Fidel Castro becomes prime minister of Cuba
On this day · 16 February 1959
Six weeks after Batista fled, the 32-year-old rebel commander took over the premiership and ended a tug-of-war at the top of the new government.
On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba, weeks after the dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the island on January 1. Castro had led the guerrilla campaign that toppled Batista and was already commander in chief of the armed forces; now he took formal control of the government.
The move resolved an awkward split at the top. The provisional prime minister, the more moderate José Miró Cardona, had resigned, and Castro stepped in — reportedly on the condition that the post’s powers be enlarged.
A U.S. State Department analysis at the time read the change plainly:
“With his assumption of the Prime Ministership on February 16, the difficulties created by this duality of authority should lessen.”
Castro consolidated power quickly. Within two years his government had reshaped Cuban institutions, leaned toward the Soviet Union, and pushed the United States to sever diplomatic relations in January 1961.
Sources & references
2 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 2 independent sources.
