Why did the US tolerate Batista courting the communists in Cuba?

Cuba

FOLLOWING HIS OUSTER of Cuban President Gomez in 1937, Fulgencio Batista began to fear that his political maneuvers on the island were alienating President Franklin Roosevelt. He spoke of plots in the United States against his life. He may have been correct. Batista had begun instituting progressive programs that were not viewed favorably in the United States. Minimum wage laws, an eight-hour workday, paid vacations, extended social security, equal pay for equal work, and the right to strike, were all acceptable. However, Batista also declared sugar to be a national industry, threatening to control foreign ownership and vague promises of land reform. More importantly, he made a deal with the communists.

"Cuban Workers Club" 1937, by Henry Glintenkamp (click to enlarge)

Batista seemingly turned towards the left. He blamed the failure of economic and social advances on the big sugar planters, predominantly American businessmen. He contracted a political agreement with the communists, agreeing to legalize the party, appoint a member to a future cabinet, and grant the party political spoils. Not even Castro courted the communists this openly until after he was rebuffed by the Eisenhower Administration.

Given these turns of events, how could Batista be acceptable to the Americans? The truth is that Batista was more concerned with power than the ideals of progressivism. The landowning elite were more concerned with stability in government than with political ideology. They recognized that most of his reforms turned out to be nothing more than political show. A $600 million investment in sugar alone in 1939, clearly demonstrated that the Americans were confident that they had hitched their wagon to the correct horse. Cuba, Business Week magazine wrote, would not be able to expropriate foreign holdings, for the island was politically and economically an adjunct of the United States. The American government hedged their bets by withholding economic assistance until both President Laredo Bru and the president-elect, Fulgencio Batista, affirmed that they would honor their obligations to investors.

It was clear that the United States would not intervene militarily in island politics any more. There was no need. They could control Cuba economically. The U.S. Department of State withheld loans to Cuba in 1940 until a thorough study of tax reform, monetary and banking changes, and proposed public works projects was completed. The recommendations of the study were curiously familiar to modern Americans. Cuba, they said, required a fiscal and taxing reorganization and a reduction in budget expenditures. Batista promised change.