CUBA: Relaxed Realist

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Laid low by grippe, Strong Man Fulgencio Batista last week wrapped himself in blue pajamas and a blue silk dressing gown and stuck close to the huge master bedroom at his Camp Columbia headquarters outside Havana. But his relaxed manner showed as clearly as his personal flag,* flying from every Cuban fort and armory, that he was boss of the island.

For his old congressional opponents of the deposed Prío regime, many of whom were cynically prepared to vote him all the constitutionality he might want, Batista had only scorn. "We haven't even considered their legalistic formulas," he said. "They don't fit in with the revolutionary realities of the situation." Batista would be President again—but he would name the time, and write the ticket.

The old regime's top labor man, Eusebio Mujal, was somewhat more successful in making his peace with the new chief. Quickly calling off a general strike when Prío's men showed no stomach for a fight, Mujal offered Batista the support of his 1,200,000-member Cuban Confederation of Labor (C.T.C.) on the basis of a seven-point program. Chief points: recognition of the C.T.C., preservation of union gains, job security for Mujal and other leaders. Saying that he will "respect the C.T.C. as an organization," Batista promised only to leave Mujal on the job "as long as the workers want to keep him." Strikes and new wage claims, he added, would not be tolerated. Even before this—in fact, from the day Batista took over—sugar mill-owners, manufacturers and hotelkeepers reported a sudden end to such nuisances as wildcat strikes and "disrespect."

Though businessmen were pleased at the change, some of the most respected members of Batista's wartime government found his latest coup too raw, and held aloof from joining the new regime.