Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) has ruled Cuba since 1959, when, leading the 26th of July Movement, he overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista and transformed Cuba into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere.

The road to power

Once in Mexico, Castro reunited with other exiles and founded the 26th of July Movement. They went to the United States, where they gathered funds from Cubans living in that country. Medical doctor Che Guevara joined the group during this time. On November 26 1956 they returned to Cuba, clandestinely sailing from Tuxpan to Cuba on the 60-ft pleasure yacht Granma.

Related Topics:
26th of July Movement - United States - Che Guevara - November 26 - 1956 - Tuxpan - Granma

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They landed in Los Cayuelos near the eastern city of Manzanillo on December 2, 1956. They missed their scheduled arrival by two days. On November 30th, Castro's supporters, wearing olive green uniforms and the 26th of July Movement's red & black insignias, staged a street revolt in Santiago, organized by Frank Pais. Only perhaps sixteen of the original eighty-two men survived encounters with the Cuban army, and they were forced to retreat; aided by a group that included Celia Sanchez Manduley and bandit Cresencio Perez's relatives, they reached the Sierra Maestra mountains. The survivors, who included Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, and Camilo Cienfuegos, reformed into the José Martí column under Castro's command. Castro's movement gained popular support and grew to over eight hundred men. In mid-1957 Castro gave Che Guevara command of a second column. A journalist from the New York Times came to interview him in the Sierra Maestra, attracting interest to his cause in the United States. This was followed up by a television crew. His command of English enabled him to appeal directly to an American audience.

Related Topics:
Los Cayuelos - Manzanillo - December 2 - 1956 - Frank Pais - Celia Sanchez Manduley - Cresencio Perez - Sierra Maestra - Camilo Cienfuegos - Journalist - New York Times - Television - English

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On May 24, 1958, Batista launched seventeen battalions against Castro in Operación Verano. Despite being outnumbered, Castro's forces scored a series of stunning victories, aided by massive desertion and surrenders from Batista's army. Official Cuban sources de-emphasize the roles of non-communist leaders, and strong contingents of escopeteros (poorly armed irregulars fighting Batista). These sources tend to give excess credit to Che Guevara, who in one instance ran away leaving a non-communist leader to fight to his death , . After the defeat of the summer offensive, Castro ordered two columns under Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos to invade central Cuba, and undertook a very successful offensive towards and onto the Cauto Plains. In December, the columns under Guevara and Cienfuegos joined with other anti-Batista forces already in the central mountains, occupied several towns, and conducted actions culminating in the battle for Santa Clara, the capital of Las Villas province; there Che Guevara derailed an armored train which Batista had sent to aid his troops trapped inside the city. On the night of December 31, 1958, Batista and president-elect Carlos Rivero Agüero fled the country to the Dominican Republic and then to Franco's Spain.

Related Topics:
May 24 - 1958 - Operación Verano - December 31 - Carlos Rivero Agüero - Dominican Republic - Franco - Spain

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