Facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup against President Carlos Prío Socarrás that pre-empted the election. After finishing his term, Batista moved to Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba and served until 1944. He maintained control through a string of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was elected president on a populist platform. Batista then appointed himself chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member 'pentarchy' that functioned as the collective head of state.
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar ( / f ʊ l ˈ h ɛ n s i oʊ b ə ˈ t iː s t ə/ ⓘ fuul- HEN-see-oh bə- TEE-stə, Latin American Spanish: born Rubén Zaldívar Janu– August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as a military dictator from 1952 to 1959, until he was overthrown in the Cuban Revolution.īatista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants, which overthrew the provisional government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada.