Reply #72: You may be thinking of Fulgencio Batista, obviously.

[Judi Lynn]

FULGENCIO BATISTA
President of Cuba

Cuban Army Sergeant Fulgencio Batista first seized power in a 1932 coup. He was President
Roosevelt's handpicked dictator to counteract leftists who had overthrown strongman Cerardo
Machado. Batista ruled or several years, then left for Miami, returning in 1952 just in time for
another coup, against elected president Carlos Prio Socorras. His new regime was quickly
recognized by President Eisenhower. Under Batista, U.S. interests flourished and little was said
about democracy. With the loyal support of Batista, Mafioso boss Meyer Lansky developed
Havana into an international drug port. Cabinet offices were bought and sold and military officials
made huge sums on smuggling and vice rackets. Havana became a fashionable hot spot where
America's rich and famous drank and gambled with mobsters. As the gap between the rich and
poor grew wider, the poor grew impatient. In 1953, Fidel Castro led an armed group of rebels in a
failed uprising on the Moncada army barracks. Castro temporarily fled the country and Batista
struck back with a vengeance. Freedom of speech was curtailed and subversive teachers, lawyers
and public officials were fired from their jobs. Death squads tortured and killed thousands of
"communists". Batista was assisted in his crackdown by Lansky and other members of organized
crime who believed Castro would jeopardize their gambling and drug trade. Despite this, Batista
remained a friend to Eisenhower and the US until he was finally overthrown by Castro in 1959.
(snip/)

http://www.omnicenter.org/warpeacecollection/dictators.htm#batista