What Are Batista's Oppressive Regime And Opposition

Batista’s Oppressive Regime and Opposition
Not only was Batista’s government corrupt, it was also oppressive towards the people. The first thing he did that deeply upset the Cuban people was his suspension of the 1940 constitution. The 1940 constitution was the foundation for fundamental rights. The constitution provided Cuban citizens with basic rights such as the freedom of speech and religion. The question one should ask is why did Batista oppose something he once supported? The reason he suspended the 1940 constitution, was to properly display to the people of Cuba his new image as dictator. Dictator by definition is a ruler who has absolute and unrestricted control in government. The word absolute is key to understanding the reason behind
Freedom of speech also meant that political activist groups could rise up against Batista and get support from enough people to begin a revolution. Batista did not want any opposition against his dictatorial regime, therefore he suspended the constitution that allowed people to use their fundamental right to speak up. However, Batista did not intimidate everyone. The students of Havana University were the most outspoken in Cuba. These students were led by Fidel Castro. They led riots and protests against Batista’s regime. An example of a student led protest was when they buried the constitution in the ground, which represented that democracy no longer existed. Batista did not like this, and he didn’t want the aggression within these groups to keep growing because it would be detrimental to his regime. Batista’s measures to ensure that rebellion would cease were gruesomely terrible. He would strap a bomb to a student and explode him in front of the media, to send the message to all students that if they continued with their protests that would happen to every single one of them. However, this created the opposite effect. These ‘scare’ tactics just encouraged these students to protest even more, and their plans to