The Cuban public did not know what to make of the new “pentarchy,” or executive commission, selected by the Student Directory to rule the nation on the night of September 4, 1933. The five-member presidency lasted only six days until Ramón Grau San Martín was selected president. This cartoon takes a whimsical look at the pentarchy and portrays each of the pentarchs as one of the “Dionne Quintuplets” (who were born in this period). Carbó, who eventually promoted Batista to colonel, is the first quintuplet on the left, holding the rattle. Grau is seated next to the toy horse. This cartoon was published in Bohemia on June 5, 1938.

From Fulgencio Batista: from revolutionary to strongman by Frank Argote-Freyre