Progressive Action Party
The Progressive Action Party (Spanish: Partido de Acción Progresista, PAP) 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 (Spanish: Partido de Acción Unitaria, PAU). In 1952, certain to lose the election, Batista made a coup d'etat by seizing the Presidency.
Progressive Action Party Partido de Acción Progresista | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | PAP |
Leader | Fulgencio Batista |
Founded | 1949 |
Dissolved | 1959 |
Split from | Liberal Party of Cuba |
Headquarters | Havana |
Ideology | Authoritarianism National conservatism Economic liberalism |
Political position | Right-wing |
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.
Electoral history
Presidential elections
Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1954 | Fulgencio Batista | 1,451,753 | Elected | |
1958 | Andrés Rivero Agüero | 428,166 | 70.40% | Elected |
Note
Andrés Rivero Agüero was unable to take office due to the Cuban Revolution
House of Representatives elections
Election | Party leader | Seats | +/– | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | 4 / 66 |
|||
1954 | Fulgencio Batista | 60 / 130 |
||
1958 | Fulgencio Batista | 65 / 130 |
Senate elections
Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1954 | Fulgencio Batista | (part of the National Progressive Coalition[lower-alpha 1]) | 36 / 54 |
- The National Progressive Coalition was an alliance of PAP, the Radical Union, the Republican Democratic Party and the Liberal Party.
External links