During his first three years of exile in the United States, Batista's political plans, as well as his political future, were indefinite. He had been away from Cuba a long while and the government of President Grau San Martín had sent him no invitation to return. As a matter of fact, Grau did everything he could to discourage Batista's return. He refused to offer Batista the protection customarily offered former presidents, and he even tried to fabricate a few criminal charges against Batista in order to discourage any plans Batista might I have for returning to the island.

The Grau regime, meanwhile, was busy building up a reputation for bad government. The nation was disturbed most of the time Grau occupied the President Palace, which, incidentally, had taken on the appearance of a country club rather than the residence of the Chief Magistrate.

Gangsterism was introduced to Cuba during the Grau regime and there were indications that the government was protecting, if not actually participating in, the hoodlumism which was carried on throughout the island. One hundred and sixty-four persons were assassinated during the Grau regime, and only a few of the killers were ever apprehended. One of Grau's good friends, a Cabinet Minister named José Manuel Alemán, accumulated one of the world's largest fortunes in less time than it takes to count a million pesos, and he did it all on his small salary as a cabinet minister. At least that's what people were expected to believe. Alemán not only made money fast, but he converted it into American dollars and got it out of Cuba just as fast.

He became one of the largest property holders in the Miami-Miami Beach area, and he owned everything from a sports stadium to huge office buildings in the Florida city. There may be some question about how Alemán acquired his riches, but there can be no question about the fact that he was definitely a big operator. Unfortunately for him, he did not live to enjoy the full benefit of his financial genius. He died several years ago and left his family a nest egg of many millions of dollars.

At times the doings of the Grau government took on the appearance of a comic opera. A series of these frequently amusing, if not always dignified, incidents was climaxed by the theft of a huge diamond from the floor of the eighteen-million-dollar Capitol Building in downtown Havana. Years before, when the Capitol was built, the diamond was bought by workmen on the job and set in cement in an iron pipe imbedded in the floor of the building. It was the spot from which all official mileages were measured in Cuba and it was quite an attraction for tourists. The Capitol guides used to make a great thing of the acoustical effects which, they said, would always protect the diamond from thieves. A guide would stand over the diamond, clap his hands, and the sound would be amplified many times and carried through the entire building by the acoustics. "You see," the guide would tell the visitors, "the acoustics will never allow anyone to steal this stone." But either the acoustics or the Capitol Police went bad one evening and the diamond disappeared. Someone chiseled out all the cement around the diamond and carried it away. And neither the acoustics nor the Capitol guards did a thing to prevent the act. Not only that, the culprits derisively chalked arrows on the floor of the building indicating the direction in which they had escaped.

The Cuban people, with their natural sense of humor, enjoyed a good laugh over the theft of the diamond and the incident became the inspiration for a number of local jokes. But if the theft of the stone amused the Cubans, its recovery almost threw them into mass hysterics. After the efforts of the police failed to locate the stone or the thieves, the diamond showed up all by itself, and in the last place the Police ever thought of looking-on the desk of President Ramón Grau San Martín. And to this day nobody knows how it got there.

When Grau and his associates finally left the government, several of them, including Grau, stood charged with the theft or misappropriation of one hundred and seventy-four million American dollars.

During the last days of the Grau. administration, a number of political leaders had called on Batista in Daytona Beach to urge him to re-enter politics. The Cuban Constitution provides that a president cannot be re-elected until two full four-year terms have passed, and Batista therefore would not be eligible for the office of President until 1952. He was, however, eligible for other offices. Finally, after a number of conferences with his friends and advisers, Batista consented to run for the Senate from Las Villas Province. At the time he announced his candidacy, he explained that the degeneration of the political situation in Cuba and the alarming breakdown in authority in government were the motives which prompted him to return to politics. He stayed in Florida during the campaign for the Senate and he was elected in absentia in the same elections which put Carlos Prio Socarrás into the Presidential Palace. Prio had been a favorite of the Grau regime and it was Grau who put him at the head of the Auténtico Party. He was elected to the Presidency on the Auténtico ticket.

Batista remained in Florida until November of 1948, and then returned to Cuba. Thousands of supporters were at Rancho Boyeros airport in Havana to welcome the boy from Banes back to his homeland, and Batista was deeply impressed by the demonstration. He spent the night before here turned to Cuba with a small group of friends in Orlando, Florida, and although he knew he was facing somewhat of a trial in returning to Cuba during the administration of his bitter political foe, he seemed completely relaxed on the eve of his return. In the dinner party the night before he left Florida were several retired generals of the American Army who had served in Cuba during World War II, and who were then living in the central Florida city. The subject of Cuban politics was not brought up during the entire evening.

Upon reaching Cuba, Batista went to work rebuilding his political fences. He had been out of the country for years, and a lot of things can happen to political alliances in that length of time. He organized the Partido Acción Unitaria and started preparing his campaign for the Presidency in the elections of June, 1952.

The breakdown in governmental morality, about which he had heard while in Florida, became very much his concern upon his return to Cuba. Hoodlumism was prevalent in Cuba and opponents of the government in power were being persecuted without mercy. Batista appealed publicly to the Prio regime in the hope that Prio would do something to restore respect for law and order and provide guarantees for the lives of all citizens, regardless of political affiliations. But the appeals were ignored.

Although he had entered the Presidency under the sponsorship of Grau, Prio broke with the professor once he attained power. Prio had served as Prime Minister under Grau and the two were close personal friends. But after Prio found himself comfortably settled in the Presidential Palace he decided he would go it alone.

When Prio took over the country on October 10, 1948, the people were crying for an honest and efficient administration, and he faced the greatest opportunity ever offered a Cuban President. Had he taken advantage of it he would have become one of the great leaders of his day. But the government of Prio was no better than the government of Grau. In fact, many Cubans believe it was worse.

The Prio administration was a government of "deals." The functions of government were important to a number of officials only because they provided contacts for the transaction of private deals which enriched them personally. The interests of the people were subordinated to the self-interest of government functionaries, and the criterion in government seemed to be "How much can I get out of it?" instead of "Is this good for Cuba?" As a result, all sorts of illegitimate and semi-legitimate operations were carried on with official tolerance if not official sponsorship.

One of the most profitable sidelines, which eventually became a major industry, was the smuggling racket. This illicit business flourished, without official interference, during the days Carlos Prio occupied the Presidential Palace, and if the men of the Prio government did not know of these operations, they were about the only ones in Cuba who didn't.

The smuggling business had a violent effect on the nation's economy and the effect was not good. In addition to the fact that the government lost millions of dollars a year in import duties and other revenues through this outlaw operation, the small merchant, a vital factor in the nation's economy, was almost ruined. Legitimate merchants, who paid all import duties and other customs fees, could not, of course, meet the consumer prices offered by unscrupulous traders who dealt in smuggled goods upon which no duties or fees had been paid.

This particular racket must have been one of the largest contributors to the great personal fortunes accumulated by certain Prio officials while drawing government salaries, which were relatively meager.

Gangsterism in all its forms was practiced during the Prio administration and the breakdown in governmental morality encouraged illicit activities outside the government. There were shakedowns and chantages, killings and kidnapings, and little or nothing was done to combat the lawless elements . The alarming thing about the crimes was that their perpetrators were young boys, youths who had fallen into criminal ways because it seemed to be the smart thing to do. Prio apparently did nothing to discourage crime among these juveniles.

The people of Cuba were to a great extent abandoned by the government of Carlos Prio, and the inevitable result was a complete lack of public respect for his administration and for the men who directed it.