He served as elected president of Cuba from to , and military dictator from to his resignation. 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.
He maintained control through a series of puppet presidents until , when he was elected president on a populist platform. After finishing his term in , Batista moved to Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in Back in power and receiving financial, military and logistical support from the United States government , [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Batista suspended the Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike.
He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. These murders mounted in , as socialist ideas became more influential.
While exact numbers are unclear, estimates of the death toll attributed to Batista range from hundreds to up to 20, victims. Batista's efforts to quell the unrest proved not only ineffective, but his tactics were the catalyst to even wider resistance against his regime. During this time, revolutionary leaders Fidel Castro and Che Guevara , founders of the July 26th Movement began a resistance campaign that saw a combination of peaceful protests and guerrilla warfare in both rural and urban areas of Cuba between and After almost two years of fighting, rebel forces led by Guevara successfully defeated Batista's forces at the Battle of Santa Clara on New Year's Eve, , effectively collapsing the regime.
On January 1, , Batista announced his resignation, fleeing the country to the Dominican Republic under the protection of Rafael Trujillo , before settling in Portugal , spending the rest of his life in exile until his death in His father did not want to register him as a Batista. When it was discovered that no birth certificate existed for a "Fulgencio Batista", he had to postpone his candidacy registration and pay 15, pesos to the local judge.
