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Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar | |
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| Born | 16 January 1901 Banes, Cuba |
| Died | 6 August 1973 (aged 72) Málaga, Spain |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Political orientation | Fascism |
| Political party | Democratic Socialist Coalition (1939–44) Liberal Party of Cuba (1948–49) Unitary Action Party (1949–52) Progressive Action Party (1952–59) |
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; 16 January 1901 — 6 August 1973) was a far-right Cuban politician, who served as the democratically-elected leader of Cuba from 1940 until 1944, and then as a Statesian-backed military dictator from 1952 until 1959, when he was overthrown by the 26th of July Movement during the Cuban Revolution.
Following his military coup d'etat, he suspended the 1940 Constitution, the right to strike, and persecuted the labor movement and socialists. He aligned himself with wealthy landowners and the mafia, and presided over a stagnating economy, while the gap between rich and poor Cubans widened. Over 20,000 Cubans were murdered during his reign. His dictatorship eventually came to an end on January 1, 1959, after the Battle of Santa Clara, and fled to Spain, where he eventually died in 1973.