ABSTRACT
Batista attempted to present his coup of March 1952 as a progressive measure designed to bring an end to corruption and anarchy in Cuba. To this effect, he promised to carry out a number of social reforms and eventually to hold elections; he had not lost his populist touch. The promises could not have been more cynical, for he began his new rule by suspending constitutional guarantees such as the right to strike and abolishing both Congress and political parties. Yet the political system of Cuba had been so discredited by eight years of Auténtico administration that many Cubans welcomed his coup. The Cuban business elites and the small conservative parties rallied to his side while the executive of the Cuban Labour Federation, the CTC, whose left-wing leadership had been destroyed by repression in the late 1940s, made a deal with Batista in which they agreed to collaborate in exchange for corporatist favours. 1 For its part the US government under Truman gave its seal of approval to the coup 10 days later.
