Anti-Batista movement grows. Castro forces battle army (26 lugl 1953 anni – 1 gen 1959 anni)

Descrizione:

Near the end of 1955, anti-Batista demonstrations and student rioting were frequent. The military police dealt with the opposition violently. Batista shut down the University of Havana after continued student opposition to the government. At least one student leader was killed by police.

Batista again suspended constitutional rights and put tighter censorship restrictions on what the media could report. The military police patrolled streets, picking up anyone suspected of being part of the insurrection. By the end of 1955, brutality and torture had become more frequent.

In 1956, Castro and his supporters set up camp in the Sierra Maestra mountains. Castro's guerrilla army raided isolated army garrisons in order to build up their stock of weapons and ammunition. They also took control of land and redistributed it among the farmers, in an early preview of what would become the post-revolution 1959 agrarian reform. In return, the farmers helped Castro's guerrillas against Batista's army; and some of them, as well as students, joined Castro's movement. [12] Batista responded by sending more than 10,000 troops to the Sierra Maestra to find Castro and his guerrillas. Despite being outnumbered, Castro's forces scored a series of victories, aided by the corruption of Batista's leading army officers and large numbers of desertions.

During this period, the U.S. broke off relations with Batista, stating that a peaceful transition to a new government was necessary. The U.S. imposed an embargo preventing Batista from acquiring American arms. U.S. companies still had extensive business interests in Cuba at this time, and the unrest was damaging to these businesses.

Against this backdrop of a growing civil war, Batista, constitutionally prohibited from continuing as president, organized an election in which his preferred candidate Carlos Rivero Aguero defeated former president Grau. The situation, however, had deteriorated beyond repair. On December 31, 1958, New Year's Eve, Batista fled by air to the Dominican Republic in the night with a number of his associates, taking with them sums of cash and valuables; and on January 1, 1959, the regime collapsed after Batista's departure. Castro's forces entered Havana one week later on January 8, 1959.

Aggiunto al nastro di tempo:

Data:

Immagini: