The V-Dem dataset is a huge dataset that compiles many indicators to measure political institutions, dating back to 1900. With the death of Fidel Castro, I tried to see what the indicators said about the evolution of democracy in Cuba. It shows a tremendous decline after 1950. Interestingly this started before Fidel Castro, during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. When Castro took power, the democratic index stayed low, essentially continuing the type of autocratic rule pursued by Batista with a different ideological bent.