On this day in 1959, U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country following the victory of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement (M-26-7) at the Battle of Santa Clara, marking the successful conclusion of the Cuban Revolution.

The 26th of July Movement takes its name from the date of with a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953, however, the movement bearing this name was not formally organized until the attackers were released from prison in 1955. Public resistance continued sporadically until November 1956, when 80 members of the M-26-7 returned from exile.

Soon after landing on the island, a separate revolutionary group, the "Directorio Revoluncionari Estudiantil" (DRE), unsuccessfully attempted an attack on the Presidential Palace in Havana.

Throughout 1957, armed resistance from groups such as the DRE and M-26-7 would escalate. After a failed offensive by the government against rebels in the summer of 1958, the rebels launched a major counter-offensive.

On December 28th, 1958, after a fraudulent election in favor of Batista, revolutionary forces reached the city of Santa Clara. Seizing equipment from an armored train intended to transport government reinforcements, the rebels quickly captured the city, prompting Batista to panic and flee to the Dominican Republic with a personal fortune of more than $300 million.

In the following days, revolutionary forces entered Havana with no resistance, and Castro established a provisional government. The 26th of July Movement later reformed along Marxist–Leninist lines, becoming the Communist Party of Cuba in October 1965.

Batista later settled in fascist Spain, dying there in 1973 at the age of 72.

The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto "Ché" Guevara

Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War by Ernesto "Ché" Guevara

History Will Absolve Me by Fidel Castro

To the U.N. General Assembly, The Problem of Cuba and its Revolutionary Policy by Fidel Castro

r/Communism Cuba and Fidel Castro Megathread

r/Communism Another Cuba and Fidel Megathread

lecture from Michael Parenti about Cuba

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  • someone [comrade/them, they/them]
    ·
    6 days ago

    I've found a fun new way to piss off the nordic-mythology-obsessed fashy twits. Pretend not to know the difference between the various European mythologies. It is the centre of what passes for their sad little spiritual worlds, and as Mel Brooks has shown many times, they just can't cope with being made fun of. Ignore them and they move on to a new bullying target. Treat them as a personal threat, and they feel powerful. But ridicule them, and their brains just short circuit hilariously.

    Pretend it's all a big lump thing and pretend not to understand differences even when they're carefully explained. Treat their weird little interest they same way, for example, they ignorantly lump all Africa's various traditional mythologies into a giant undifferentiated mass. And make sure to include the in-game lore of that fabulously "woke" (and awesome) game Hades as part of your "knowledge" of European mythology. Make sure the norse ones are complete bottoms at all times. (There's nothing wrong with bottoming of course. But that really sets them off.) I like to start with asking them for details on the story of how awesome Zagreus was when he pegged Thor with his own hammer's handle when they were dating and they visited that charming little B&B in Avalon and met King Arthur, because "That's fuckin' hot, man!"