Revolutionary Government, Agrarian Reform, and the Radicalization of Cuba

An initial provisional government took shape under President Manuel Urrutia Lleó, and Fidel Castro formally became prime minister in February 1959, consolidating his effective leadership. Summary trials of Batista-era officials for war crimes began almost immediately and drew international criticism for lacking due-process guarantees, even as the new government's early social reforms — including cuts to rents and utility rates — brought it broad popular support after years of dictatorship. The revolutionary coalition initially spanned liberal, moderate, and radical currents whose underlying tensions had not yet surfaced, and the government's ultimate ideological direction remained deliberately ambiguous in these first months.