The sugar-cane farmers and rum producers, the tobacco growers and the fishermen all had seen their quality of living decrease sharply under Batista as the men who owned the markets they supplied paid less and less and sold for more and more. Ultimately, Batista could not possibly be viewed as the friend of the people he purported to be - and the nation of peasants shifted radically to the left. It was here that Castro and his compatriots found their revolution. Cuba was pushed to the left by a dictator who could not exercise or maintain any real political power. Ironically, of course, under Castro, Cuba's economy collapsed, he became a dictator, and any semblance of democracy was absolutely dismantled. His regime become more oppressive than Batista's ever had been, and yet, Castro remained a very popular figure until...

Leftist movements are reactions to massive inequities in the ec (joes)onomic, social and political structure within a nation and seek to equalize the playing field. It was Batista's poor management, his insistence on being the leader without actually being legally elected that led to revolution.
Bibliography

Farber, Samuel. "Cuba: The One Party State Continues." New Politics 5.3 (1995): 212-21.

Joes, Anthony James. From the Barrell of a Gun: Armies and Revolutions. Chicago: Pergamon-Brassey's, 1986.

Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars. Chicago: Brassey's, 2003.