This is a historical and sociological study addressing the development and implementation of the political manifestation of caudillismo in Cuba, from the country's inception as a republic in 1902 until the advent of revolution in the 1950s. This study argues that it was the accelerating and exhaustive waves of political instability caused by caudillismo - and not socio-economic inequities - that brought about the Castro revolution. Ironically, the predominance of caudillismo in Cuban culture eventually allowed Fidel Castro to become the ultimate caudillo in that country's history.