Youths Began Cuban Rebel Movement

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28784, 3 January 1959, Page 11

Youths Began Cuban Rebel Movement

NEW YORK, January 2

The rebellion that unseated Fulgencio Batista after 25 years as strong man of Cuba started five and a half years ago with 200 youths.

They attacked the undermanned Cuban army barracks at Santiago, capital of Eastern Oriente province, on Sunday morning, July 26. 1953.

They failed then to set oil a revolution to oust President Batista, but their cause, the 26th of July movement, grew into a ragged army of thousands of men That army’s assault on Batista's forces finally led him to flee Cuba early today "to save the country from further bloodshed” The leader of the 1953 attack and later of the guerrilla army was Fidel Castro, the son of a wealthy sugar planter. He is now Castro and his followers ded after the Santiago failure but through intercession of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Santiago surrendered on August 1, 1953, to halt bloodshed. In October, 1953. he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the revolt attempt. Early in 1954 he was released in an amnesty for politick! prisoners and went to Mexico where, with other antiBatista exiles, he began plotting the campaign that he later developed. ' In December. 1956, Castro and a small band of rebels landed on the coast of Oriente. where his sympathisers were numerous. , The band took to the Sierra Maestra and began making forays against army and police posts. - Castro’s first attacks were failures, and he hid out in the mountains. He became a soVt of Cuban Robin Hood, robbing the rich and

giving to the peasants. However, he had bigger game in mind. In March, 1957, revolt fever spread to Havana itself. Havana students, tried to storm the Presidential palace. They almost got to Batista, but soldiers and bodyguards won the fight. Forty students and five soldiers were reported killed. Arrests and violence mounted. Last April,. Castro proclaimed total war, which Batista described as a “demonstration of ’arrogance.” Bombings and shootings becamecommon occurrences. Castro declared a general strike. It failed, and Batista received extraordinary powers from the Cabinet and legislature to cope with the spreading revolt. Last June Castro kidnapped 45 United States citizens and three Canadians as a protest against American policy, which Castro claimed favoured Batista. By July 18. all were freed. In spite of Castro threats, a peaceful election was held on November 3. Batista’s handpicked man Andras Rivero Aguero, was elected.

Late in November, Batista’s Government said it had smashed an Army officers’ plot to overthrow the regime. The military high commands were reshuffled. More troops were sent to Las Villas province to battle Castro’s men. But the writing was on the wall for Batista.

He read it today and fled to the Dominican Republic.