Editing History of Cuba (section)

====Rise of Batista====
{{See also|Cuba during World War II|1952 Cuban coup d'état}}
In 1940, Cuba conducted [[1940 Cuban general election|free and fair national elections]].<ref name="Bethell-Cuba"/><ref name="Sweig-Inside">{{Cite book|title=Inside the Cuban Revolution|author=Julia E. Sweig|isbn=978-0-674-01612-5|year=2004|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/insidecubanrevol00juli}}</ref> [[Fulgencio Batista]], was originally endorsed by Communist leaders in exchange for the legalization of the Popular Socialist Party and Communist domination of the [[Labour movement|labor movement]]. The reorganization of the labor movement during this time was capped with the establishment of the Confederacion de Trajabadores de Cuba (Confederation of Cuban Workers, or CTC), in 1938. However, in 1947, the Communists lost control of the CTC, and their influence in the trade union movement gradually declined into the 1950s. The assumption of the Presidency by Batista in 1952 and the intervening years to 1958 placed tremendous strain on the labor movement, with some independent union leaders resigning from the CTC in opposition to Batista's rule.<ref name="U.S. Dept. of State">{{cite web |title=Cuban Labor Practices |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/wha/rls/fs/2001/fsjulydec/4889.htm |website=U.S. Department of State Archive |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref> The relatively [[progressivist]] [[Constitution of Cuba|1940 Constitution]] was adopted by the Batista administration.<ref name="Bethell-Cuba">{{Cite book|title=Cuba|author=Leslie Bethell|isbn=978-0-521-43682-3|year=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge}}</ref><ref name="Sweig-Inside"/> The constitution denied Batista the possibility of running consecutively in the 1944 election.

Rather than endorsing Batista's hand-picked successor Carlos Zayas, the Cuban people elected Ramón Grau San Martín in 1944. Grau made a deal with [[labor union]]s to continue Batista's pro-labor policies.<ref name="Dominquez-Cuba">{{Cite book|title=Cuba|author=Jorge I. Domínguez}}</ref> Grau's administration coincided with the end of World War II, and he presided over an economic boom as sugar production expanded and prices rose. He instituted programs of public works and school construction, increasing [[social security]] benefits and encouraging economic development and agricultural production. However, increased prosperity brought increased corruption and urban violence.<ref name="Dominquez-Cuba"/><ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/grau-san-mart-n-ram-n "Ramon Grau San Martin"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115175419/http://www.answers.com/topic/grau-san-mart-n-ram-n |date=15 January 2009}}. Answers.com. Retrieved 27 November 2011.</ref> The country was also steadily gaining a reputation as a base for organized crime, with the [[Havana Conference]] of 1946 seeing leading [[American Mafia|Mafia]] mobsters descend upon the city.<ref>[http://crimemagazine.com/havana-conference-–-1946 "Havana Conference – 1946"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212125919/http://www.crimemagazine.com/havana-conference-%E2%80%93-1946 |date=12 December 2018}}. ''Crime Magazine''. Retrieved 2 December 2012.</ref>

Grau's presidency was followed by that of [[Carlos Prío Socarrás]], whose government was tainted by increasing corruption and violent incidents among political factions. [[Eduardo Chibás]]{{snd}} the leader of the [[Partido Ortodoxo]] (Orthodox Party), a nationalist group{{snd}} was widely expected to win in 1952 on an anticorruption platform. However, Chibás committed suicide before he could run, and the opposition was left without a unifying leader.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gipson|first=Therlee|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJWdDwAAQBAJ&q=However,+Chib%C3%A1s+committed+suicide+before+he+could+run+for+the+presidency,+and+the+opposition+was+left+without+a+unifying+leader&pg=PA11|title=Fidel Castro Negro Blood|date=2018-09-11|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=978-0-359-08074-8|language=en}}</ref> Batista seized power in [[1952 Cuban coup d'état|an almost bloodless coup]]. President Prío was forced to leave Cuba. Due to the corruption of the previous two administrations, the general public reaction to the coup was somewhat accepting at first. However, Batista soon encountered stiff opposition when he temporarily suspended balloting and the 1940 constitution, and attempted to rule by decree. Nonetheless, elections were held in 1954 and Batista was re-elected under disputed circumstances.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Cuba, Volume VI – Office of the Historian|url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d12|website=history.state.gov|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>