Cuba was bleeding under the cruel dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista when, on July 26, 1953, a band of 200 rebels led by a fiery 27- year-old lawyer, called Fidel Castro, tried to stage a Bastille by attacking Fort Moncada, the second strongest military fortress in the country. The rebellion was crushed but the Cuban revolution had begun. Castro was captured at Moncada and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, but in one of those turning points of history, the man whom he was out to destroy, Batista himself released Castro 18 months later as part of a general amnesty for political prisoners he declared to celebrate his “re-election” as President. Castro went to Mexico where he organised a small invasion force of 82 men. They landed in Cuba on December 2, 1956, only to walk into a trap set by Batista’s army. Only 12 of the invaders, including Castro, his brother, Raul, and Che Guevara, managed to escape. They took to the mountains, from where they organised the revolution. It needed them just two years to throw Batista out and assume power. Castro brought hope to the oppressed and poor Cubans who rallied to him enthusiastically. After being 11 years in power, he is still to deliver the goods to his people in terms of a better life.
