Cuban Dictator Fulgencio Batista forced out by Castro-led revolution Jauary 01,1959

 

On  January 01,1959, facing a popular revolution spearheaded by Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba

The U.S. government had supported Batista, a former soldier and Cuban dictator from 1933 to 1944, who seized power for a second time in a 1952 coup

After Castro and a group of followers, including the South American revolutionary Che Guevara (1928-1967), landed in Cuba to unseat the dictator in December 1956, the U.S. continued to back Batista

On January 1, 1959, Batista and a number of his supporters fled Cuba for the Dominican Republic

Tens of thousands of Cubans (and thousands of Cuban Americans in the U.S.) celebrated the end of the dictator’s regime.

Castro’s supporters moved quickly to establish their power. Judge Manuel Urrutia was named as provisional president.

Castro and his band of guerrilla fighters triumphantly entered Havana on January 07,1959

In April 1961, the U.S. launched the Bay of Pigs invasion, an unsuccessful attempt to remove Castro from power.

Subsequent covert operations to overthrow Castro, born August 13, 1926, failed and he went on to become one of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state.

Fulgencio Batista died in Spain at age 72 on August 6, 1973.

 In late July 2006, an unwell Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his younger brother Raul.Fidel Castroofficially stepped down in February 2008.