Cuban Revolution

For other uses, see Cuban Revolution (disambiguation).

tro, then a young lawyer and activist, petitioned for the

overthrow of Batista, whom he accused of corruption
and tyranny. However, Castros constitutional arguments
were rejected by the Cuban courts.[19] After deciding that
the Cuban regime could not be replaced through legal
means, Castro resolved to launch an armed revolution.
To this end, he and his brother Ral founded a paramilitary organization known as The Movement, stockpiling
weapons and recruiting around 1,200 followers from Havanas disgruntled working class by the end of 1952.[20]

The Cuban Revolution (19531959) was an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement
and its allies against the US-backed authoritarian government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. The revolution began in July 1953,[4] and continued sporadically
until the rebels nally ousted Batista on 1 January 1959,
replacing his government with a revolutionary socialist
state. The Movement organization later reformed along
communist lines, becoming the Communist Party in October 1965.[5] The Communist Party, now headed by Castros brother Ral, continues to govern Cuba today.

2 Early stages

The Cuban Revolution had powerful domestic and international repercussions. In particular, it reshaped Cubas
relationship with the United States, which continues an
embargo against Cuba as of 2015, although eorts to
improve diplomatic relations have gained momentum in
recent years.[6][7][8] In the immediate aftermath of the
revolution, Castros government began a program of nationalization and political consolidation that transformed
Cubas economy and civil society.[9][10] The revolution
also heralded an era of Cuban intervention into foreign
military conicts, including the Angolan Civil War and
Nicaraguan Revolution.[11]

Main article: Moncada Barracks

To strike their rst blow against the Batista government, Fidel and Ral Castro gathered 123 Movement
ghters and planned a multi-pronged attack on military
installations.[21] On 26 July 1953, the rebels unsuccessfully attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago and the
barracks in Bayamo.[4] The exact number of rebels killed
in the battle is debatable; however, in his autobiography,
Castro claimed that nine were killed in the ghting, and
an additional 56 were executed after being captured by
the Batista government.[22] Among the dead was Abel
Santamara, Castros second-in-command, who was imprisoned, tortured, and executed on the same day as the
attack.[23]

Background and causes

Fulgencio Batista, who had served as the elected

President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, became President
for the second time in March 1952, after seizing power
in a military coup and cancelling the 1952 elections.[12]
Although Batista had been a relative progressive during
his rst term,[13] in the 1950s he proved far more dictatorial and indierent to popular concerns.[14] While
Cuba remained plagued by high unemployment and limited water infrastructure,[15] Batista antagonized the population by forming lucrative links to organized crime and
allowing American companies to dominate the Cuban
economy.[15][16][17]

The people, including Fidel and Ral Castro, were captured shortly afterwards. In a highly political trial, Fidel
spoke for nearly four hours in his defense, ending with the
words Condemn me, it does not matter. History will absolve me. Fidel was sentenced to 15 years in the Presidio
Modelo prison, located on Isla de Pinos, while Ral was
sentenced to 13 years.[24] However, in 1955, under broad
political pressure, the Batista government freed all political prisoners in Cuba, including the Moncada attackers.
Fidels Jesuit childhood teachers succeeded in persuading
Batista to include Fidel and Ral in the release.[25]
Soon, the Castro brothers joined with other exiles in
Mexico to prepare for the overthrow of Batista, receiving training from Alberto Bayo, a leader of Republican
forces in the Spanish Civil War. In June 1955, Fidel met
the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, who
joined his cause.[26] The revolutionaries named themselves the 26th of July Movement, in reference to the
date of their attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953.

During his rst term as President, Batista had been supported by the Communist Party of Cuba,[13] but during his second term he became strongly anti-communist,
gaining him political and military support from the
United States.[15][18] Batista developed a powerful security infrastructure to silence political opponents. In
the months following the March 1952 coup, Fidel Cas1

3 GUERRILLA WARFARE

Guerrilla warfare
I believe that there is no country in the
world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were
worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my countrys policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro
made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justiably called for justice and especially yearned to
rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further:
to some extent it is as though Batista was the
incarnation of a number of sins on the part of
the United States. Now we shall have to pay for
those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime,
I am in agreement with the rst Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy, interview with Jean Daniel, 24 October 1963[27]

The yacht Granma arrived in Cuba on December 2, 1956,

carrying the Castro brothers and 80 others, even though
the yacht was only designed to accommodate 12 people
with a maxiumum of 25.[28] The boat landed in Playa
Las Coloradas, in the municipality of Niquero, arriving
two days later than planned because the boat was heavily
loaded, unlike during the practice sailing runs.[29] This
dashed any hopes for a coordinated attack with the llano
wing of the movement. After arriving and exiting the
ship, the band of rebels began to make their way into the
Sierra Maestra mountains, a range in southeastern Cuba.
Three days after the trek began, Batistas army attacked
and killed most of the Granma participants while the
exact number is disputed, no more than twenty of the
original eighty-two men survived the initial encounters
with the Cuban army and escaped into the Sierra Maestra
mountains.[30]
The group of survivors included Fidel and Ral Castro,
Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. The dispersed survivors, alone or in small groups, wandered through the
mountains, looking for each other. Eventually, the men
would link up again with the help of peasant sympathizers and would form the core leadership of the guerrilla
army. Celia Sanchez and Hayde Santamara (the sister
of Abel Santamaria) were among the female revolutionaries who assisted Fidel Castro in the mountains.[31]
On 13 March 1957, a separate group of revolutionaries
the anticommunist Student Revolutionary Directorate
(Directorio Revolucionario Estudantil, DRE), composed
mostly of students stormed the Presidential Palace in
Havana, attempting to assassinate Batista and decapitate the government. The attack ended in utter failure. The RDs leader, student Jos Antonio Echeverra, died in a shootout with Batistas forces at the Havana radio station he had seized to spread the news of
Batistas anticipated death. The handful of survivors included Dr. Humberto Castello (who later became the

Inspector General in the Escambray), Rolando Cubela

and Faure Chomon (both later Commandantes of the 13
March Movement, centered in the Escambray Mountains
of Las Villas Province).[32]
Thereafter, the United States imposed an economic
embargo on the Cuban government and recalled its
ambassador, weakening the governments mandate
further.[33] Batistas support among Cubans began to
fade, with former supporters either joining the revolutionaries or distancing themselves from Batista.
Nonetheless, the Maa and U.S. businessmen continued
their support.[34]
The government often resorted to brutal methods to keep
Cubas cities under government control. However, in the
Sierra Maestra mountains, Castro, aided by Frank Pas,
Ramos Latour, Huber Matos, and many others, staged
successful attacks on small garrisons of Batistas troops.
Che Guevara and Ral Castro helped Fidel to consolidate his political control in the mountains, often through
execution of suspected Batista loyalists or other rivals of
Castros.[35] In addition, poorly armed irregulars known
as escopeteros harassed Batistas forces in the foothills and
plains of Oriente Province. The escopeteros also provided
direct military support to Castros main forces by protecting supply lines and by sharing intelligence.[36] Ultimately, the mountains came under Castros control.

Ral Castro (left), with his arm around his second-in-command,

Ernesto Che Guevara, in their Sierra de Cristal mountain
stronghold in Oriente Province, Cuba, in 1958.

In addition to armed resistance, the rebels sought to

use propaganda to their advantage. A pirate radio station called Radio Rebelde (Rebel Radio) was set up in
February 1958, allowing Castro and his forces to broadcast their message nationwide within enemy territory.[37]
The radio broadcasts were made possible by Carlos Franqui, a previous acquaintance of Castro who subsequently
became a Cuban exile in Puerto Rico.[38]
During this time, Castros forces remained quite small
in numbers, sometimes fewer than 200 men, while the
Cuban army and police force had a manpower of around
37,000.[39] Even so, nearly every time the Cuban military

3
fought against the revolutionaries, the army was forced to
retreat. An arms embargo imposed on the Cuban government by the United States on 14 March 1958 contributed signicantly to the weakness of Batistas forces.
The Cuban air force rapidly deteriorated: it could not repair its airplanes without importing parts from the United
States.[40]
Batista nally responded to Castros eorts with an attack on the mountains called Operation Verano, known
to the rebels as la Ofensiva. The army sent some 12,000
soldiers, half of them untrained recruits, into the mountains. In a series of small skirmishes, Castros determined
guerrillas defeated the Cuban army.[40] In the Battle of La
Plata, which lasted from 11 July to 21 July 1958, Castros
forces defeated a 500-man battalion, capturing 240 men
while losing just three of their own.[41]
However, the tide nearly turned on 29 July 1958, when
Batistas troops almost destroyed Castros small army of
some 300 men at the Battle of Las Mercedes. With his
forces pinned down by superior numbers, Castro asked
for, and received, a temporary cease-re on 1 August.
Over the next seven days, while fruitless negotiations took
place, Castros forces gradually escaped from the trap. By
8 August, Castros entire army had escaped back into the
mountains, and Operation Verano had eectively ended
in failure for the Batista government.[40]

Final oensive and rebel victory

The enemy soldier in the Cuban example
which at present concerns us, is the junior
partner of the dictator; he is the man who gets
the last crumb left by a long line of proteers
that begins in Wall Street and ends with him.
He is disposed to defend his privileges, but he
is disposed to defend them only to the degree
that they are important to him. His salary
and his pension are worth some suering and
some dangers, but they are never worth his
life. If the price of maintaining them will cost
it, he is better o giving them up; that is to
say, withdrawing from the face of the guerrilla
danger.
Che Guevara, 1958[42]

Map showing key locations in the Sierra Maestra during the 1958
stage of the Cuban Revolution.

On 21 August 1958, after the defeat of Batistas Ofensiva,

Castros forces began their own oensive. In the Oriente province (in the area of the present-day provinces of
Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Guantnamo and Holgun),
Fidel Castro, Ral Castro and Juan Almeida Bosque directed attacks on four fronts. Descending from the mountains with new weapons captured during the Ofensiva and
smuggled in by plane, Castros forces won a series of initial victories. Castros major victory at Guisa, and the
successful capture of several towns including Mao, Contramaestre, and Central Oriente, brought the Cauto plains
under his control.
Meanwhile, three rebel columns, under the command
of Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and Jaime Vega,
proceeded westward toward Santa Clara, the capital of
Villa Clara Province. Batistas forces ambushed and
destroyed Jaime Vegas column, but the surviving two
columns reached the central provinces, where they joined
forces with several other resistance groups not under
the command of Castro. When Che Guevaras column
passed through the province of Las Villas, and specically through the Escambray Mountains where the anticommunist Revolutionary Directorate forces (who became known as the 13 March Movement) had been ghting Batistas army for many months friction developed
between the two groups of rebels. Nonetheless, the combined rebel army continued the oensive, and Cienfuegos won a key victory in the Battle of Yaguajay on 30
December 1958, earning him the nickname The Hero
of Yaguajay.

Map of Cuba showing the location of the arrival of the rebels

on the Granma in late 1956, the rebels stronghold in the Sierra
Maestra, and Guevara and Cienfuegoss route towards Havana
via Las Villas Province in December 1958.

On 31 December 1958, the Battle of Santa Clara took

place in a scene of great confusion. The city of Santa
Clara fell to the combined forces of Che Guevara, Cienfuegos, and Revolutionary Directorate (RD) rebels led
by Comandantes Rolando Cubela, Juan (El Mejicano)
Abrahantes, and William Alexander Morgan. News of
these defeats caused Batista to panic. He ed Cuba for
the Dominican Republic just hours later on 1 January
1959. Comandante William Alexander Morgan, leading
RD rebel forces, continued ghting as Batista departed,
and had captured the city of Cienfuegos by 2 January.[43]
Castro learned of Batistas ight in the morning and immediately started negotiations to take over Santiago de
Cuba. On 2 January, the military commander in the city,
Colonel Rubido, ordered his soldiers not to ght, and Cas-

5 AFTERMATH

tros forces took over the city. The forces of Guevara and
Cienfuegos entered Havana at about the same time. They
had met no opposition on their journey from Santa Clara
to Cubas capital. Castro himself arrived in Havana on 8
January after a long victory march. His initial choice of
president, Manuel Urrutia Lle, took oce on the 3rd of
January.[44]

Aftermath

and some high-ranking ocials of the Batista administration were exiled as military attachs.[48]

5.1 Reforms and nationalization

During its rst decade in power, the Castro government introduced a wide range of progressive social reforms. Laws were introduced to provide equality for
black Cubans and greater rights for women, while there
were attempts to improve communications, medical facilities, health, housing, and education. In addition, there
were touring cinemas, art exhibitions, concerts, and theatres. By the end of the 1960s, all Cuban children were
receiving some education (compared with less than half
before 1959), unemployment and corruption were reduced, and great improvements were made in hygiene and
sanitation.[49]

According to geographer and Cuban Comandante

Antonio Nez Jimnez, 75% of Cubas best arable land
was owned by foreign individuals or foreign (mostly
American) companies at the time of the revolution. One
of the rst policies of the newly formed Cuban government was eliminating illiteracy and implementing land
Fidel Castro (far left) and Che Guevara (centre) lead a memo- reforms. Land reform eorts helped to raise living stanrial march in Havana on 5 May 1960, for the victims of the La dards by subdividing larger holdings into cooperatives.
Comandante Sori Marin, who was nominally in charge
Coubre freight ship explosion.
of land reform, objected and ed, but was eventually executed when he returned to Cuba with arms and explosives,
intending to overthrow the Castro government.[50][51]
Our revolution is endangering all AmerMany other non-Marxist, anti-Batista rebel leaders were
ican possessions in Latin America. We are
forced into exile, purged in executions, or eliminated in
telling these countries to make their own revfailed uprisings such as that of the Beaton brothers.[52]
olution.
[45]
Che Guevara, October 1962
Shortly after taking power, Castro also created a revolutionary militia to expand his power base among the former rebels and the supportive population. Castro also
created the informant Committees for the Defense of
the Revolution (CDRs) in late September 1960. Local CDRs were tasked with keeping vigilance against
counter-revolutionary activity, keeping a detailed record
of each neighborhoods inhabitants spending habits, level
and education history,
Hundreds of Batista-era agents, policemen and soldiers of contact with foreigners, work
[53]
and
any
suspicious
behavior.
Among the increaswere put on public trial, accused of human rights abuses,
ingly
persecuted
groups
were
homosexual
men.[54]
war crimes, murder and torture. Most of the people accused were convicted by revolutionary tribunals of po- In February 1959, the Ministry for the Recovery of Mislitical crimes, and were executed by ring squad; oth- appropriated Assets (Ministerio de Recuperacin de Biers received long sentences of imprisonment. A no- enes Malversados) was created. Cuba began expropriattable example of revolutionary justice was after the cap- ing land and private property under the auspices of the
ture of Santiago, where Ral Castro directed the execu- Agrarian Reform Law of 17 May 1959. Farms of any size
tion of more than seventy Batista POWs.[48] For his part could be and were seized by the government, while land,
in taking Havana, Che Guevara was appointed supreme businesses, and companies owned by upper- and middleprosecutor in La Cabaa Fortress. This was part of a class Cubans were nationalized (notably, including the
large-scale attempt by Fidel Castro to cleanse the secu- plantations owned by Fidel Castros family). By the end
rity forces of Batista loyalists and potential opponents of of 1960, the revolutionary government had nationalized
the new revolutionary government. Though many were more than $25 billion worth of private property owned by
killed or imprisoned, others were fortunate enough to be Cubans.[9] The Castro government formally nationalized
dismissed from the army and police without prosecution, all foreign-owned property, particularly American holdOn 15 April 1959, Castro began an 11-day visit to the
United States, at the invitation of the American Society of
Newspaper Editors.[46] He said during his visit: I know
the world thinks of us, we are Communists, and of course
I have said very clear that we are not Communists; very
clear.[47]

5.3

Exiles and counterrevolutionary rebels

ings, in the nation on 6 August 1960.[10]

in recent years,[6] and the U.S. began eorts to normalise

[8][64]
In 1961, the Cuban government nationalized all prop- relations with Cuba in the mid-2010s.
erty held by religious organizations, including the dom- Castros victory and post-revolutionary foreign policy had
inant Roman Catholic Church. Hundreds of members global repercussions. Inuenced by the expansion of the
of the church, including a bishop, were permanently ex- Soviet Union into Europe after the 1917 Russian Revpelled from the nation, as the new Cuban government olution, Castro immediately sought to export his revdeclared itself ocially atheist. Education also saw sig- olution to other countries in the Caribbean and beyond,
nicant changes private schools were banned and the sending weapons to Algerian rebels as early as 1960.[11]
progressively socialist state assumed greater responsibil- In the following decades, Cuba became heavily involved
ity for children.[55]
in supporting Communist insurgencies and independence
In July 1961, the Integrated Revolutionary Organizations movements in many developing countries, sending miliGhana, Nicaragua, Yemen and
(IRO) was formed by the merger of Fidel Castros 26th of tary aid to insurgents in[11]
Angola,
among
others.
Castros intervention in the
July Movement, the Peoples Socialist Party led by Blas
Angolan
Civil
War
in
the
1970s
and 1980s was particRoca, and the Revolutionary Directorate of 13 March led
ularly
signicant,
involving
as
many
as 60,000 Cuban
[56]
by Faure Chomn.
On 26 March 1962, the IRO be[11][65]
soldiers.
came the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution
(PURSC) which, in turn, became the modern Communist
Party of Cuba on 3 October 1965, with Castro as First
Secretary. Castro remained the ruler of Cuba, rst as
Prime Minister and, from 1976, as President, until his retirement in February 2008.[57] His brother Ral ocially
replaced him as President later that same month.[58]

5.2

Following the American embargo, the Soviet Union became Cubas main ally.[10] The two Communist countries
quickly developed close military and intelligence ties, culminating in the stationing of Soviet nuclear weapons in
Cuba in 1962, an act which triggered the Cuban Missile
Crisis. Cuba maintained close links to the Soviets until the Soviet Unions collapse in 1991. The end of Soviet
economic aid led to an economic crisis and famine known
[66]
International reactions and foreign as the Special Period in Cuba.

policy
Main article: Foreign relations of Cuba

5.3 Exiles and counterrevolutionary rebels

Main article: Cuban exiles

The greatest threat presented by Castros Cuba is as an

example to other Latin American states which are beset by poverty, corruption, feudalism, and plutocratic exploitation ... his inuence in Latin America might be
overwhelming and irresistible if, with Soviet help, he
could establish in Cuba a Communist utopia.
Walter Lippmann, Newsweek, 27 April 1964[59]
The Cuban Revolution was a crucial turning point in
U.S.-Cuban relations. Although the American government was initially willing to recognize Castros new
government,[60] it soon came to fear that Communist insurgencies would spread through the nations of Latin
America, as they had in Southeast Asia.[61] Castro,
meanwhile, resented the Americans for providing aid to
Batistas government during the revolution.[60] After the
revolutionary government nationalized all U.S. property
in Cuba in August 1960, the American Eisenhower administration froze all Cuban assets on American soil,
severed diplomatic ties and tightened its embargo of
Cuba.[6][10][62] In 1961, the U.S. government backed an
armed counterrevolutionary assault on the Bay of Pigs
with the aim of ousting Castro, but the counterrevolutionaries were swiftly defeated by the Cuban military.[61] The
American embargo against Cuba the longest-lasting single foreign policy in American history[63] is still in force
as of 2015, although it has undergone a partial loosening

In the wake of the revolution, thousands of disaffected anti-Batista rebels, former Batista supporters, and
campesinos (peasants) ed to Cubas Las Villas province,
where an anticommunist underground had been forming
since early 1960. Operating out of the Escambray Mountains, these counterrevolutionary rebels, also known as
Alzados, made a number of unsuccessful attempts to
overthrow the Cuban government, including the abortive,
United States-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961.[61]
In the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the
United States promised not to invade Cuba in the future;
in compliance with this agreement, the U.S. withdrew
all support from the Alzados, eectively crippling the
resource-starved resistance.[67] The counterrevolutionary conict, known abroad as the Escambray Rebellion,
lasted until about 1965, and has since been branded the
War Against the Bandits by the Cuban government.[67]
Between 1959 and 1980, an estimated 500,000 Cubans
left the island for the United States, seeking greater
political and economic freedom; 125,000 left in 1980
alone, when the Cuban government briey permitted any
Cubans who wished to leave to do so.[68] By 2010, the
Cuban American community numbered over 1.9 million,
67% of whom lived in the state of Florida.[69] As a voting
bloc, Cuban Americans have traditionally been strongly
opposed to ending the U.S. embargo of Cuba, but in re-

8 NOTES

cent years there has been growing support for diplomatic

engagement among the younger generations.[70]

[3] Eckhardt, William, in Sivard, Ruth Leger (1987). World

Military and Social Expenditures, 1987-88 (12th edition).
World Priorities.

[4] Faria, Miguel A., Jr. (27 July 2004). Fidel Castro and
the 26th of July Movement. Newsmax Media. Retrieved
14 August 2015.

In popular culture
The Cuban Revolution, including Batistas resignation and ight into exile, plays a major role in the
plot of the 1974 lm The Godfather Part II.[71]
The 1987 video game Guevara, released in the
United States as Guerrilla War, features Castro and
Guevara ghting in the jungle against the forces of
an unnamed dictator.[72][73]
The Cuban dissident and exile Reinaldo Arenas
wrote about Castros persecution of homosexuals
in his 1992 autobiography Antes Que Anochezca,
which became the basis for the 2000 lm Before
Night Falls.[74]

[5] Cuba Marks 50 Years Since 'Triumphant Revolution'".

Jason Beaubien. NPR. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 9 July
2013.
[6] Cuba receives rst US shipment in 50 years. Al Jazeera.
14 July 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
[7] On Cuba Embargo, Its the U.S. and Israel Against the
World Again. New York Times. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
[8] Cuba o the U.S. terrorism list: Goodbye to a Cold War
relic. Los Angeles Times. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 18
April 2015.

Steven Soderbergh's 2008 lm Che, a two-part

biopic about Che Guevara, depicts the rise of Castros movement and Guevaras role in the Cuban
Revolution.[75]

[9] Lazo, Mario (1970). American Policy Failures in Cuba

Dagger in the Heart. Twin Circle Publishing Co.: New
York. pp. 198200, 204. Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 68-31632.

The 2010 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops features a level set in Havana in 1961, in which players
must attempt to assassinate Castro. The level was
condemned by the Cuban government.[76]

[10] Gary B. Nash, Julie Roy Jerey, John R. Howe, Peter J.

Frederick, Allen F. Davis, Allan M. Winkler, Charlene
Mires and Carla Gardina Pestana. The American People,
Concise Edition: Creating a Nation and a Society, Combined Volume (6th edition, 2007). New York: Longman.

The 2013 strategic board game Cuba Libre by US

wargaming publisher GMT Games puts players into [11] Makers of the Twentieth Century: Castro. History Today. 1981. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
the roles of the involved parties in the Revolution
and lets them reenact the conict alongside a ran- [12] From the archive, 11 March 1952: Batistas revolution.
domized storyline of the key historical events.[77][78]
The Guardian. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
The 2014 founding of the South African Economic
Freedom Fighters political party.[79]

See also
Communist revolution
Cuban Thaw
History of Cuba
Latin American wars of independence

Notes

[1] Jacob Bercovitch and Richard Jackson (1997). International Conict: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Conicts
and Their Management, 1945-1995. Congressional Quarterly.
[2] Singer, Joel David and Small, Melvin (1974). The Wages
of War, 1816-1965. Inter-University Consortium for Political Research.

[13] Julia E. Sweig (2004). Inside the Cuban Revolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN
978-0-674-01612-5.
[14] Arthur Meier Schlesinger (1973). The Dynamics of World
Power: A Documentary History of the United States Foreign Policy 1945-1973. McGraw-Hill. p. 512. ISBN
0070797293.
[15] Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at Democratic Dinner, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1960. John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
[16] Fulgencio Batista. HistoryOfCuba.com. Retrieved 29
June 2013.
[17] Daz-Briquets, Sergio & Prez-Lpez, Jorge F. (2006).
Corruption in Cuba: Castro and beyond. University of
Texas Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-292-71482-3.
[18] James Stuart Olson (2000). Historical Dictionary of the
1950s. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 6768. ISBN
0-313-30619-2.
[19] Biography of Fidel Castro. About.com. Retrieved 29
June 2013.

[20] Bourne, Peter G. (1986). Fidel: A Biography of Fidel Castro. New York City: Dodd, Mead & Company. pp. 68
69. ISBN 978-0396085188.
[21] Historical sites: Moncada Army Barracks. CubaTravelInfo. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
[22] Ramonet, Ignacio, ibid, p. 133
[23] Ramonet, Ignacio, ibid, p. 672
[24] CHRONICLE OF AN UNFORGETTABLE AGONY:
CUBA'S POLITICAL PRISONS. Contacto Magazine.
September 1996. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
[25] Ramonet, Ignacio, ibid, p. 174
[26] Ramonet, Ignacio, ibid, p. 174
[27] Jean Daniel Bensaid: Biography. Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
[28] Cuban Revolution: The Voyage of the Granma. Latin
American History. Retrieved 24 December 2014. The
yacht, designed for only 12 passengers and supposedly
with a maximum capacity of 25, also had to carry fuel
for a week as well as food and weapons for the soldiers.
[29] Ramonet, Ignacio, ibid, p. 182
[30] Thomas, Hugh (1998). Cuba or The Pursuit of Freedom
(Updated Edition). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306-80827-7.
[31] Opiniones: Haydee Santamara, una mujer revolucionaria (in Spanish). La Ventana. 2 July 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
[32] Faria 2002, pp. 4041
[33] Louis A. Prez. Cuba and the United States.
[34] English 2008, p. ?
[35] The Killing Machine: Che Guevara, from Communist
Firebrand to Capitalist Brand. Independent.org. 11 July
2005. Retrieved 14 April 2012. Guevara murdered or
oversaw the executions in summary trials of scores of
peopleproven enemies, suspected enemies, and those
who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
[36] Dewitt, Don A. (2011). U.S. Marines at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba. iUniverse via Google Books. p. 31.

[42] The Life & Times of Che Guevara by David Sandison

(1996). Paragon. ISBN 0-7525-1776-7. p. 41.
[43] Faria 2002, p. 69
[44] Thomas, Hugh, Cuba: The pursuit of freedom, pp. 6913
[45] Attack us at your Peril, Cocky Cuba Warns US. Henry
Brandon. The Sunday Times. 28 October 1962. Retrieved
4 December 2012.
[46] Glass, Andrew (15 April 2013). Fidel Castro visits the
U.S., April 15, 1959. Politico. Retrieved 14 August
2015.
[47] Cuban Revolution. 1959 Year in Review. United Press
International. 1959. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
[48] Juan Clark Cuba (1992). Mito y Realidad: Testimonio de
un Pueblo. Saeta Ediciones (Miami). pp. 5370.
[49] Mastering Modern World History by Norman Lowe, second edition.
[50] Escalante 1995, pp. 80-81
[51] Lazo 1968, p. 288
[52] Cuba Orders Rebels Death. The Milwaukee Journal.
14 June 1960 (via Google News archive). Retrieved 28
April 2012.
[53] Juan Clark Cuba: Mito y Realidad (1992), pp. 13158.
[54] Young, Allen (1982). Gays under the Cuban revolution.
Grey Fox Press. ISBN 0-912516-61-5.
[55] Faria 2002, pp. 21528
[56] Kantor, Myles B. (14 June 2002). Interview With Dr.
Miguel Faria (Part I)". Newsmax Media. Retrieved 14
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[57] Fidel Castro Resigns as Cubas President. New York
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[37] About Us. Radio Rebelde. Retrieved 11 March 2013.

[61] Ahead Of Bay Of Pigs, Fears Of Communism. NPR.

17 April 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2013.

[38] Carlos Franqui. Daily Telegraph. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2013.

[62] Faria 2002, p. 105

[39] Batista Says Manpower Edge Lacking. Park City Daily

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a Never-Ending Policy Part I: The Myth of the Miami
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CubaMatinal.com. Retrieved 9 March 2013.

11

[66] Parrot diplomacy. The Economist. 24 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
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References
English, T. J. (2008). Havana Nocturne: How the
Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution.
William Morrow. ISBN 0-06-114771-0.
Faria, Miguel A., Jr. (2002). Cuba in Revolution:
Escape from a Lost Paradise. Milledgeville, GA:
Hacienda Pub Inc. ISBN 0-9641077-3-2.

10

Further reading

Thomas M. Leonard (1999). Castro and the Cuban

Revolution. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-29979X.
Julio Garca Luis (2008). Cuban Revolution Reader:
A Documentary History of Key Moments in Fidel
Castros Revolution. Ocean Press. ISBN 1-92088889-6.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Samuel Farber (2012). Cuba Since the Revolution

of 1959: A Critical Assessment. Haymarket Books.
ISBN 9781608461394.
Joseph Hansen (1994). Dynamics of the Cuban Revolution: A Marxist Appreciation. Pathnder Press.
ISBN 0-87348-559-9.
Julia E. Sweig (2004). Inside the Cuban Revolution:
Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground. Harvard
University Press. ISBN 0-674-01612-2.
Thomas C. Wright (2000). Latin America in the Era
of the Cuban Revolution. Praeger Paperback. ISBN
0-275-96706-9.
Marifeli Perez-Stable (1998). The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512749-8.
Geraldine Lievesley (2004). The Cuban Revolution: Past, Present and Future Perspectives. Palgrave
Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-96853-0.
Teo A. Babun (2005). The Cuban Revolution: Years
of Promise. University Press of Florida. ISBN 08130-2860-4.
Antonio Rafael de la Cova (2007). The Moncada
Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution. University of
South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-672-1.
Samuel Farber (2006). The Origins of the Cuban
Revolution Reconsidered. The University of North
Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-5673-8.
Jules R. Benjamin (1992). The United States and the
Origins of the Cuban Revolution. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02536-3.
Comite central del Partido comunista de Cuba:
Comisin de orientacin revolucionaria (1972).
Rencontre symbolique entre deux processus historiques [i.e., de Cuba et de Chile]. La Habana,
Cuba: ditions politiques.
David M. Watry (2014). Diplomacy at the Brink:
Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden in the Cold War.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
ISBN 9780807157183.

11 External links
Fidel Castro. What Cubas Rebels Want at the
Wayback Machine (archived April 17, 2009). The
Nation via Internet Archive. 30 November 1957.
The Cuban Revolution (19521958)".
American Studies Organization.

Latin

Michael Voss. Reliving Cubas Revolution. BBC.

29 December 2008.

9
The History of Socialist Revolution in Cuba (1953
1959)". World History Archives.
Arthur Brice. Memories of Boyhood in the Heat
of the Cuban Revolution. CNN. 2009.
1959 2009: Celebrating 50 years of the Cuban
Revolution. Cuba Solidarity Campaign.
A lm clip Castro Triumphs. Havana Crowds Hail
Success Of Revolt, 1959/01/05 (1959)" is available
for free download at the Internet Archive.

10

12

12
12.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Cuban Revolution Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Revolution?oldid=676093446 Contributors: Mav, The Anome, William

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12.3

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