Andrés Rivero Agüero

Who was Andrés Rivero Agüero?

Andrés Rivero Agüero was a Cuban politician who was elected president of Cuba in the Cuban presidential election, 1958. He was born to extremely poor parents in San Luis, Oriente Province on 4 February 1905. He taught himself to read when he was 16. Rivero managed to secure a high school education by his own efforts, and obtained a law degree from Havana University. Elected a city councilman in Santiago de Cuba, he quickly became a leader of the Liberal Party, and was befriended by Fulgencio Batista. During Batista's first administration, Rivero served as Minister of Agriculture, and implemented Batista's plan for resettling landless peasants in Oriente Province.

During General Batista's exile in the United States from 1944–1952, Rivero practised law in Cuba and wrote political commentary for several periodicals. When Batista returned to run for President of Cuba in 1952, Rivero helped to organise Batista's United Action Party. He supported Batista's military coup on 10 March 1952, and thereafter served as Minister of Education in Batista's second administration. Elected a Senator from Pinar del Río province in 1954, Rivero became Cuba's prime minister, and participated in several reconciliation conferences as Batista's representative.