Progressive Action Party
The Progressive Action Party was a Cuban political party led by Fulgencio Batista. The party was founded in 1949, after the 1948 general elections, under the name of Unitary Action Party. In 1952, certain to lose the election, Batista made a coup d'etat by seizing the Presidency.
The party also ran in the elections of 1954 and 1958, winning always due to the early withdrawal of opponents, as well as of the strong electoral fraud.
The party was based on a combination of strong conservatism and economic liberalism on a large scale, to attract American capital in Cuba. This led to a high level of corruption and poverty plaguing the country. Other bulwark of the party was anti-communism, not only because of the alignment with the United States but also because most of the members of the anti-Batista left-wing nationalist 26th of July Movement could be branded as Communists, including Fidel Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos, along with genuine communists like Raul Castro and Che Guevara. Batista's authoritarian rule and repression in response to Castro's movement led to the deaths of 20,000 Cubans through torture and Extrajudicial killing.
The party was dissolved following the Cuban revolution of 1959, which ousted Batista causing it to flee abroad and led to the establishment of the revolutionary government of Fidel Castro, which became a communist regime in 1961.Presidential elections
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was unable to take office due to the Cuban RevolutionSenate elections
