9781422279816

Fulgencio Batista (center) shakes hands with Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles during the Cuban dictator’s visit to Washington, D.C., in November 1938. U.S. officials had encouraged Batista to seize power, and they supported his government. Batista relin- quished power in 1944 but launched a coup eight years later.

ensconced themselves in the Sierra Maestra, a rugged moun- tain range in eastern Cuba. At first the rebels didn’t seem to have much public support. But Batista ordered an increasingly vicious crackdown on his critics. Cubans who were merely suspected of opposing the regime faced arrest. Many were tortured or murdered by Batista’s security forces. This brutality eventually alienated the

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