Assault on the Moncada Barracks
The assault on the Moncada Barracks, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, was part of an armed action carried out on July 26, 1953 by a group of young people from the Orthodox Party led by lawyer Fidel Castro in order to overthrow the dictator Fulgencio Batista. The plan was completed with the attack on the "Carlos Manuel de Céspedes" barracks in Bayamo, and was defeated. Fidel Castro would become known in the country for this armed action, and his subsequent prosecution. His self-defense plea was collected in the book History will absolve me . Two days before the attack on the Moncada Barracks, the Military Intelligence Service (SIM) of the dictator Batista had informed Colonel Chaviano, head of the barracks, that an attack was being prepared on it (the date was not known), information obtained by a denunciation That is why the defense of the fortress was reinforced before July 26. Chaviano was not at the barracks when the attack took place, but at the carnival in Santiago de Cuba.
Introduction
In 1953, the Moncada Barracks was the headquarters of the Regiment No. 1 "Antonio Maceo" in the city of Santiago de Cuba, capital of the province of Oriente, under the command of Colonel Alberto del Río Chaviano (Cuba, 1914 -USA, 1978). Due to its importance, Moncada was the second military fortress in the country, occupied by some 400 soldiers (374 from Regiment No. 1 and 26 from Squadron No. 11 of the Rural Guard). Its distance from Havana made it difficult to send aid to the Eastern Army. In addition, Santiago was located on the south coast, next to the sea, and surrounded by mountains.
Due to these conditions, on July 26, 1953, a group of young Cubans with revolutionary ideas and seeking to rid Cuba of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista that began on March 10, 1952, led by Fidel Castro, decided to attack this barracks. Once Moncada was taken, the conditions that the city presented made it easier for the rebels to defend it when it was occupied, and to start the guerrilla fight if they had to abandon it. Added to this was a historical element: the three wars of independence had begun in the East in the XIX century that had been fought in Cuba, where popular insurrections took place at various times of the republican period —even during the 1933 Revolution—, its mountains were known for the armed resistance of the peasants against the landowners, that territory was called "the indomitable East." Once the owners of the Moncada, the revolutionaries would seize the stations of the National Police, the Maritime Police and the Navy, as well as a radio station, in order to publicize their objectives and call to join the fight. In Fidel's conception, the armed insurrection was inseparable from the mobilization of the popular masses.
To support the action of the «Moncada» it was decided to simultaneously take over the «Carlos Manuel de Céspedes» barracks, in Bayamo, a city located in the center of the Oriente province and which constituted an important hub of land communications. This action included the blowing up of the bridges over the Cauto River, in order to prevent or hinder the arrival of reinforcements by land for the troops from Santiago de Cuba. After occupying the Moncada Barracks, it was planned to call the uprising of the people of Santiago by radio and they would be given the weapons captured in the barracks to fight against the dictatorship.
Preparations
The plan was worked out in secret. In addition to Fidel Castro, only 3 members of the leadership of the movement knew him, including Abel Santamaría and Renato Guitart. Some knew that a combat was going to take place, but did not know what exactly it was, and others did not know that they were going to an armed action. The same concern was had when structuring the movement: it was done in a cellular way and the security regulations required by its clandestine nature were strictly observed. It had two management committees: one military, under the command of Fidel Castro, and another civilian, led by Abel Santamaría. Furthermore, it was a selective organization. Due to Fidel Castro's guidelines, its members were recruited from among the classes and sectors of the population: workers, employees, peasants, students, the unemployed (eg Ramiro Valdés), and professionals (only 4). Of these, a few had a criminal record for common crimes (theft, drug sales, attempted murder). They were preferably young people related to the Orthodox Party. At the beginning of 1953, the movement had approximately 1,200 members, according to Fidel Castro.
Weapons, uniforms and the necessary resources for the fight could be obtained by the will of the combatants and sympathizers themselves. Lina Ruz, mother of Fidel and Raúl, contributed $116 without knowing her destination, a Cuban senator contributed $500, a young revolutionary contributed $800, Renato Guitart contributed $4,500, Natalia Revuelta Clews, lover of Fidel Castro and mother of his daughter Alina Fernández, gave $5,500, a young man sold his job and contributed $300 "for the cause"; another liquidated the equipment of his photographic studio, with which he earned a living; another one pawned his salary for several months and it was necessary to prohibit him from also getting rid of the furniture from his house; he sold his pharmaceuticals laboratory; that one handed over his savings of more than five years, and thus the cases of self-denial and generosity followed one another. Some of the cars that were used by the revolutionaries had been stolen. Fidel Castro himself went to defend a famous thief who worked for the "cause" in Matanzas, who had been arrested in an attempted robbery, which identifies the movement as an organization in which "it was worth everything" in order to overthrow the Batista dictatorship. Fidel Castro knew that the money raised was not enough to buy all the weapons and devised a scam. He paid with bad checks for part of the weapons bought in armories in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, and after taking the Moncada Garrison, he would ask the banks for money to pay that debt, but that could not be done. Part of that debt was paid by René Guitart, Renato Guitart's father, some time after the attack on Moncada in which his son died. Renato was the one who drew the plan of the Moncada Barracks for the attack, but he had some mistakes, the main one being that he placed the weapons arsenal where the barbershop was located.
With these resources, 160 weapons were acquired, mainly 22 caliber rifles, hunting shotguns and pistols, lodgings were rented in Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo for combatants coming from Havana, and the transfer of some of them was paid for in buses and trains, others traveled in 20 cars. Melba Hernández and Haydeé Santamaría, Abel's sister, participated in transporting the weapons by train to Santiago de Cuba. They were the only women who took part in the attack on the Moncada Barracks. The training and shooting practices were carried out at the University of Havana, the Club de Cazadores del Cerro and different places in the provinces of Havana and Pinar del Río. To ensure the action, a small recreational farm was rented, the “Siboney” farm, located on the outskirts of Santiago de Cuba, with the supposed purpose of dedicating it to raising chickens. The weapons, military uniforms and cars that would be used in the attack were deposited in it, and the combatants would be concentrated there at the opportune moment. When all the revolutionaries were already at Granja Siboney, Fidel explained the plan to attack the Moncada Barracks, and to give confidence to those gathered, he lied to them, telling them that there were military pilots from the Batista army in Camagüey who were going to support the attack on the barracks. in case military aviation attacked them. Some opposed the plan and 12 defected. One of those gathered there, Dr. Mario Muñoz Monroy, argued with the chief for not agreeing with the plan and decided to participate as a doctor in the action and not as a combatant.
July 26 was chosen for the action because it is Carnival Sunday, a festival traditionally attended by people from different parts of the island, so the presence of young people from other provinces would not cause surprise. In addition, it was thought that at the time of the attack the soldiers in the barracks would be asleep, others would be at the carnival, and some would be drunk. For security reasons, residents of Santiago de Cuba were not chosen for the attack on the Moncada Barracks, except Renato Guitart.
The action
In the early morning of July 26, 135 combatants dressed in Batista's army sergeant uniforms (to confuse the soldiers in the barracks) and led by Fidel, specified the plan of attack on the Moncada Barracks at the Siboney farm, which had been rented by Ernesto Tizol, following orders from the leader. They organized themselves into three groups, the first of which, led by Fidel, would attack the fortress. The other two groups, commanded, respectively, by Abel Santamaría —second chief of the movement— and Léster Rodríguez, would try to take two important buildings adjacent to the barracks, from where they would attack it to support the main attack: the Saturnino Lora Civil Hospital and the Palace of Justice, where the Court was located, from whose roof they would support the action. The Santamaría group would try to occupy the hospital, and the Léster group, which included Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother, would seize the Palace of Justice. Fidel Castro had not invited his brother to this action, it was José Luis Tasende, one of the assailants, who had done it, and Fidel was surprised to see his brother at the Siboney farm.
When everyone was ready, the "Moncada Manifesto" was read, written by the young poet Raúl Gómez García under the guidance of Fidel. In it, the attack on Moncada is characterized as the continuation of the historic struggle for the full independence and freedom of the homeland, the revolutionary principles and the objectives of the movement are embodied, and a call is made for the dignity and shame of the Cuban people.. Gómez García read his verses "We are already in combat" and Fidel addressed them this very brief exhortation:
"Compañeros: They will be able to overcome within a few hours or be overcome; but in any case, do good, comrades!, however the movement will triumph. If we win tomorrow, it will be done sooner than what Martí inspired. If the opposite occurs, the gesture will serve as an example to the people of Cuba, to take the flag and move forward. The people will support us in the East and across the island. Young men of the Centennial of the Apostle! As in '68 and '95, here in the East we give the first cry of Freedom or Death! You know the objectives of the plan. No doubt it's dangerous and everyone who comes out with me tonight must do it by his absolute will. They're still in time to decide. Anyway, some will have to stay for lack of weapons. Those who are determined to go, step forward. The slogan is not to kill but to last need.
Around 5:00 a.m. m., the assailants began to leave in 16 cars from Siboney to the Moncada Barracks. The first two cars went to the Civil Hospital and the third car went to the Palace of Justice. Fidel was driving the second car of those going to post 3 of the barracks. A car broke down before reaching Moncada, and 4 revolutionaries were left there. The car in which Ernesto Tizol was traveling allegedly got lost in the city, as did some of the cars behind him that followed him, and they never reached the barracks, so almost a third of the revolutionaries did not participate in the attack. The groups led by Abel (25 members) and Léster (6 members) fulfilled their initial objective: the capture of the Civil Hospital and the Palace of Justice, but the group led by Léster and Raúl was unable to shoot at the barracks from the Palace of Justice. because the wall of the roof of the palace was very high and prevented the attack. The main group with 60-70 combatants (out of 90 originals), led by Fidel Castro, arrived at the barracks (approx. 5:20 a.m.), up to Post 3, disarmed it, but only 5 assailants who were in the The first car was able to enter the barracks barbershop, of which 3 died in combat, and another 2 were arrested and executed. A patrol of 2 soldiers traveling around the barracks, which arrived unexpectedly, caused a premature firefight that alerted the troops and allowed the soldiers from the barracks (250-300 at that time) to quickly mobilize. Surprise, the decisive factor in success, had not been achieved. The fight began outside the barracks and lasted in a short position battle (20 minutes) at post 3. Fidel got out of the car he was driving with a pistol in his hand, and harangued his followers, but there is you doubt if he fired. The fight between the guards and Abel Santamaría's group lasted about an hour. Lester and his group quickly withdrew when they saw the hasty retreat of Fidel and his group. Some revolutionaries initially mistook the Joaquín Castillo Duany Military Hospital and the military houses, which were outside the barracks, as if they were part of it, and attacked them by mistake.
The assailants were at a complete disadvantage against an enemy superior in arms and men, entrenched inside that fortress. Understanding that continuing the fight under these conditions was collective suicide, Fidel ordered a general withdrawal, but he abandoned the place without organizing the withdrawal, leaving his followers to his fate. Castro had not planned any communication system between the groups. The order was not known by Santamaría and his group, who continued firing at the barracks from the Civil Hospital, and were later captured and shot by the army, except for Melba, Haydée and an assailant (Ramón Pez Ferro) who posed as a patient with the hospital. Batista's army had 18 dead and 28 wounded in the Moncada Barracks. The attackers had 9 killed in combat, 11 wounded (4 by friendly fire), and 42 attackers arrested and later executed by the army. There were also 9 civilians killed in Santiago de Cuba.
At the same time that this was happening in Santiago de Cuba, 25 revolutionaries led by Raúl Martínez Ararás had to attack the Bayamo barracks. Three deserted before the action. The attack plan had to be changed because of this. The others traveled in 4 cars and attacked the barracks, the headquarters of Squadron No. 13 of the Rural Guard, at dawn on July 26, an operation that was poorly executed and failed. The barracks had at that time 12 soldiers (8 sleeping). The attack lasted 10-15 minutes, and the revolutionaries withdrew with only one wounded. Batista's army had 1 dead and 2 wounded. Later, 10 assailants were captured and executed by the army.
At first, the soldiers of the Moncada Garrison and the population of Santiago de Cuba believed that the armed action was led by ex-Colonel Eleuterio Pedraza, to carry out a coup against Batista.
Events after the Assault
Immediately after these events, the defenses of the Moncada Barracks were reinforced and the government reacted with brutal repression. Batista decreed the state of siege in Santiago de Cuba and the suspension of constitutional guarantees throughout the national territory; He closed the newspaper "Noticias de Hoy", an organ of the Popular Socialist Party, and applied censorship to the press and radio throughout the country. In this way, he created the conditions to launch the repressive forces with violence and without the risk of publicity against the popular rebellion.
About 48 combatants out of 160 (attackers from the two barracks) were able to escape with the help of the people. Only 9 assailants to the Moncada Garrison had perished in the fighting and none in the attack on the Bayamo Garrison, but the repressive forces of the regime murdered 52 assailants prisoners on the orders of Colonel Chaviano, and later reported them as fallen in combat.[citation needed] Chaviano had ordered that prisoners who had a positive paraffin test, that is, having fired a weapon, be executed (without prior trial). The paraffin test done on Raúl Castro after he was arrested was negative, and Fidel refused to take the test, saying that he had shot. Fidel Castro, Raúl and others were arrested in the days following the attack, tried and sentenced to prison. Fidel Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison, his brother Raúl to 13 and 30 others received sentences from 7 months to 13 years. In total, 99 assailants from the two barracks survived, and 57 of them were prosecuted (19 were acquitted, 32 were sentenced to jail, and 6 accused were fugitives). [citation required]
After the attack on Moncada failed, Fidel Castro and 19 revolutionaries went into the mountains of the Sierra Maestra to avoid being captured by the army, and the chief gave the order to disperse, and he stayed with 7 combatants, and then Castro in an act of desperation tried to shoot himself with his pistol, and the combatant Mario Chanes de Armas prevented it. Then Fidel was left with two of his followers, and on August 1 the three were arrested by Lieutenant Pedro Sarría Tartabull and his troop (15 soldiers) in a hut on the Las Delicias farm, owned by Manuel Leizán, near Santiago de Cuba., when they are caught sleeping. Sarría had orders to protect the life of Fidel Castro and his companions. The soldiers under the command of Sarría wanted to kill Fidel on the spot, but Sarría opposed it and took him under arrest to the Bivouac in Santiago de Cuba. The Catholic archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Enrique Pérez Serantes, gave assurances that all the captured attackers would be spared, on Batista's orders. Batista and Fidel Castro had known each other personally since 1951, when Fidel and his brother-in-law Rafael had visited Batista at his Kuquine farm in Havana. The now dictator had given a wedding present to Fidel and Mirta, his first wife, for his marriage in 1948. The Díaz-Balart family, to which Mirta belonged, was a friend of Batista. Fidel's father-in-law (Rafael José Diaz-Balart) was Minister of Communications (1952-1954) and his brother-in-law (Rafael Díaz-Balart) was Undersecretary of the Interior (1952-1954) in the Batista government. Army Lieutenant Jesús Yánez Pelletier did not comply with an order to poison Fidel Castro's food, while he was imprisoned in the Boniato prison, in Oriente province, before going to the Modelo Prison. In the trial held in 1953 for the attack on the Moncada Barracks and the Bayamo Barracks, 122 people were accused, of whom 65 were civilians (15 absent) who had no relation to this event, for example: Carlos Prío Socarrás (president overthrown by Batista in 1952), Blas Roca, Juan Marinello, Aureliano Sánchez Arango, Lázaro Peña, José Pardo Llada, Joaquín Ordoqui, Emilio “Millo” Ochoa, Juan Manuel Márquez and others, who were acquitted.
The trial for the attacks on the barracks (Case 37 of 1953) was held in Santiago de Cuba from September 21 to October 6, 1953 (11 sessions). Before the court, Fidel Castro would denounce:
It was not killed for a minute, an hour or an entire day, but in a full week, the beatings, the tortures, the launches of the roof and the shootings did not stop an instant as an instrument of extermination handled by perfect craftsmen of the crime. The Moncada barracks became a torture and death workshop, and unworthy men turned the military uniform into butcher aprons."
The crimes committed in those days by the regime were denounced by Fidel Castro in his self-defense plea History Will Absolve Me, but with some errors. Batista did not order the killing of the prisoners after the attack on the barracks, the order was given by Colonel Chaviano, military chief of the Moncada Barracks and Oriente province, in his personal capacity. The forensic doctors and funeral services that attended to the bodies of the revolutionaries who had participated in the attack on the Moncada Garrison found no traces of torture, as Fidel Castro stated. The phrase "history will absolve me" it was never pronounced at Fidel's trial in 1953. He said there: "history will definitely tell everything." Actually, "History Will Absolve Me" it was written by Fidel Castro while he was in prison, as his argument in his trial for the assault on the barracks, but he added phrases that were not pronounced in his actual argument before the court, as recorded in the minutes of the trial and in later testimonies of the judges.
Fidel, Raúl, Juan Almeida, Ramiro Valdés, Mario Chanes de Armas, Gustavo Arcos, Pedro Miret and 23 other combatants sentenced to prison were held in the Model Prison on the Isle of Pines (today Isla de la Juventud). Melba and Haydée were sentenced to 7 months in jail at the Guanajay National Women's Prison. In 1955, after 22 months in prison, all the jailed assailants were amnestied by Batista, who tried to give a good image of his government in the face of popular demands for an amnesty. The attack on the Moncada Barracks and the Bayamo Barracks was a military defeat for the revolutionaries, but it was a political victory, which made the existence of Fidel Castro and his group known to the Cuban people. During their stay at the Modelo Prison, the assailants were separated from common prisoners, enjoyed good prison conditions, and did not have to wear prison uniforms or do any work as punishment. Fidel Castro had in his cell many books requested by him, a small kitchen where he prepared coffee and some dishes of his choice, he received daily food prepared at the home of a friendly family outside the prison, he received letters, shipments and visits from his relatives and friends. In the prison they had access to the radio. On one occasion Fidel Castro sent a letter from prison to his wife Mirta and another to a lover, and for some reason the letters changed their destination.
The Moncada Barracks today
After the triumph of the revolution, Moncada was converted into a school city that took the name of "Ciudad Escolar 26 de Julio" and a space of it was dedicated to a museum on the facts related to the assault.
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