The July 26th Movement
Present-day Moncada Baracks, damages and bullet holes still noticeable.
How the Revolution began:
On July 26th, 1953, Fidel Castro along with approximately one hundred rebels marched to Santiago de Cuba and launched an attack on Fulgencio Batista's military headquarters in the South,
the Moncada Barracks, the second most important blockhouse in the country. Their plan was that they would arrive in a 16 car caravan, to make it seem like they were sent by a high power official from Western Cuba. Then, a small group of 20 would take the civilian hospital near the rear, another group of 5 would take
the justice building, and the biggest group, of 90, led by Castro, would take the barracks along with the radio transmitter. Their plan failed when the car carrying the heavy artillery got lost, and as time passed the caravan slowly started getting separated. It also went wrong when Castro's car crashed and the alarms were sounded, even before they could invade the barracks. The people
inside the vehicle got out to fire and cover him, soon to realize that they were outnumbered by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1. As a result, eleven of the rebels were wounded, four by friendly fire, and nine were killed. On the Batista side, twenty three soldiers and five policemen were wounded, and fifteen soldiers and three policemen were killed. Eighteen rebels were captured and executed nearly two hours later by Batista's army. Approximately three days after, thirty four more rebel soldiers who escaped were captured and murdered after admitting they took part in the attack. A few days after, Fidel , along with his brother and twenty seven of their combatants were captured int he mountains and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. After being released in 1955, the Castro's fled to Mexico where they met Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, to prepare for the second attempt to put down the Batista Regime. After collecting guns and
ammunition, with help from the United States, they returned to Cuba from Mexico with 82 other people, aboard a ship, the Granma, on November 26, 1956, with the intentions of starting a second rebellion.
On July 26th, 1953, Fidel Castro along with approximately one hundred rebels marched to Santiago de Cuba and launched an attack on Fulgencio Batista's military headquarters in the South,
the Moncada Barracks, the second most important blockhouse in the country. Their plan was that they would arrive in a 16 car caravan, to make it seem like they were sent by a high power official from Western Cuba. Then, a small group of 20 would take the civilian hospital near the rear, another group of 5 would take
the justice building, and the biggest group, of 90, led by Castro, would take the barracks along with the radio transmitter. Their plan failed when the car carrying the heavy artillery got lost, and as time passed the caravan slowly started getting separated. It also went wrong when Castro's car crashed and the alarms were sounded, even before they could invade the barracks. The people
inside the vehicle got out to fire and cover him, soon to realize that they were outnumbered by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1. As a result, eleven of the rebels were wounded, four by friendly fire, and nine were killed. On the Batista side, twenty three soldiers and five policemen were wounded, and fifteen soldiers and three policemen were killed. Eighteen rebels were captured and executed nearly two hours later by Batista's army. Approximately three days after, thirty four more rebel soldiers who escaped were captured and murdered after admitting they took part in the attack. A few days after, Fidel , along with his brother and twenty seven of their combatants were captured int he mountains and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. After being released in 1955, the Castro's fled to Mexico where they met Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, to prepare for the second attempt to put down the Batista Regime. After collecting guns and
ammunition, with help from the United States, they returned to Cuba from Mexico with 82 other people, aboard a ship, the Granma, on November 26, 1956, with the intentions of starting a second rebellion.
How the Revolution Ended:
1959: Castro enters Havana
The revolution all came to an end in the early hours of the year 1959, when Batista, along with a couple of his supporters fled Cuba. They made this decision once they realized that
their army did not have the support that Castro's did, and that they were overpowered, Smartly, Castro's guerrilla's leaders Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos blocked all roads and railroad crossings in late December, and on December 28th they captured a train carrying reinforcements and ammunition for Batista's army which were fighting in Santa Clara. Batista's forces surrendered at Santa Clara on December 31st, and at 2 am, on the first of January 1959, with 40 million dollars stolen from the government, Batista and his people fled to the Dominican Republic. Batista ended up in Spain, where years later he would die at the age of 72. That same day, Castro would march to Santiago de Cuba and slowly make his way to the capital of Havana. Cienfuegos
and Guevara would arrive the day later. On January 5th, Manuel Urrutia would be named president of the new Cuba, and on the 16, Castro became prime minister.
their army did not have the support that Castro's did, and that they were overpowered, Smartly, Castro's guerrilla's leaders Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos blocked all roads and railroad crossings in late December, and on December 28th they captured a train carrying reinforcements and ammunition for Batista's army which were fighting in Santa Clara. Batista's forces surrendered at Santa Clara on December 31st, and at 2 am, on the first of January 1959, with 40 million dollars stolen from the government, Batista and his people fled to the Dominican Republic. Batista ended up in Spain, where years later he would die at the age of 72. That same day, Castro would march to Santiago de Cuba and slowly make his way to the capital of Havana. Cienfuegos
and Guevara would arrive the day later. On January 5th, Manuel Urrutia would be named president of the new Cuba, and on the 16, Castro became prime minister.