Word: pr
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Relaxing on the awning deck in shorts, the Strong Man was in his best bluff humor. Once again he was undisputed dictator of Cuba. In an almost bloodless coup last month, the tough ex-sergeant had toppled President Carlos Prío. Now Prío was in Miami exile; his powerful labor movement had knuckled under to the new ruler; Congress was suspended (on full pay), and Batista was dictator and "Provisional President" under a brand-new set of "statutes" he himself had proclaimed to the Cuban people. Nobody seemed perturbed by the coup, and throngs of other Cubans...
...Early this year, a group of junior army officers, claiming to be disgusted by the careless way in which the cynical Prío government was running Cuba, called on Batista and asked him to lead a revolt. As one of three candidates campaigning for the presidency at elections scheduled for June 1, Batista declined. But late in February, Batista got word that the army revolt might be attempted whether he led it or not. By that time it may also have dawned on him that he had small chance of winning at the polls. As the Strong Man blandly...
...congressional opponents of the deposed Prío regime, many of whom were cynically prepared to vote him all the constitutionality he might want, Batista had only scorn. "We haven't even considered their legalistic formulas," he said. "They don't fit in with the revolutionary realities of the situation." Batista would be President again-but he would name the time, and write the ticket...
...regime's top labor man, Eusebio Mujal, was somewhat more successful in making his peace with the new chief. Quickly calling off a general strike when Prío's men showed no stomach for a fight, Mujal offered Batista the support of his 1,200,000-member Cuban Confederation of Labor (C.T.C.) on the basis of a seven-point program. Chief points: recognition of the C.T.C., preservation of union gains, job security for Mujal and other leaders. Saying that he will "respect the C.T.C. as an organization," Batista promised only to leave Mujal...
...favored over Batista in the now-canceled June election. At his Havana mansion Hevia numbly muttered: "A hard blow to Cuban democracy." Agramonte, freed after a few hours in jail, pointed out bitterly that some straw votes had shown him winning. "Batista not only took the government away from Prío," he cried, "but he took it away from me-a double usurpation!" Unmoved, the Strong Man grinned his victory grin, talked vaguely of elections "as soon as possible," and waited for the U.S. to recognize...