Beginning in the 1950's the face and shape of Cuba were altered forever by the Cuban revolution. Fidel Castro and his young rebels provided the driving force for change in Cuba. This is the story of that revolution, also known as Cuba's motion of independence. It is also the story of Fidel Castro, for it is impossible to separate the two.

Three weeks before the 1952 Cuban presidential elections, Fulgencio Batista Zaldivar Ð a former president Ð was running third in a 3-man-race. Dr. Roberto Agramonte of the Ortodoxos party led in all the polls, followed by Dr. Aurelio Hevia of the Autentico party. At this point, Batista decided to turn a likely political defeat into a sudden stunning victory. He simply seized control of the government by force of arms.

In the early hours of March 10, 1952, Batista and a handful of fellow officers entered Camp Columbia in Havana and took control of the Cuban army. With the army supporting him, he overthrew the presidency of Carlos Prio Soccaras in a scant 77 minutes. Only 2 men died in the 'almost' bloodless takeover, and an indifferent nation seemed neither to notice nor to care. By late that afternoon, Batista was firmly in power. Prio fled the country a few hours later. He left the control and destiny of Cuba in the grasping hands of the latest in a long line of leaders. Before Batista's takeover, Cuba's government had still functioned as a democracy. Government offices were riddled with corruption. Still, Cubans loyally held to the hope that by electing the right leadership, a democratic government might yet be preserved. Batista's sudden strike slammed the door shut on the hopes of most of them. He maintained office for 7 years by violence and repression.



 http://www.jiskha.com/social_studies/world_history/cuban_revolution.html

this was the cuba confronting castro. Critics of him seem to overlook this.