Moncada Barracks

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The Moncada Barracks, near Santiago de Cuba, was the site of an armed attack by a small group of rebels led by Fidel Castro that sparked the Cuban Revolution. These barracks are named after the "Ebony Giant" Guillermon Moncada, a War of Independence Hero (see his image at [1]). The date on which the attack took place, July 26, was adopted by Castro as the name for his revolutionary 26th of July Movement (Movimiento 26 Julio or M 26-7) that would, in 1959, take power in Cuba.

1 Attack on Moncada Barracks
- 1.1 Aftermath of the Attack
2 References
3 External link

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Attack on Moncada Barracks

On July 26, 1953, at 5:00AM, Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led 160 poorly-armed and perhaps overeager insurgents in an attack on dictator Fulgencio Batista's second largest fortress in Cuba, headquarters of the 1,000 (others say about 400 [2]) strong Antonio Maceo regiment.

The night before the attack, 25 July, was host to a festival in Santiago de Cuba and the rebel group believed the soldiers would be hungover. Also, the rebels had stolen army uniforms to wear these during the attack. The group formed an automobile caravan in order to give the appearance of being a delegation headed by a high-ranking officer sent from western Cuba. Their plan was to take the barracks, including the radio transmitter within it, and use it as a centre from which to broadcast propaganda to the Cuban people, with the ultimate hope of bringing down the Batista government.

However, the attack began poorly. The caravan of automobiles became separated by the time it arrived at the barracks, and the car carrying the guerillas' heavy weapons got lost. Further, many of the rebels who would have taken part in the attack were left behind for a lack of weapons. The net result of these events was the rebels being outnumbered more than 10 to 1 (others accounts differ [3]).

When it was finally carried out, the attack on the Moncada Barracks was a total disaster. Sixty-one rebels were killed in the fighting, and one third of them were captured. Half of the men captured were tortured to death. A handful of rebels, including Fidel Castro, escaped into the nearby countryside but were apprehended shortly thereafter.

The barracks still bears the bulletholes inflicted during the attack.

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Aftermath of the Attack

Castro, a lawyer, defended himself at his trial. His defence speech, "History Will Absolve Me," was written down by a court reporter. It became the platform of the 26th of July Movement, detailing plans for reform in Cuba, and was later frequently used in Castro's speeches. Castro was sentenced to death; however, at the urging of Roman Catholic priests, Batista abolished the death penalty just before Castro's execution, and he was sentenced instead to fifteen years in prison on the Isle of Pines (Now known as the Isle of Youth).

Two years later, in 1955, a group of prisoners' mothers launched a campaign to free Castro and the other rebels imprisoned with him. A group of political leaders, editors, and intellectuals signed a public appeal demanding "liberty for the political prisoners". That year, the Cuban Congress passed a bill granting general amnesty to political prisoners. After being signed by Batista, the imprisoned rebels were freed.

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