Movement of July 26th

The Movement of July 26th or M-26 was created at the summer 1953 by Fidel Castro to gather the survivors at the conclusion of the failure strapping of the attack of the barracks of Moncada with Santiago of Cuba on July 26th 1953.

This attack directed by Fidel Castro, old then 26 years, had been conducted by 123 young people resulting mainly from youths of the orthodoxe party, in act of resistance against the mode of Fulgencio Batista. This one, cuban historical character having made it possible the country to find the way of a democracy hustled by the economic and social serious attack of the beginning of the year 1930, had seized in the general indifference the power by a military putsch on March 10th, 1952 with the right in the middle of the countryside of the cuban presidential elections, putting suspends the executive democracy of it, but leaving the Parliament and cuban justice to work as for their other responsibilities. The barracks of Moncada, which counts 400 soldiers then, is the principal fortified town of the area of Santiago of Cuba, capital of the province Oriente, the far-is cuban, where the farms benefit often illicit from the multitude of the Haitian immigrants who, coming from a poor country, are satisfied with weak wages and are not in situation to complain about the work conditions or the contractual violations.

The attack of the barracks of Moncada is a bloody failure. The attacker benefit from one night of carnival to launch their attack. The effect of surprise is partly wasted by the presence of two guards at an unexpected place and, according to certain sources, by the apparent awkwardness of Fidel Castro at the wheel of one of the quinzes cars attackers. The effect of surprise had made it possible to the attackers to kill some guards and to make irruption in dormitories. In front of against attack, of the attackers panic. On the whole 22 soldiers will be killed, the majority of them massacred in pyjamas. In front of the massacre as of their, the soldiers show themselves in return of a brutality without pity and kill out of the attackers, questioning or sometimes killing with blow of stick those which go. The survivors flee or will be judged. On the whole half of the attackers found death.

Fidel Castro is stopped on August 1st then, profiting from the intercession of Monseigneur Enrique Pérez Serantes friendly of his/her father Angel Castro, it will be condemned only to one sorrow 15 years of prison. It will be amnestied and exiled in 1955, not carrying out like 18 months of prison.

After this bloody failure, Fidel Castro seeks to find a leadership among the democratic revolutionists and it creates the Movement of July 26th which will gather the majority of the survivors.

M-26 will be one of principal the hearth of anti-Batista guerillas. It is divided into urban M-26 and M-26 Sierra.

urban M-26 was placed under the orders of Frank País, chief loved and recognized, assassinated in July 1957. The guerilla of ground of urban M-26 was decisive in the collapse of the mode of Batista. Urban M-26 undergoes heavy losses, being able to reach a strong proportion of its manpower according to the cities. Urban M-26 fed M-26 Sierra out of equipment, food and also in new recruits.
M-26 Sierra internationally was médiatisé and placed under the direct orders of Fidel Castro. At the time of the unloading in Cuba coming from Mexico on board the Gramma, half of some members are killed out of it, and other half manages to reach the Sierra. M-26 Sierra will grow bigger gradually, in particular because of the recruits sent by urban M-26. When the mode of Fulgencio Batista, mined by the urban guerilla warfares was about to crumble, M-26 Sierra went down in the plain and took share with the engagements, joined by many improvised combatants, obtaining spectacular victories vis-a-vis a demoralized army from which the soldiers deserted in mass. Among the members of M-26 sierra: Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Huber Matos, Camilo Cienfuegos.

At the last days of December 1958 M-26 takes under the control of Fidel Castro the orders of Cuba in collaboration with other anti-Batista revolutionary mobilities.

Since the putsch of 1952, the probably political guerillas, assassinations and repression will have made, all confused rows, about 1.500 dead. At the time, taken by revolutionary enthusiasm certain media the such Bohemia periodical directed by Migel Angel Quevedo will propagate not checked information and will wrongly titrate 20.000 dead!

During the period of guerilla, Fidel Castro promotes in a privileged way the Communist militants or their political friends. One of them names Che Guevara which will form in hiding-place in its column of young illiterate recruits to the reading on works Marxist-Leninists, preparing the endoctrination Marxist-Leninist of the revolutionary army which will take place as of the catch to be able at the first days of 1959.

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History of Cuba

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Movement of July 26th

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