The Cuban Revolution

Over sixty years ago, Cuba went through one of the most defining chapters of its history: the Cuban Revolution. In Old Havana, and even more so here in El Vedado, those two words still echo with stories and memories. For anyone unfamiliar with its beginnings, here’s how it unfolded. After gaining independence from Spain in 1902, the island faced another dramatic turn. In March 1952, former president and army officer Fulgencio Batista seized power through a military coup, installing a repressive dictatorship. Backed by the United States, who saw him as a protector of their interests, Batista’s rule quickly stirred resistance. The first major action came in 1953, when Fidel Castro and his followers launched an attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Poorly armed and unprepared, the rebels failed—many were killed, and Castro himself was imprisoned. Granted amnesty in 1955, he went into exile in Mexico, where he gathered new allies. On December 2nd, 1956, Castro returned to Cuba aboard the yacht Granma, accompanied by 81 men, including a young Argentine named Ernesto “Che” Guevara. The landing was a disaster, with most of the group killed, but a handful of survivors managed to retreat into the Sierra Maestra mountains. From there, the guerrilla movement began. After years of fighting, Batista fled the country on January 1st, 1959, and the revolutionaries took control. From that moment, Cuba changed course: the United States broke ties, and in 1962 imposed the economic embargo that still exists today. Instead, the island aligned itself with the Soviet Union, forging a political and economic partnership that lasted until the USSR collapsed in 1991. That collapse left Cuba in the so-called Special Period, the harshest economic crisis in its history.