Carlos Prío Socarrás was the President of Cuba from 1948 until he was deposed by a military coup led by Fulgencio Batista on March 10, 1952, three months before new elections were to be held. He was the first president of Cuba to be born in an independent Cuba and the last to gain his post through universal, contested elections. He is sometimes called Charles Prio Socarras in English.
Governance
In 1940 Prío was elected senator of Pinar del Río Province. Four years later fellow Partido Auténtico member Ramón Grau became president, and during the Grau administration Prío served turns as Minister of Public Works, Minister of Labor and Prime Minister. On July 1, 1948 he was elected president of Cuba as a member of the Partido Auténtico. Prío was assisted by Chief of the Armed Forces General Genobebo Pérez Dámera and Colonel José Luis Chinea Cardenas, who had previously been in charge of the Province of Santa Clara. The eight years under Grau and Prío, were, according to Charles Ameringer,
unique in Cuban history. They were a time of constitutional order and political freedom. They were not 'golden years' by any means, but in two elections, Cubans had the opportunity to express their desire for a rule of civil liberties, primacy of Cuban culture, and achievement of economic independence. If there were sharp contradictions in Cuban society under the Auténticos, the circumstances differed only in degree from the complexities and dynamics encountered in free societies everywhere.
Prío, called el presidente cordial, was committed to a rule marked by civility, primarily in its respect for freedom of expression. Several public-works projects and the establishment of a National Bank and Tribunal of Accounts count among his successes. However, violence among political factions and reports of theft and self-enrichment in the government ranks marred Prío's term. The Prío administration increasingly came to be perceived by the public as ineffectual in the face of violence and corruption, much as the Grau administration before it. With elections scheduled for the middle of 1952, rumors surfaced of a planned military coup by long-shot presidential contender Fulgencio Batista. Prío, seeing no constitutional basis to act, did not do so. The rumors proved to be true. On March 10, 1952, Batista and his collaborators seized military and police commands throughout the country and occupied major radio and TV stations. Batista assumed power when Prío, failing to mount a resistance, boarded a plane and went into exile. According to Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Prío later said of his presidency:
They say that I was a terrible president of Cuba. That may be true. But I was the best president Cuba ever had.
Personal life
He first married Gina Karel and they had one daughter, Rocío Guadalupe Prío-Socarrás-Karell. He then married María Dolores "Mary" Tarrero-Serrano on 17 June 1945 in the Chapel of the Presidential Palace, and they had two daughters, María Antonetta Prío-Tarrero and María Elena Prío-Tarrero. He also had two "recognized" children with his former mistress, Celia Rosa Touzet : Carlos Prio-Touzet and Rodolfo Prío-Touzet. His oldest son, Carlos Prío-Touzet, is an architect of some prominence. He spent his final years as a developer and businessman in Miami. He kept close contact with his brother Gustavo Socarras. Gustavo and his wife Caridad Socarras gave birth to Prío's nephew Jesus, who then gave birth to two children, Susanna and Fabian Socarras. Prío's now great nephews have given birth to three children each. Susana gave birth to Fabian jr, Miah, and Delilah. Fabian had children early in his life Isabella, Donatella, and Sebastian. Gustavo and his wife are both alive and well living in their Miami home. Prío allegedly committed suicide by gunshot in 1977 while being wanted for questioning by the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations. Prío died one week after George de Mohrenschildt allegedly committed suicide while a HSCA investigator was on his way to de Morenschildt's house to question him. He and his wife Mary are buried at Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum in Miami, Florida.
