  • Sumner Welles, The U.S. Undersecretary of State, shown shaking hands with Col. Fulgencio Batista as Gen. Malin Craig, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army looks on, 11/10/38
    Sumner Welles, The U.S. Undersecretary of State, shown shaking hands with Col. Fulgencio Batista as Gen. Malin Craig, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army looks on, 11/10/38

References

  1. ^ a b Batista y Zaldívar, Fulgencio by Aimee Estill, Historical Text Archive.
  2. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica entry for Fulgencio Batista
  3. ^ Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution, by T. J. English, William Morrow, 2008, ISBN 0-06-114771-0
  4. ^ a b "Batista Dies in Spain at 72". New York Times. August 7, 1973.
  5. ^ "Mambí Army" Data Base
  6. ^ "Mambí Army" Data Base
  7. ^ "Mambí Army" Data Base
  8. ^ Escalante Beatón, Ánibal 1946 Calixto García, su campaña en el 95. Arrow Press, Havana, Cuba pages 242-250.
  9. ^ Escalante Beatón, Ánibal 1946 Calixto García, su campaña en el 95. Arrow Press, Havana, Cuba pages 219-262, for mutiny see 248-250.
  10. ^ His given name was Rubén Zaldivar (Spanish)
  11. ^ a b "Evolution of a Dictator". Time Magazine. June 12, 1944. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  12. ^ La piel de la memoria by René Dayre Abella.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i American Experience: Fulgencio Batista by PBS
  14. ^ a b Frank Argote-Freyre. Fulgencio Batista: Volume 1, From Revolutionary to Strongman. Rutgers University Press, New Jersey.
  15. ^ Leslie Bethell. Cuba. ISBN 9780521436823.
  16. ^ a b Julia E. Sweig. Inside the Cuban Revolution. ISBN 9780674016125.
  17. ^ a b Jorge I. Domínguez. Cuba. p. 90.
  18. ^ a b Jorge I. Domínguez. Cuba.
  19. ^ "Plain Talk in Spanish", TIME, December 28, 1942, Retrieved March 2, 2010
  20. ^ "Batista's Boost", TIME, January 18, 1943, Retrieved March 2, 2010
  21. ^ See
  22. ^ United States Department of State (1944), "Foreign relations of the United States : diplomatic papers, 1944", The American Republics, vol. VII, University of Wisconsin Digital Collections, p. 910, retrieved April 8, 2010 {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |lastauthoramp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Biography of Fulgencio Batista – Fulgencio Batista Profile About.com
  24. ^ a b c d e f g Fulgencio Batista by Spartacus School Encyclopedia
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at Democratic Dinner, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1960 from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
  26. ^ "Jack Alston Crichton". spartacus.schoolnet.co. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  27. ^ Fulgencio Batista fun facts by History of Cuba
  28. ^ Cuban History, Architecture & Culture
  29. ^ Fulgencio Batista: Cuban Dictator, 1901-1973 at U-S History
  30. ^ Ernesto "Che" Guevara (World Leaders Past & Present), by Douglas Kellner, 1989, Chelsea House Publishers, ISBN 1-55546-835-7, pg 66
  31. ^ Spartacus Educational entry for Jean Daniel
  32. ^ a b Invisible Latin America, by Samuel Shapiro, Ayer Publishing, 1963, ISBN 0-8369-2521-1, pg 77
  33. ^ a b c Sullivan, Patricia (2008-03-06). "Ramón M. Barquín, 93; Led Failed '56 Coup in Cuba". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  34. ^ DePalma, Anthony (2008-03-06). "Ramón Barquín, Cuban Colonel, Dies at 93". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  35. ^ Timothy P. Wickham-Crowley. Guerrillas and revolution in Latin America. p. 189.
  36. ^ Violence in America: Historical and Comparative Perspectives - A Report to the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence Volume 2, U.S. Govternment Printing Office, 1969, pg 582
  37. ^ Ernesto "Che" Guevara (World Leaders Past & Present), by Douglas Kellner, 1989, Chelsea House Publishers, ISBN 1-55546-835-7, pg 45
  38. ^ Louis A. Pérez. Cuba and the United States.
  39. ^ Audio: Recalling Castro's Ascension – And CIA Reaction by Tom Gjelten, NPR Morning Edition, January 1, 2009
  40. ^ Ernesto "Che" Guevara (World Leaders Past & Present), by Douglas Kellner, 1989, Chelsea House Publishers, ISBN 1-55546-835-7, pg 48
  41. ^ a b O'Meilia, Tim (2006-10-04). "Widow of Cuban dictator Batista dies in WPB". Palm Beach Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  42. ^ a b c "Widow of Cuban strongman Batista dies". United Press International. Retrieved 2008-03-31. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |gujtfuyhtfyhtfhgfhdate= ignored (help)
  43. ^ "Castro: The Great Survivor". BBC News. 2000. Retrieved 2006-05-15. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  44. ^ Invisible Latin America, by Samuel Shapiro, Ayer Publishing, 1963, ISBN 0-8369-2521-1, pg 77 ~ "All told, Batista's second dictatorship cost the Cuban people some 20,000 dead"
  45. ^ Conflict, Order, and Peace in the Americas‎, by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, 1978, pg 121 ~ "The US-supported Batista regime killed 20,000 Cubans"
  46. ^ The World Guide 1997/98: A View from the South, by University of Texas, 1997, ISBN 1-869847-43-1, pg 209 ~ "Batista engineered yet another coup, establishing a dictatorial regime which was responsible for the death of 20,000 Cubans"
  47. ^ The Third World in Perspective‎, by H. A. Reitsma & J. M. G. Kleinpenning, ISBN 0-8476-7450-9, pg 344 ~ "under Batista at least 20,000 people were put to death"
  48. ^ Son of former Cuban leader dies
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