Coup Atlas Research Database
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04003101952SuccessfulMilitary coup

Cuba, 1952 — military coup

Cuba (CUB)Caribbean, AmericasMarch 10, 1952

Event Summary

On March 10, 1952, three months before a scheduled presidential election he was expected to lose, former president Fulgencio Batista seized power in Cuba in a swift, nearly bloodless military coup known as the Batistazo. Backed by army officers, Batista occupied Camp Columbia outside Havana in the early hours, took control of strategic points across the capital, and forced out the elected president Carlos Prio Socarras, who took asylum in the Mexican embassy and left the country. Batista cancelled the June election, suspended the 1940 constitution, and installed himself as provisional president; the United States recognized his government on March 27.

His dictatorship, formalized by rigged elections in 1954, ruled until January 1, 1959, when the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro drove him into exile. The coup is widely seen as the trigger for that revolution.

Films & Footage

Fulgencio Batista gives a press conference at Camp Columbia after seizing power, Havana, March 10, 1952.
Fulgencio Batista gives a press conference at Camp Columbia after seizing power, Havana, March 10, 1952. Photo: unknown author

Archival media is credited to its holding collection and license. Media sourcing policy →

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Carlos Prio Socarras, President of Cuba (deposed, took asylum, exiled)
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Carlos Prio Socarras (deposed president)
Fulgencio Batista (coup leader, became dictator)
Fidel Castro (opposition figure whose revolution began in response)

Sources

The 1952 Cuban coup took place on 10 March 1952, when the army led by Fulgencio Batista intervened before the election scheduled for 1 June, staging a coup and establishing a de facto military dictatorship; it is known as the Batistazo.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "1952 Cuban coup d'etat" open source ↗
Facing likely electoral defeat, Batista led a military coup against President Carlos Prio Socarras that pre-empted the election, suspended the 1940 constitution, and revoked most political liberties.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, "Fulgencio Batista" open source ↗
A U.S. State Department record states that on 10 March 1952 General Fulgencio Batista led a coup against President Carlos Prio Socarras that resulted in the latter's deposition, and Batista became president on 4 April 1952; the revolt came as a complete surprise to the U.S.
SOURCE REVIEWED U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954, Vol. IV, Document 325 open source ↗
Batista seized Camp Columbia in the early hours, took strategic points across Havana with little resistance, and Prio sought asylum in the Mexican embassy and later left the country; the U.S. recognized the regime on 27 March.
SOURCE REVIEWED Cuba Center / Cuban Studies Institute, "Sixty-nine years ago Cuba's last democratic government was overthrown" open source ↗

Editorial Note

Sources agree the coup occurred on 10 March 1952 (the Cline dataset date), was nearly bloodless, and removed the elected Prio to install Batista. Two Wikipedia articles, a primary FRUS record, and a Cuban Studies Institute analysis were read directly. The Batistazo is broadly identified as the precipitating cause of the Cuban Revolution that ousted Batista in 1959.

How It Unfolded

Hand-coded by Coup Atlas from the sources on this page, using a fixed list of tactics. Only events we have read through carry this coding, so most records do not have it yet.

Led by
Military
How long it took
Under a day — resolved within 24 hours
  • Troop movements in the capital or key cities
  • Seizure of the presidential palace / seat of government
  • Seizure of broadcasters / coup declaration on state media

Cross-Reference

Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
04003101952
Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-40-1952-03-10

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Carlos Prio Socarras, President of Cuba (deposed, took asylum, exiled).

Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; exiled. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Luttwak

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista

New York Times

“Batista, Ex-Cuban Dictator, Dies in Spain,” August 7, 1973
“REGIME OF BATISTA ASSAILED BY HEVIA,” July 26, 1953

Milan

http://www.historical text archive.com/sections.php?action=read&artid=684

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

Know something about this event?
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Related Records

Cuba — Military coup, 19561956-04-03ConspiracyCaribbeanCuba — Military coup, 19571957-09-05AttemptedCaribbeanCuba — Military coup, 19591959-08-08ConspiracyCaribbean