Fulgencio Batista

Fulgencio Batista
Batista in 1938
14th Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba
In office March 10, 1952 – January 1, 1959
Prime Minister	See list Himself Andrés Domingo Jorge García Montes Andrés Rivero Agüero Emilio Núñez Portuondo Gonzalo Güell
Vice President	Rafael Guas Inclán
Preceded by	Carlos Prío Socarrás
Succeeded by	Anselmo Alliegro
In office October 10, 1940 – October 10, 1944
Prime Minister	Carlos Saladrigas Zayas Ramón Zaydín Anselmo Alliegro
Vice President	Gustavo Cuervo Rubio
Preceded by	Federico Laredo Brú
Succeeded by	Ramón Grau
Prime Minister of Cuba
In office 10 March 1952 – 4 April 1952
President	Himself
Preceded by	Óscar Gans
Succeeded by	Vacant (1952‍–‍1955) Jorge García Montes (1955‍–‍1957)
Cuban Senator
In office June 2, 1948 – March 10, 1952
Constituency	Las Villas
Personal details
Born	Rubén Zaldívar (1901-01-16)January 16, 1901 Banes, Cuba
Died	August 6, 1973(1973-08-06) (aged 72) Marbella, Málaga, Spain
Resting place	Saint Isidore Cemetery
Political party	CSD (1939–1944) Liberal (1948–1949) PAU (1949–1952) PAP (1952–1959)
Spouse(s)	Elisa Godínez Gómez ​ ​ (m. 1926; div. 1946)​ Marta Fernandez Miranda ​ ​ (m. 1946)​
Children	9
Other names	Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (full name from 1939)
Military service
Allegiance	Republic of Cuba
Branch/service	Cuban Army
Years of service	1921–1940
Rank	Major general

Batista's soldiers executing a rebel by firing squad in 1956

Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the military leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940. He was a farm worker from eastern Cuba, and moved to Havana where he became a stenographer and a sergeant in the Army. He became a leader of a group of sergeants who wanted better pay. With others they overthrew President Gerardo Machado in 1933 and Batista ended up commanding the Army.

In 1940 Batista won election and was President of Cuba until 1944. In 1952 he made his own coup and ruled the country until 1959. His authoritarian government during this time caused opposition despite his attempt to placate critics with a 'show' election in 1954 where he ran without opposition. The opposition included the entire coalition that had overthrown Gerardo Machado.

Fidel Castro's guerrilla movement overthrew Batista. This is known as the Cuban Revolution. Batista fled Cuba on January 1, 1959 and went to the Dominican Republic before moving on to Portugal, and finally to Spain where he died of a heart attack in 1973.