Fidel Castro and The Cuban Revolution

56 Years After the Moncada Barracks Attacks

Jul 26, 2009

A brief look at the 26th of July Movement, the events that began the Cuban Revolution, and the propulsion of Fidel Castro into almost half a century rule.

Three weeks shy of his 27th birthday, lawyer and student leader Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz led an unsuccessful, but pivotal attack at the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Accompanied by his younger brother Raul Castro Ruz, Mario Chanes de Armas and about one-hundred and thirty-five other revolutionaries, the young radicals sought to depose the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar.

Almost half of the 135 militants involved in the attack on Moncada, 70 men, lost their lives. Even though they fled to the mountains of the Sierra Maestra, Fidel and Raul Castro were found and captured.

Castro’s “History Will Absolve Me” Speech

In October 1953, Castro was brought to trial and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. It was in the midst of his trial that Castro gave his famed “La Historia Me Absolvera” (History Will Absolve Me) speech.

Using the trial as a stage, Castro not only stood by his actions and reaffirmed his political tenets, but went into great detail regarding the law and oppressive history of Cuba, the history of revolution throughout time in different parts of the world, as well as outlining the poverty and misery that Batista kept his people under. Castro’s passion and charisma was clearly obvious in his words spoken to the court, but ultimately, meant for the Cuban people.

Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the 26th of July Movement

While in prison, Castro continued to plot an overthrow of the Batista government, planning upon his release to regroup and train in the country of Mexico. After only two years of incarceration, Batista offered a general pardon. The Castro brothers fled as planned to Mexico for a year. It was during his time in Mexico that Castro met fellow revolutionary, the Argentinean Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Along with Guevara and his brother, Castro began the 26th of July Movement, so named for the failed attack on Moncada.

Causes for Revolution

The movement’s main reasons for revolution included Cuba’s land ownership situation, problems of industrialization, destitute living standards, rampant unemployment, education and public health problems. These, along with the attainment of civil liberty and political democracy, were where Castro sought to direct the efforts of 26th of July Movement.

On December 1956, Castro and the 26th of July Movement returned to Cuba intent on deposing the Batista regime. Initially landing in eastern Cuba, the small resistance began training and recruiting from amongst the peasant population. Instead of mounting a traditional attack, however, the revolutionaries opted for guerrilla tactics of which Che Guevara was quite familiar with. Based in the same mountains that he fled to following the losing effort at Moncada, Castro successfully organized many underground resistance groups throughout Cuba.

Batista Flees; Castro Takes Charge

In the early morning hours of January 1, 1959, Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba. In recalling Castro ascension to power, National Public Radio’s Tom Gjelten reported, in 1999, that upon hearing of Batista's defeat, the people of Cuba “poured into the streets to celebrate. The American reaction to Castro's victory was mixed. And given everything that's happened since, it may be surprising to some to learn that Fidel Castro had supporters inside the United States government.”

Ike Snubs Castro

During this time, Castro proclaimed himself staunchly against Communism, claiming to lead a democratic country. In April of 1959, Castro began a goodwill tour of the United States during which he was well received by Americans at large. Castro sought an audience with then President Dwight Eisenhower, but Eisenhower didn’t think much of Cuba’s new leader, choosing to go golfing instead. It’s reported that Eisenhower commented that Castro cut his hair and take a shower if he insisted on meeting with him.

It wasn’t until the presidency of John F. Kennedy and the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion – the U.S. attack on Cuba intended to re-establish a multiparty democracy – that Castro allied himself with the Soviet Union.

Fidel Castro sized power of the country on January 1959 and acted as its Prime Minister from February 1959 until December of 1976 when he became Cuba’s 23rd president. Castro remained in power until February 2008 when he was succeeded by his brother Raul Castro.

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