Cuban Revolutionary Captured - Written By Jesús Jimenez (Written on August 2nd 1953)

Twenty-Six year old Fidel Castro lead an attack on the Moncada Army Barracks in Santiago De Cuba, Cuba last week, in a desperate attempt to get the word out on the rebellion and preventing the opposing soldiers from reaching the armory. Unfortunately for them, their plan failed as a result of heavy artillery being lost in the huge crowd of leaving from a previous carnival held in Santiago. Nonetheless, the action was a spark of enlightenment for many Cubans in the island.
   

 

(The barracks)

   The end result was almost half of the force died, not in battle, but in torture. Many where captured, and detained. Fleeing didn’t help in the slightest either, as rebels were hunted down and eventually detained, including Fidel Castro himself.  Rebels await a sentence from 5 - 15 years in prison, while Castro still abides for this trial. At the moment, nothing is known about Castro’s trial or what future awaits him. One thing is for sure, the Batista government will not be happy about this.
   
   Castro, just being a lawyer, lead a force of 150+ men to the barracks. Many of the people were students, both young and old workers, and of various economical classes. They raised their own money to buy the weapons and uniforms needed for the assault. An estimated $15,000 was said to be what the movement raised in total for their weapons. The force trained in secret, resuming their normal lives as students, teachers and workers, while training for a revolutionary assault at the same time. Fidel kept a positive thought about the revolution though as he said,"Even if it failed, it would be heroic and have symbolic value." When the time came to fight, many were left behind because of the lack of fire power. Fifteen thousand dollars was apparently not enough to provide a weapon for each and every person.
   
While the Batista Regime won the battle, the war is still not over. Cubans still have a strong antipathy towards Batista, they accuse him of corruption and wide spread violence towards the Cuban people. With pressure being put on an unwanted leader, and rebellion attacks coming out of the blue, it is very likely that Fulgencio Batista will have to do something right for a change. After all, his regime took over the once democratic Cuba, which angered many islanders, so he didn’t start out with a clean slate after all. As for Fidel Castro and his movement, it is unclear what the fate of the rebels will be, or if they will continue to be rebels at all. Incarcerated at the moment, Fidel has no opportunities to go out and continue his attacks on the Batista regime. There is no clear support for Fidel from anyone big other than rebels and islanders, on the other hand, Batista is receiving weapons and aid from The United States. With both sides in a tight position in the moment, anything can happen. One thing is for sure though, the revolution is not over yet.

Castro takes the fight to home! Written by Jesús Jimenez on December 6th 1956

   A few years ago, we first heard of a man named Fidel Castro, who, along with the help of revolutionaries who were no other than normal people like ourselves, tries to take the Moncada barracks from the corrupt Baptista regime. Since then, a lot has happened. Fidel Castro, along with his brother Raul were released and eventually fled into exile towards México. While Batista was still enjoying his control over the island, there was some serious training, plotting, and also some allies to be met over 1,100 miles away in México.

 

(Castro and his followers)

   December 2nd marks the day Fidel Castro makes it back to Cuba … but with some struggles. First of all, Fidel Castro has made new allies in México, including Che Guevara, an Argentine physician who is also a revolutionary. Though they made quite an entrance when they landed in a swamp, rather than a beach, unable to unpack most of their weapons and equipment because of the conditions. The first day, they made it without any food/water until they stared getting food from locals in the area, including farmers.

   Two years following Fidel Castro’s sentence to 15 years in prison, he, along with his brother Raul was released. Batista was forced to release all the political prisoners in an attempt to better his image with the people. It didn’t work. Fidel and Raul, along with other people left for México, to reorganize and gather up as much support as possible. When they got there, they were arrested for possessing fire arms, but were only in jail for a couple of days. Time went by and the founding of the July 26 Movement happened. Fidel along with Raul and other allies gathered a group around 80 people to take back the island. The Granma, which was a rather old yacht was used to carry the men towards Cuba. The journey took longer than thought and to make matters even worse, they were spotted by a helicopter and Fidel and his men were forced to land in a "If they had debarked right on the beach instead of at the swamp, they would have found trucks, jeeps, gasoline. It would have been a walkaway." said Celia Sanchez, one of the founders of the July 26 Movement. She, along with 50 other men were waiting for the arrival of Fidel and his men. On December 5th, they were ambushed by Batista’s forces because of a betraying guide, and were forced to scatter. On the 18th, they regrouped deep inside the Sierra Maestra mountains, where only 12 (including both Castros and Che) were able to make it, out of the 82 that originally sailed off with them.

   "We will win this war, we're just beginning to fight!" said Fidel Castro. As the 12 survivors played it safe in the mountains, little did they know that their survival could mean a lot to the people of Cuba. Knowing that these revolutionary leaders are at home is a slap in the face for Batista, these revolutionaries are gaining the trust of many islanders, and with that many supporters the rebels have just leveled the playing field.

Batista flees, Castro takes over! - Written by Jesús Jimenez on January 4th, 1959

It’s the start of a new year, and everyone is anxious to get started on their New Year’s resolution. But what Cuba got this week was a New Year’s revolution. The self-made dictator Fulgencio Batista, left the island for Spain, just on the first day of the new year. Che Guevara’s forces made it into Havana, Cuba. Once revolutionary forces made it into Havana, it was all over. The Regime was toppled and the rebels took over the city. Fidel himself is expected to be in Havana in just a few days, he gave a victory  speech in Santiago De Cuba on the same day as forces closed into Havana. During his speech Castro mentioned: "This time the revolution will not be frustrated! This time, fortunately for Cuba, the revolution will achieve its true objective. It will not be like 1898, when the Americans came and made themselves masters of the country."

   It has been a good start for the revolutionary forces as the new year rolls in. The Batista Regime has been toppled, but what does this mean for the future of Cuba’s government? As Fidel is on his way to Havana, many seem to be celebrating without a doubt that Batista is gone. But beyond that, people may wonder what happens with Cuba next. Fidel said "Once we finish this war, the military commanders cannot occupy political positions. We have to remain the moral guardians of the revolution. Our duty is to ensure that the promises to the people are kept." This revolution worked great until now, but will Cuba go back to it’s democratic ways? Or will it be influenced other countries or the tide heating up between Communism and Democracy?

   For one, the Batista Regime was corrupt. People in Cuba took note of that. The dictator himself disregarded the constitution of 1940. Batista stripped the Cuban people of their rights as citizens of the island. The revolution a reaction made by one man who knew what the right thing to do was, the people needed someone like that to start the revolution. Fidel might not want to have commanders to take positions in the government. But the people that were the ones doing the fighting are really the most suited for running the country, since it was Fidel’s men who took the responsibility of restoring the country in the first place. Of course, Fidel Castro has different ideas to run the country.

   Whatever change they might be heading for, the Cubans have a lot of work ahead of them. Reconstruction of the island’s economic and political ideas are going to change. It is assured that right now they are in a rather neutral state. Neither an ally or enemy in the world ... yet.

Castro Takes Action - By Aja Wallace

Took place on January 8th 1959. Reported on February 5th 1959

Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos made their way to Havana. The way they entered with the cars and men looked as if it was a small riot including the amount of noise being made.  But Batista left the 1st of January from Cuba. After that everything went downhill. Fidel was out to promise the people anything, he would make sure there was an end to the government who wronged Cuba since they had their independence. Castros’ promise was considered to be grand people. He promised people a revolution that was “as green as palm trees”. With a promise like, that no one was willing to resist. This  revolutionary palm tree promise looked to good to be true, some of the things he promised, had quixotic vibes around them.

Everybody seemed to be for Fidel and the ways he told people he was going to revolutionize things. For about three year prior to this, he even had the New York Times admiring him and his ways. Fidel was gaining much respect for the way he was, withing being in the public eye he was just trying to do what was in the ‘best interest’ of Cuba.
Months after  being in Havana Castro and his men started to kill up to 1,000 men. Castro was able to get rid of Batista convincing people that him leaving would only help Cuba become more “free”.
Castro often referred to the U.S as "a vulture preying on humanity!", due to the fact that he felt as if it was every man for himself. Fidel seem to express the way humans were like vampires yet he took away all of the properties on the land that belonged to the U.S., which was two billion dollars worth. President Eisenhower did not agree with the way things were going for the U.S. he felt as though the Unites States didn’t have to take anything of that nature. Their integrity in a way was being conflicted and they were at their breaking point. The Unites States decided they did not want to take anything else from Cuba, simply because they did not have to either. Thus relations with Cuba of the diplomatic nature, were broken from that point on.
Castro’s planed revolution was something that happened over a course of time everything was done in certain periods. Taking over Havana was only the first step. The Irish Independent reported that they saw Castro and his men coming with many cars packed full of them cheering on their chants. The streets at which Castro drove down were filled with crowds of people on both sides, watching as he entered.

Revamp, Rejoice and Recover (Cuba & The Soviet Union) - By Aja Wallace

Took place on December 19th 1960
  
Since February 2, 1959 Fidel was now the president of Cuba. He is taking any matters into his own hands. Fidel is one dictator that is very ambitious into taking matters into his own hands. Just like when the riot began, on July 27th 1957 Castro and a number of  armed forces swept down out of Sierra Maestra to attack the former field headquarters of the Cuban Army. The mill was then evacuated, leaving only eight guards. The attack happened before 2am and Castro released the captured soldiers. Cuban Army headquarters issued a press release stating that the rebels had attacked the Estrada Palma post.
After that, Cuba needed a bit if help in the missile department. The U.S and Turkey agreed to post exactly fifteen nuclear- tipped Jupiter missiles. Soviets were not cool with the U.S and Fidel didn’t want help from the U.S. So he was out to decrease the economic dependence on the Unites States. The way is seem is, the U.S are thinks of itself as a boss and if it isn’t getting what it wants there nobody is going to be “satisfied”. The U.S. needed Cuba to economically depend on them, it made them feel bigger, stronger and more powerful.
Through the sugar act of 1960, July 3rd marked the date when the U.S suspended sugar trades with Cuba.  Thus cutting of 80% of Cuba’s exports to the Unites States, which in turn incapacitated the Cuban economy. Cuba’s reaction was to only do what they thought would help, trying to get what they felt belonged to them. President Eisenhower even felt that there was a need to cancel the 7000,000 tons of sugar remaining in Cuba’s quota for 1960, and made a threat to the military action against Cuba.
Days later on the 12th, then the Soviet leader Khruschev was in full support of Cuba, with their dispute with the U.S on the topic of the Bay military base. Right before that U.S. decided to take away the import of sugar cane. So Fidel was ready to attack the U.S because of their refusal to sugar trading. This ended the aid program for Cuba, and triggered an attempt to assassinate Fidel by poisoning one of his cigar boxes