{"id":2514,"date":"2020-08-01T20:40:01","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T20:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2020-08-01T20:40:04","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T20:40:04","slug":"moncadas-significance-in-cuban-revolutionary-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/moncadas-significance-in-cuban-revolutionary-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Moncada\u2019s Significance in Cuban Revolutionary History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Ramona Wadi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The ashes of former Cuban President Fidel Castro are driven past the Moncada Army Barracks, where Castro led a failed assault in 1953 that sparked the movement that eventually toppled the U.S.-backed government of dictator Fulgencio Batista, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, December 3, 2016. REUTERS\/Ivan Alvarado – HT1ECC31K6M7P<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Batista\u2019s coup took place in 1952, I\u2019d already formulated a plan for the future. I decided to launch a revolutionary programme and organise a popular uprising. From that moment on, I had a clear idea of the struggle ahead and of the fundamental revolutionary ideas behind it, the ideas that are in History Will Absolve Me<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just one year later, Fidel Castro would lead<\/a> the attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba on July 26, 1953. It was a failed military attempt and 70 comrades taking part in the action were kidnapped, tortured and murdered, yet the action would mobilise Cubans against the tyranny of the right-wing, U.S.-backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Faced with a choice \u2013 to surrender or retreat to the mountains to continue planning the revolution \u2013 Fidel chose the latter. However, Batista\u2019s patrols caught up with the revolutionary group. Fidel and his comrades were taken prisoners; Fidel\u2019s life spared by the intervention of Lieutenant Pedro Sarria who warned the soldiers, \u201cYou can\u2019t kill ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The importance of Moncada has been illustrated several times by Fidel in his commemorative speeches. In 1960, Fidel described Moncada thus: \u201cAnd so, that 26 of July was just a minute for U.S., when the fight seemed to end, when the effort to be in the battle for the liberation of our people seemed to end, it was not the end, but the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is through Fidel\u2019s prison letters written from the Isles of Pines, as well as through his defence speech, History Will Absolve Me<\/em>, that the significance of Moncada and the revolutionary intent are placed at the helm. Of the crimes committed by Batista\u2019s soldiers, Fidel wrote, \u201cHistory has not seen a similar massacre, neither in the colony nor in the Republic.\u201d The first<\/a> revolutionary victim was Dr Mario Mu\u00f1oz, who was killed by a shot to the head from the back, despite being unarmed and just carrying medical supplies in his bag, while also wearing medical attire. Abel Santamar\u00eda<\/a>, one of the Moncada revolutionaries, was brutally tortured. His eyes were gouged out by Batista\u2019s soldiers and presented to his sister, Haydee Santamar\u00eda, who was also arrested for participating in the attack. The brutality was not so much as deterrent as revenge by the Batista dictatorship, which ordered the killing of ten revolutionaries for every soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his defence speech, Fidel emphasised colonial liberation. Batista\u2019s dictatorship thrived on terror; the Cuban Revolution planned for revolutionary education. The Moncada Barracks attack, therefore, in inscribed within the Cuban historical narrative as the launch of the Cuban Revolution. It is a collective revolutionary consciousness which continues to recognise the memory of Moncada as the first step in an ongoing revolutionary process, as Fidel meant it to be. For Fidel, the subsequent revolutionary triumph on January 1, 1959 also marked the beginning of a process in which an educated society would participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar sentiments were\u00a0expressed<\/a>\u00a0by Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel on this year\u2019s commemoration of Moncada. July 26 is not just an annual commemoration but a reflection of revolutionary commitment. At present, and with U.S. hostility and diplomatic aggression against Cuba becoming more prominent, Moncada regenerates its significance in terms of the revolutionary process. The current Cuban commitment to internationalism as seen throughout the coronavirus pandemic may be far removed from Moncada in terms of action. Yet it is precisely what Fidel determined the revolution would be. The Cuban revolution created the space for education and internationalism to thrive. From changing Cuba to being an inspiration in Latin America and beyond, remembering the first visible revolutionary action by Fidel and his comrades must transcend the historical confines, in order to emulate the lasting vision determined prior to Moncada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

source: Strategic-Culture<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ramona Wadi \u201cWhen Batista\u2019s coup took place in 1952, I\u2019d already formulated a plan for the future. I decided to launch a revolutionary programme […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-history"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5920,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/martis-relevance-to-the-cuban-revolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":0},"title":"Marti\u2019s Relevance to the Cuban Revolution","author":"Editorial Team","date":"February 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Marti was an important prelude to Cuba\u2019s ongoing tenacity to define its liberation according to revolutionary values, as opposed to colonial and imperial impositions. 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