succession.
As for as General Batista was concerned, 1952 was not the first time he had used the Army to seize power and establish order in Cuba. Back in 1933-34 he had quelled civil strife long enough to have a new president put in office; but when the people were not satisfied with this or any other candidate for president, he finally had himself elected in 1940. A new constitution was adopted in 1940, but when the general election was held in 1944, Batista’s candidate was defeated.
The Batista regime was followed by two extremely corrupt, graft-ridden administrations which once more destroyed confidence in the democratic processes. By 1952 these politicians were also destroying the stability of Cuba’s economy. Batista was a candidate for president himself but felt the elections would be a fraud and civil war would result; therefore he considered the circumstances sufficiently critical to justify his taking over again and re- establishing a temporary military government.
There was a cry of outrage both in the United States and Cuba as Batista suspended the elections and dissolved the congress. Nevertheless, he forged ahead with a four-pronged program:
1—stabilizing Cuba’s economy through diversified agriculture and accelerated industrial development;
2—strengthening economic and political ties with the United States;
3—resisting Communism, and
4—raising the Cuban standard of living.
He also promised the U.S. Ambassador that free elections would be held no later than 1958.
By 1957 the International Monetary Fund ranked Cuba fourth among the 20 Latin American Republics in per capita income. Although it was only one sixth as high as the United States, it was 90% as high as Italy, far higher than Japan, and six times higher than India. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported: “The Cuban national income has reached levels which give the Cuban people one of the highest standards of living in Latin America.{115}
Batista’s biographers agree that the General was not the usual Latin American “army strong man,” but was actually very pro-labor and tried to persuade the people that he wanted to carry out policies which would be popular rather than dictatorial. It soon became apparent that Batista’s policies were making a highly profitable tourist mecca out of Cuba and attracting vast quantities of American capital for industrial development.
It also became apparent that Cuba was gradually changing from a strait-jacket, sugar-cane culture to a better balanced industrial-agriculture-tourist economy. Wages went up from 10 to 30% and many Cuban workers were covered with health, accident and medical insurance for the first time, between 1950 and 1958 the overall national income jumped 22%. This is after deducting 10% for rising living costs.
This, then, was the promising development of Cuba which was taking place at the time Batista was overthrown.
Politically, Batista’s administration was typical of Cuba’s past. The Batista regime indulged itself in certain quantities of graft; when there were armed insurrections, Batista met violence with violence; when there were minority uprisings he suspended civil rights and established full military control. Nevertheless he insisted that once conditions were stabilized, he would submit himself to the people in a popular election and would be willing to stand by the results just as he had done in 1944. His opponents, particularly Fidel Castro, jeered at such promises and accused Batista of being opposed to constitutional government. The record shows that several times when Batista tried to slacken the reigns of control there were immediate outbursts of violence and he would therefore tighten them again.
But it was during the Castro Revolution that Batista’s political sincerity was actually demonstrated. He announced that in accordance with his previous commitment there would be a general election June 1, 1958. He invited Castro to restore peace so that the will of the people could be determined.
Castro responded with a bloodthirsty manifesto in which be declared that as of April 5, 1958, any person who remained in an office of trust in the executive branch of the government would be “considered guilty of treason.” He said candidates for the elections must withdraw immediately or suffer “ten years imprisonment to the death sentence.” He authorized his revolutionary militia in the towns and cities to shoot down candidates summarily.
Responsible Cubans such as Dr. Marquez Sterling made contact with Castro in his mountain retreat and pleaded with the revolutionary leader to stop the bloodshed and allow the elections. Castro arrogantly turned him down. There would be no elections.
During the emotional white heat of the revolution many Americans missed the highly significant overtures which Batista was making. As it turned out, these might have made the difference in saving Cuba from the Communist conquest which Castro was planning.
Earlier, U.S. Ambassador Arthur Gardner had been removed because he urged support of Batista until Cuba’s Problems could be settled at the polls. He was replaced by Ambassador Earl Smith who soon received a horrified State Department stare when he tried to put over the point that Castro was obviously leading Cuba and the United States into a Soviet-built Communist trap.
These shocked State Department “experts” reflected their complete disdain for their Ambassador’s advice by deliberately engineering a tight arms embargo against Batista. Then they went further. To completely assure Batista’s defeat they promoted an agreement among the Central and South American republics that they would not sell arms to Batista either. The results were inevitable.
In desperation, Batista tried to buy 15 unarmed training planes from the United States. It was finally agreed that this would be satisfactory. Batista paid for them in advance. Then Castro ordered Raul to launch a project specifically designed to intimidate and humiliate the United States. Raul kidnapped 30 U.S. Marines and sailors, 17 American civilians and 3 Canadians. Threats against the lives of these hostages were used to force the United States to cancel the shipment of training planes to Batista. The experts in the State Department meekly capitulated!
Some American citizens were bold enough to suggest that if Teddy Roosevelt had been alive he would have taken the U.S. Marine Corps and landed in the middle of Castro’s mountain retreat with such an earthshaking velocity that the Cuban tyrant would have gladly released the Americans—and without any price.
The Castro Coup D’etat
When Batista first took over in 1952, Fidel Castro had immediately projected himself into the front lines of opposition. As indicated previously, Castro had been working behind the facade of the Orthodox Party, but after the Batista Coup he insisted that this organization include the Communist Party and set up a “popular front” against Batista. The Orthodox Party leaders refused to do this. Castro promptly bolted the party and said he would form his own movement.
It was only a short time after this—July 26, 1953—that he made his disastrous attack on the Army barracks at Santiago. This turned into a real tragedy for the men in the barracks hospital (who were cut to pieces by Castro’s raiders) and also for Castro’s men. They were met with overwhelming odds and captured or killed. Survivors were subjected to torture and eventual death in retaliation for their attack on the wards in the hospital. Thus the “26th of July Movement” was born.
Castro had managed to assign himself to a less dangerous post in the 26th of July attack and when he saw the assault was failing he fled, shouting, “Every man for himself!” His brother Raul also escaped. Later both of the Castro brothers were captured and sentenced to prison. Fidel was sentenced to 15 years and Raul to 13. However, both of them served only 22 months because after Batista had put down the attempted insurrection he commuted their sentences.
For this gesture of political generosity by Batista, the Castro brothers displayed only contempt. During July, 1955, they left Cuba declaring that they would organize an invasion force and soon return to pull down Batista and “liberate” Cuba.
The headquarters for this invasion movement was established near Mexico City. All kinds of people flocked there to support Castro’s so-called liberation of Cuba. Some were political enemies of Batista, some were opportunists, and many were sincere liberals. But just as with Lumumba in Africa, sinister hard-core Communist personalities immediately moved in close to provide the “guiding hand.”
