CUBAN REVOLUTION: CAUSES, DEVELOPMENT, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The Cuban Revolution was an armed uprising that sought to overthrow the dictatorial government headed by Fulgencio Batista. The main revolutionary leader was Fidel Castro, who would become the country's top president after the triumph of his movement in 1950. Along with him, names such as Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos stood out.

Cuba, since its independence, had suffered considerable political instability. Between the internal coups d'état and the United States' attempt to control the island's economy, there had been few moments in which the situation had been calm.

Fidel Castro signs as Prime Minister of Cuba - Source: Cuba: Paths of the Revolution - Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industries free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

On March 10, 1952, Batista staged a coup that brought him to power. His government, despite the fact that the macroeconomic figures were not bad, was distinguished by corruption, political repression and the great social and economic inequality among its citizens. Faced with this, a group of young guerrillas took up arms in 1953.

Despite the failure of this first attempt, just three years later the uprising was reproduced. On this occasion, the revolutionaries managed to mobilize a large part of the population. On January 1, 1959, they entered the capital, Havana, after Batista fled the country.

Although, at first, the new leaders and the United States maintained relations, they did not take long to confront each other. Finally, Castro implanted a communist system, entering the orbit of the Soviet Union.

Background

Although the Cuban revolution ended up implanting a communist system, in the beginning Fidel Castro always claimed the inheritance of José Martí. He had fought for the independence of Cuba, which, at the end of the 19th century, still belonged to Spain.

Martí was the founder of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and promoted the so-called “Necessary War”, a conflict that began in 1885 and that pursued the country's independence.

Three years later, the Spanish troops were very weakened before the push of the rebels. The final blow to the Spanish came in 1898, when the United States declared war on him after the controversial Maine explosion. Cuba, that same year, achieved its independence.

Platt Amendment

Martí himself, who had died in combat in 1895, had expressed his distrust of the United States, since he thought that he would try to control power on the island.

After independence, their fears became reality. The Americans passed the Platt Amendment, which established that the United States assumed the right to intervene on the island when it deemed it necessary.

In addition, they established a military base, still existing, in Guantánamo and began to create networks with companies to control the economy.

Fulgencio Batista

Fulgencio Batista participated in the fight to overthrow Gerardo Machado, in 1933, who had established an authoritarian government after coming to power democratically in 1925. After overthrowing Machado, he established a Pentarquía, with himself as a strong man.

The Pentarquía was replaced by the Triumvirate of the Government of the Hundred Days, highlighting the name of Ramón Grau San Martín. This began to develop a policy with socialist overtones and was overthrown by a military coup led by Batista himself, who received support from the United States.

At that time, Batista preferred not to hold the presidency, which happened to be held by Carlos Mendieta.

In 1940, Batista decided to stand for election, leading a populist candidacy. After winning the votes, a very advanced Constitution was promulgated and, in addition, the country took advantage of the so-called Good Neighbor policy established by Roosevelt.

When the presidential term ended, he went to the United States. There he remained until he returned to the island to, in theory, participate in the 1952 elections.

Batista coup

When Batista realized his slim chances of winning the elections, he carried out a coup. This took place on March 10, 1952 and met little resistance. His first measure was to suspend the Constitution and establish a military dictatorship.

In 1954, Batista called and won an election classified as fraudulent by historians. His government was characterized by a high degree of corruption, in addition to the great existing inequality. A small oligarchy obtained all the advantages, obtaining great economic gains.

Opposition groups soon appeared that opted for armed struggle to try to overthrow the dictator. The situation was such that even the United States condemned part of the repression that the Batista government unleashed between 1952 and 1954.

Assault on the Moncada Barracks

One of the opposition groups that appeared after the coup came from the Cuban People's Party, which would have won the elections had it not been for Batista's action. Some young people from the party chose to take up arms to try to end the regime.

The name chosen by these young people was Generación del Centenario, as a tribute to José Martí, whose death marked 100 years in 1953. Their leader was a young lawyer, Fidel Castro.

The main armed action of this group was the assault on the Moncada Barracks, located in Santiago de Cuba. On July 26, 1953, they attacked this barracks, although without achieving the purpose of taking control of it.

The government's reaction was very harsh. Castro, along with several of his colleagues, was arrested and sentenced to several years in prison.

Warfare

Castro only served 22 months in jail. The Batista regime received great international pressure to release it and, in the interior of the country, several rebellions took place. Given this, Castro was amnestied in 1955.

However, the revolutionary leader was not willing to stop the fight against Batista. Thus, he founded the July 26 Movement, a clandestine organization to overthrow the dictator. His ideology was based on the ideas of Martí, which included high doses of progressivism and anti-imperialism.

Causes

Cuba before the revolution had almost all its economic sectors, mainly sugar and tourism, in the hands of US interests. To defend these interests, the United States supported the Batista government, whose policies favored the situation.

This meant that the macroeconomic figures were not negative, although at the cost of increasing inequality. Large segments of the population, especially in rural areas, suffered from high unemployment and poverty.

Dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista

When Batista carried out the coup, he proceeded to establish a dictatorial military government. Despite the fact that he called an election to try to legitimize his position, the fraud was very evident.

To try to end the opposition, Batista did not hesitate to repress all the movements that he considered could be harmful to him. Along with this, he limited press freedom as much as possible, benefiting the media groups that were in his favor.

Corruption

During the Batista dictatorship, corruption became one of the island's great problems. Not only did it affect the government, but it spread to other sectors. It was used, for example, to favor big businessmen, often American.

Batista himself amassed a great fortune thanks to corrupt practices. According to estimates, the moment he fled Cuba, when the revolution triumphed, he took almost $ 100 million with him. To this figure must be added the one stolen by many officials of his government who accompanied him in his flight.

US dependency

Although during the first two years of Batista's dictatorship, voices arose in the United States government that condemned his excesses, they later gave him unconditional support.

In the middle of the Cold War, the United States feared that a leftist government would emerge in Cuba that would align itself with the Soviet Union.

In addition, most of the island's wealth was in the hands of American businessmen, so they chose to defend economic interests despite Batista's actions against human rights.

On the other hand, the American mafia had landed in Havana to the point of controlling a good part of the entertainment industry. From casinos to prostitution they were in the hands of mafia families from the USA.

Economic crisis

As has been noted, many historians consider that the Cuban economy at the time had two different faces. On the one hand, the macroeconomy, which was showing good results. On the other, the economy at street level, with very high levels of inequality and poverty.

In this way, the lower classes and the peasants suffered the consequences of the economic system developed by Batista. Sugar, one of the island's most important sources of income, was in the hands of Americans, who had established very harmful working conditions for workers.

The number of unemployed was growing steadily, and by 1958, there were an estimated 10,000 prostitutes on the island.

Social inequality

Within the existing inequality in Cuba, the one between the cities and the countryside stood out. Fidel Castro himself had exposed the problem in his manifesto "History will absolve me."

Some data that demonstrate this inequality are, for example, infant mortality rates (double in rural areas compared to urban ones) or illiteracy (40% in the countryside and 11% in cities). All this was aggravated by the great difference in income between the two areas.

Development

After being released from prison, Castro had traveled to Mexico. There, he organized a guerrilla organization to return to Cuba and fight Batista.

On board the yacht Granma, Castro and a group of 82 men left Veracruz on November 25, 1956. Among the components of that first group were, apart from Castro, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos and Fausto Obdulio Gonzalez.

The vessel reached the eastern part of Cuba after seven days of navigation. According to the plan drawn up by the revolutionaries, this meant a two-day delay, which prevented the uprising scheduled for November 30 in Santiago de Cuba.

First defeat

The purpose of this uprising, which was being organized in Santiago, was to cover the arrival of Castro and his family. When it did not occur, the guerrillas were persecuted since their landing. In Alegría de Pío they suffered the attack of the army, which defeated them without problems.

In the end, only 20 were able to establish themselves in Sierra Maestra, an area in which they were able to become strong thanks to the fact that it was a terrain with difficult access for government forces.

Sierra Maestra

Already in Sierra Maestra, the group of surviving guerrillas set up a camp that would serve as their base of operations. One of his first measures was to start broadcasting his proclamations on the radio, with the intention of attracting more supporters of the revolution.

Likewise, Ernesto Guevara organized a system in the mountains that allowed them to produce food such as bread and meat. He even built a press to edit all the manifestos that were distributed in nearby towns.

Among the documents that the revolutionaries produced during that first year, the so-called Sierra Maestra Manifesto stands out. Its editors were Fidel Castro, Felipe Pazos and Raúl Chibás and it was signed on July 12, 1957.

In this manifesto, the guerrillas explained what their ideas and objectives were, beginning by overthrowing the Batista government.

Popular support and revolutionary actions

The propaganda action of the revolutionaries took effect and they won the support of large sectors of the population, especially among the workers and peasants. These were the ones who suffered the most from the negative effects of Batista's policies.

In the following weeks, the number of guerrillas multiplied. This caused the government to start running into many problems keeping them under control.

Among the events that weakened the government is the uprising at the Cienfuegos naval base on September 5, 1957. The rebels had the help of the July 26 Movement, the one founded by Castro. Batista's response was to bomb the base, causing numerous casualties.

On the other hand, Castro's guerrilla began to spread throughout the Cuban territory. Soon, sabotage and protests took place in the most important towns.

Apart from these guerrilla actions, at the beginning of 1958, the rebels won several clashes in the east of the island. This allowed them to expand the area they controlled to exceed the limits of the Sierra Maestra.

Arms embargo

A decision by the United States government made Batista's situation worse. Forced by public opinion, the US authorities accused the Cuban dictator of violating the Mutual Military Assistance Agreement and decreed an arms embargo. It came into force on March 26, 1958.

Although the embargo was not complete, Batista had to go to other countries to get the weapons, such as the United Kingdom, Israel or the Dominican Republic.

Regime weakness

Despite the difficulties he was going through, Batista tried to put an end to the guerrillas by launching a general offensive on May 6, 1958. The government troops entered the Sierra Maestra and, at first, managed to push back the revolutionaries.

However, the guerrillas managed to reorganize and expel the army from the area. After this, they took the opportunity to launch a new offensive to expand their territory.

The weakness of the regime became more evident when, on August 7, Batista had to give the order to withdraw from the entire Sierra Maestra. At that moment, Castro made the decision to expand the fighting throughout the island.

Santa Clara

The first step in bringing the war to all of Cuban territory was to send Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos to the center of the island. The ultimate goal of this movement was Santa Clara, which the revolutionaries considered the key to reaching Havana.

The Castro brothers, for their part, stayed in the East. From there they planned to launch an offensive to take Santiago de Cuba.

The march of Che and Cienfuegos towards the assigned area began on August 31, 1958. Given the difficult terrain, it took them six weeks to reach Escambray, a mountainous area.

During the following two months, the guerrillas of the July 26 Movement coordinated with other insurgent groups in the area to organize the final battle that was to lead them to take Santa Clara.

Batista, meanwhile, desperately called for new elections. No political party wanted to participate in them. Given this, at the end of November, he tried to attack the revolutionaries settled in Escambray, although without success.

The men led by Che and Cienfuegos went on the attack on December 4. Little by little, they managed to seize all the land that separated them from Santa Clara, until, finally, they conquered it on December 29.

Havana

Once the forces of Guevara and Cienfuegos controlled the city, Castro ordered them to head towards Havana. Batista, when he received this news, decided to flee the capital and go into exile in Santo Domingo on December 31.

The government of the country was then left with no one at the helm, with General Eulogio Cantillo being the position with the greatest authority that remained in Havana. The military man met with Fidel Castro and later organized a Military Junta headed by Orlando Piedra.

This initiative lasted only a few hours and Cantillo again tried to found a new Military Junta. On this occasion, he placed Colonel Ramón Barquín in charge, who had been imprisoned in Isla de Pinos for conspiring against Batista.

However, Castro and the revolutionaries did not accept this solution. His reaction was to call a general strike, with the slogan "Revolution Yes, coup, NO".

Finally, Castro gave the order to Guevara and Cienfuegos to continue their march towards Havana and not to stop until they took the capital.

Triumph of the Revolution

The first revolutionaries who entered Havana did so on January 1, 1959, still at dawn. It was a squad of the National Front of Escambray, under the command of Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo, which succeeded.

Che Guevara and Cienfuegos did so the next day, easily occupying the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress and the Campo Columbia camp. In a few hours, the capital was in the hands of the guerrilla forces.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Castro and his troops took Santiago de Cuba. From there, they proclaimed Manuel Urrutia Lleó as provisional president of the country. The United States, in that first moment, recognized the new Cuban government.

It was not until January 8 that Fidel Castro arrived in Havana. Eight days later, he became Prime Minister.

Consequences

Historians point to January 1, 1959 as the date of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. From that day on, the island was ruled by the revolutionaries, although the final distribution of power would still take a few weeks.

Very soon, the new government began to take social measures. Among them, an agrarian reform and the nationalization of companies in the hands of the United States.

Transitional government

As has been pointed out, the revolutionaries formed, as soon as they defeated Batista, a provisional government. This was composed of personalities of various political tendencies, so friction between them soon began.

The main positions went to Manuel Urrutia Lleó, president, and José Miró Cardona, Prime Minister. Fidel Castro, those first days, assumed the post of Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

On January 16, the first reshuffle took place: Castro became Prime Minister and Osvaldo Dorticós president.

Revolutionary trials

One of the first controversies caused by the revolutionary government was the trials and executions that took place in the first months of the mandate.

According to some sources, many former Batista supporters, about a thousand in the first two months, were subjected to very summary trials. Of these, half were shot. The person in charge of carrying out these trials was Che Guevara, who always defended the legality and necessity of the processes.

Expropriations and nationalizations

Passing an agrarian reform law had been one of the strongest promises of the revolutionaries. Once in power, Castro fulfilled his promise and gave the green light to the law on May 17, 1959.

The effects of this law were materialized in the expropriation and nationalization of large amounts of land and assets that had belonged to the upper class and to US businessmen.

The government, as the approved legislation stated, offered the corresponding compensation to those affected, although the Americans did not want to accept them.

While the more moderate members of the government were being replaced, part of the country's upper class, which had controlled the sugar industry, decided to go into exile to the United States. Along with them, many of the officials who had worked with Batista also left, taking large amounts of public money with them.

On the other hand, the new government undertook a repressive policy towards the mafia gangs settled on the island. Millions of dollars in cash were seized during the arrests that took place.

No choices

Despite the fact that the revolutionaries, in the Sierra Maestra Manifesto, had promised to call elections within 18 months of their triumph, they never took place.

The excuse presented by Castro was that all previous governments had been corrupt and had only looked out for the interests of the United States, rather than for the Cuban people. For this reason, they argued that it took more time to change the structures created over decades.

The first elections that were held after the triumph of the revolution took place in 1974. Most experts and human rights organizations consider that the conditions under which the elections are held make them fraudulent and unrepresentative.

Opposition within the revolutionaries

Almost from the very triumph of the revolution, discrepancies appeared about how Castro and his supporters were proceeding. One of those who first spoke out against it was Huber Matos, in July 1959.

Matos had come to occupy the position of commander within the July 26 Movement and, after taking power, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture. From that position, he had been one of the ideologues of the Agrarian Reform Law.

However, nothing more was promulgated that law, he resigned from his post and denounced the growing presence of communists in the governing bodies. Matos, who had previously demonstrated his anti-communism, received help from the United States, which supplied him with weapons and explosives.

Precisely, he was arrested when he tried to introduce military material from the United States on the island. Finally, he was tried and shot in 1961.

Invasion attempt

The triumph of the revolution, even before it ended up aligning itself with the Soviet Union, generated concern in other countries in the region, fearful that the example would spread.

The first attempted invasion of the island occurred in August 1959 and was promoted by the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, with US support. The operation, carried out by the Anticommunist Legion of the Caribbean, culminated in a great failure.

For its part, the CIA began a plan to finance and aid some anti-Castro groups that had formed in the Sierra de Escambray. However, most of them ended up being defeated by the popular militias, made up of workers and peasants, in the area.

Implementation of socialism

There are various theories about how the Cuban revolution ended up promoting a socialist system in the country. At first, various sensitivities coexisted within the guerrilla. Thus, Che Guevara had always proclaimed his adherence to Marxism and found an ally in Raúl Castro, Fidel's brother.

For his part, Fidel's career had not been marked by socialist ideas. Before the revolution, he was considered a more nationalist politician, a follower of Martí, than a socialist, being described as pragmatic by many of his colleagues.

Fidel had been a member of the Orthodox Party and had participated in various student movements in Havana.

Many experts believe that it was the growing tensions with the United States that pushed Fidel into the Soviet orbit. The turning point was the visit to Havana of Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, in 1960.

After this visit, Castro denounced at the UN the maneuvers against him that the United States was carrying out. The following year, 1961, both countries broke diplomatic relations.

Bay of Pigs

One of the events that most contributed to worsening relations between Cuba and the United States was the attempted invasion of the Bay of Pigs (or Girón Beach). This occurred in April 1961, when a group of Cuban exiles, financed by the US, tried to take power on the island.

The Castro government managed to defeat the nearly 1,500 men who landed at the Bay of Pigs. After the attack, Fidel Castro officially declared Cuba as a socialist country within the Soviet orbit.

From that moment on, the USSR began to send economic aid to the island. The Cuban government, for its part, began to develop markedly socialist policies. Some, such as in the field of education or health, were well received. Others, such as the lack of freedom of the press or the failed economic measures, provoked rejection.

United States embargo

The reaction of the United States was the establishment of an economic and commercial blockade. This embargo began in February 1962 and also affected third countries that wanted to negotiate with Cuba.

During the following decades, various US presidents tightened the terms of the embargo. Recently, President Barack Obama tried to normalize relations between the two countries somewhat, although his successor, Donald Trump, has declared himself in favor of canceling Obama's reforms in this regard.

Missile crisis

The relationship between the United States and Cuba was framed for several decades by the international situation. The Cold War, which divided the planet between the capitalist countries, led by the USA, and the communists, led by the USSR, was a scene of tension that was on the verge of provoking a world war.

In fact, Cuba was the protagonist of one of the greatest moments of tension of that Cold War. The so-called Missile Crisis, in October 1962, began when the Americans discovered the Soviet plans to install nuclear missiles on Cuban soil.

Kennedy, the US president, determined a blockade of any Soviet ship that wanted to approach Cuba. Khrushchev, for his part, announced that his ships would not stop.

The secret negotiations between the two leaders finally prevented an open conflict from breaking out. The USSR gave up installing its missiles on the island and, in return, the US promised not to attack Cuba and withdrew its missiles from Turkey.

Fall of the USSR

The fall of the USSR and the rest of the Eastern bloc, in 1991, substantially affected the Cuban regime. The country lost its main ally, as well as the economic aid it received. This, together with the maintenance of the embargo, caused a great economic crisis on the island.

In a few months, Cuba's GDP fell by 36% and the lack of fuel affected its industry and transportation. Despite this, Castro managed to stay in power, without any strong opposition movement appearing on the island.

Main characters

The main protagonist of the Cuban Revolution was, without a doubt, Fidel Castro. Not only during the confrontation with Batista, but also during the almost five decades in which he was in power.

Other characters who played an important role were Che Guevara, Raúl Castro or Camilo Cienfuegos.

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro was born in 1927 in Birán, a small town east of the island of Cuba. From a Spanish father, he inherited the family sugar business. This allowed him to see firsthand how Batista was handing over the industry to the Americans.

Castro studied law in Havana, where he participated in various student movements. After this, he tried to confront the Batista regime in court, filing a complaint for violating the Constitution. The failure of this initiative made him opt for arms to overthrow the dictator.

The attempt to take over the Moncada barracks ended with Castro being arrested and sentenced to several years in prison. However, he received an amnesty and left for Mexico. There, he organized a group with which to return to the island to defeat Batista.

His return to Cuba took place in 1956. Together with 82 companions, he began an offensive against the government, managing to push back the army until, in January 1959, they managed to enter Havana.

With the triumph of the revolution, Fidel Castro became the highest authority in the country. His social measures were accompanied by the elimination of individual rights, turning his regime into a dictatorship.

Fidel Castro remained president of the Cuban government until February 2008, adding 49 years in office. In 2016, when he was 90 years old, he passed away in Havana.

Ernesto Che Guevara

Ernesto Guevara, Che, came to the world in the Argentine city of Rosario, in 1928. Upper middle class, he graduated in medicine. In the early 1950s, he undertook a series of trips through his native Argentina and other Latin American countries. In these journeys he saw first-hand the poverty in which many workers in the region lived.

On one of these trips, Guevara came into contact with Fidel Castro, joining the group he was organizing to overthrow Batista. He soon became one of Castro's lieutenants, assuming more and more command responsibility in the revolution.

After defeating Batista, Che stayed a few more years in Cuba. At first, he acted as ambassador of the revolution in other countries, forming part, for example, of the commission that negotiated some commercial treaties with the Soviets.

Until 1963, he held several important positions within the Castro government. He was, among other things, Minister of Industry and a member of the country's delegation to the UN. However, in 1965, relations between Guevara and Fidel began to deteriorate, reaching a break after their stay in the Congo.

Che, in favor of extending the revolutionary armed struggle throughout the planet, did not stop his political activity. Finally, he was captured in Bolivia, in 1967, by a squad under US command.

Ernesto Guevara was executed, without prior trial, in October of that year.

Camilo Cienfuegos

Despite not being as well known as other participants in the Cuban Revolution, Camilo Cienfuegos was considered one of its most important figures. Born in Havana in 1932, he belonged to a humble family, which did not prevent him from making a name for himself in the first university revolts against Batista.

After several years of political activity in his city, he had to leave for the United States. From there, he went to Mexico, where he made contact with Fidel Castro's group that was preparing to leave for the island.

Although it did not have military training, Cienfuegos became essential within the guerrilla. Thanks to his character, he received the nickname "The People's Commander."

Camilo Cienfuegos died a few months after the triumph of the Revolution. The official version was that he had been killed in a plane crash caused by bad weather. Despite the search for his remains, they could never be found.

The fact that no calls for help were received prior to the accident has led to numerous versions that blame Castro or Che for his death, although no real evidence has ever appeared.

Raul Castro

Fidel's younger brother, Raúl, was one of the most important figures of the revolution, although, many times, Fidel's shadow has caused his importance to not be considered.

Born in Birán, on June 3, 1931, Raúl was one of the few who, along with Che, had declared his socialist ideology before the revolution.

In 1953, he was part of the group that attempted to take over the Moncada barracks and, for that reason, he was sentenced to prison. Like the rest of his companions, he went into exile in Mexico as soon as they were released, in order to prepare a guerrilla force that could overthrow Batista.

Once they achieved their purpose, in 1959, Raúl Castro was appointed Minister of Defense, a position he held until February 2008. On the 24th of that month, he replaced Fidel as President of Cuba.

In 2018, he submitted his resignation to the presidency, although he continues to be the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. The presidency is currently held by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.

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