in the early 1930s, the economic crisis has hit Cuba and the situation is unstable
………………………………………..
Governments fall and caretaker governments take over and the quagmire deepens
………………………………………..
Somewhere along the line a group of army sergeants begin to make contact with the embassy (we all know which embassy).
and form a team with the ambition to improve conditions in the army
………………………………………..
Later this group was called the “junta of eight”
………………………………………..
One of the eight was Fulgencio Batista, a horned cavalryman
………………………………………..
But he was ambitious and he had the embassy on his side.
You got a little?;
………………………………………..
so the sergeants, having managed to get part of the army on their side,
stage a coup and seize power in 1933.
………………………………………..
Batista, who is the most dynamic of the eight, seizes the opportunity and promotes himself from sergeant to colonel and self-appointed head of the armed forces
………………………………………..
He found various front men to play the presidents but he was in charge.
………………………………………..
in 1940 makes himself president of Cuba
………………………………………..
but the world war mixes everything up and Batista leaves for the USA.
………………………………………..
when things settle down he returns to the island and decides to run for president
………………………………………..
At some point he got so stoked that he thought the people really loved him and went to the elections.
………………………………………..
the spill was coming on fast, but he took notice and did what he had learned to do,
i.e.
Coup again....
………………………………………..
“Since you can't get me out by election, I'll just go out on my own” I can imagine him thinking...
………………………………………..
Junta and a cruel one at that
………………………………………..
suspends the right to strike and many other freedoms
and gives almost EVERYTHING to American capitalists
………………………………………..
reached the point in the late 1950s that US economic interests held the economic interests of the
the 90% of the Cuban mines,
the 80% of public utilities,
the 50% of their railways,
the 40% of sugar production
and 25% of bank deposits - about $1 billion in total
………………………………………..
Besides, Havana became a centre of the American mafia.
prostitution,
drugs
and
gambling,
had their due
………………………………………..
He writes an American report:
During the 1950s, Havana served as a centre for the
as
«a hedonistic playground for the world's elite»,
factor,
significant gambling, prostitution and drug profits for the American mafia,
corrupt law enforcement officials and their politically elected friends
………………………………………..
historian Louis Perez, writes:
«Havana was then what Las Vegas became after Las Vegas».
………………………………………..
in the late 1950s Havana had 270 brothels.
Furthermore,
drugs, whether marijuana or cocaine, were so abundant at that time,
that an American magazine in 1950 proclaimed:
“Drugs are no harder to get in Cuba than a shot of rum....”
………………………………………..
the playwright Arthur Miller described Batista's Cuba as:
«hopelessly corrupt, a Mafia playground and a brothel for Americans and other foreigners».
………………………………………..
Meanwhile
Some dissidents were summarily executed in the streets
………………………………………..
the student revolts were suppressed in blood.
………………………………………..
censorship in the media has been tightened
while
a secret police force was created to suppress Communist activities
………………………………………..
they were baptizing communists whoever they wanted
and
torture,
the public executions
and murders by the official state became a daily occurrence
………………………………………..
By 1959 these deaths were estimated at 20,000 souls.
………………………………………..
The knot had come to a head
………………………………………..
Since 1956, Fidel Castro had been sneaking onto the island.
he would come back and stir up the peasants all over the countryside,
who sided with him,
seeing the mess that this inglorious mafia employee had thrown the country into
………………………………………..
In 1958 the river never turned back
………………………………………..
On this day, December 31, Batista understands that this is where it will happen to him and thinks
“Whose mother never cried?”
so,
grabs the entire $700 million treasury and walks away
………………………………………..
a few days later on January 8, 1959, Castro with Che and the barbudos (bearded men) enter Havana
………………………………………..
Batista doesn't care about getting back, he's got the dough and he's pulling for the US.
but the United States no longer needs him,
was a pawn that they now have no need for,
so
they refuse to give him asylum
………………………………………..
turns to Mexico but they refuse to do the same
………………………………………..
he has nowhere to go, his situation is desperate
………………………………………..
finally, he was accepted by the leader of Portugal, Antonio Salazar, and allowed to settle there on the condition that he completely abstain from politics
………………………………………..
He died of a heart attack on 6 August 1973, in Marbella, Spain
………………………………………..
PS. in the picture the sergeant who had made himself a colonel, on an official visit to the USA,
he is welcomed by Under Secretary of State Sumner Wells
