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Operation Verano
Operation Verano (, "Operation Summer") was the name given to the summer offensive in 1958 by the Batista government during the Cuban Revolution, known to the rebels as ''La Ofensiva''. The offensive was designed to crush Fidel Castro's revolutionary army, which had been growing in strength in the area of the Sierra Maestra hills since their arrival in Cuba on board the Granma yacht in December 1956. The offensive was met with resistance, notably at the Battle of La Plata and the Battle of Las Mercedes, and failed in its objective. The failure left the Cuban army dispirited and demoralized. Castro viewed it as a victory and soon launched his own offensive. Background Throughout 1957, Fidel Castro's small band of revolutionaries operated out of a mountain base, staging hit and run attacks on the government of Batista. The Cuban army and political leadership did not take these attacks seriously for a long time. The attitude of Batista changed in the Spring of 1958 as Castro starte ...
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Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in court, Fidel Castro organized an armed attack on the Cuban military's Moncada Barracks. The rebels were arrested and while in prison formed the 26th of July Movement. After gaining amnesty the M-26-7 rebels organized an expedition from Mexico on the Granma yacht to invade Cuba. In the following years the M-26-7 rebel army would slowly defeat the Cuban army in the countryside, while its urban wing would engage in sabotage and rebel army recruitment. Over time the originally critical and ambivalent Popular Socialist Party would come to support the 26th of July Movement in late 1958. By the time the rebels were to oust Batista the revolution was being driven by the Popular Socialist Party, 26th of July Movement, and the Directorio Revoluci ...
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Sierra Maestra
The Sierra Maestra is a mountain range that runs westward across the south of the old Oriente Province in southeast Cuba, rising abruptly from the coast. The range falls mainly within the Santiago de Cuba and in Granma Provinces. Some view it as a series of connecting ranges (Vela, Santa Catalina, Quemado Grande, Daña Mariana), which join with others to the west. At 1,974 m (6,476 ft), Pico Turquino is the range's – and the country's – highest point. The area is rich in minerals, especially copper, manganese, chromium, and iron. History The Sierra Maestra has a long history of guerrilla warfare, starting with the resistance of the Taínos under Guamá (died 1532), the Cimarrón Neo-Taíno nations escaped slave cultures, the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898), and various minor conflicts such as the Race War of 1912, and the uprisings of Antonio Guiteras (died 1935) against Gerardo Machado (President of Cuba f ...
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Republic Of Cuba (1902–1959)
The Republic of Cuba, covering the historical period in Cuban history between 1902 and 1959, was an island country comprised the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. It was located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. The period began in 1902 following the end of its first U.S. military occupation years after Cuba declared independence in 1898 from the Spanish Empire. This era included various changing governments and US military occupations, and ended with the success of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. During this period, the United States exerted great influence on Cuban politics, notably through the Platt Amendment. The post-1959 revolutionary communist government refers to this republic as the Neocolonial Republic while the Cuban exiles also refer to this period as Free Cuba as opposed to the present communist rule in the country. The governments of Cuba between independence from Spain and the Rev ...
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26th Of July Movement
The 26th of July Movement ( es, Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was a Cuban vanguard revolutionary organization and later a political party led by Fidel Castro. The movement's name commemorates its 26 July 1953 attack on the army barracks on Santiago de Cuba in an attempt to start the overthrowing of the dictator Fulgencio Batista. This is considered one of the most important organizations among the Cuban Revolution. At the end of 1956, Castro established a guerrilla base in the Sierra Maestra. This base defeated the troops of Batista on 31 December 1958, setting into motion the Cuban Revolution and installing a government led by Manuel Urrutia Lleó. The Movement fought the Batista regime on both rural and urban fronts. The movement's main objectives were distribution of land to peasants, nationalization of public services, industrialization, honest elections, and large scale education reform. In July 1961, the 26th of July Movement was one of the parties that integrated into t ...
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Eulogio Cantillo
Eulogio Cantillo Porras (13 September 1911 – 9 September 1978) was a general in the Cuban Army. General Cantillo served as Chief of the Joint Staff during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, but did not participate in the military coup that brought Batista to power. During the Cuban Revolution, he led Cuban soldiers in the fight against Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement. After President Batista fled the country at 3:00 A.M. on January 1, 1959, he was left to serve briefly as the De Facto Head of State in the early hours of January 1, 1959 until the official proclamation of the President of the Senate of Cuba, Anselmo Alliegro y Milá, as the Interim President of Cuba later that day. On January 2, 1959, the eldest judge of the Supreme Court, Carlos Manuel Piedra, was appointed as the Interim President by a junta led by him in accordance with the 1940 Cuban Constitution. However, the appointment of Piedra, the last president to be born under Spanish Cuba, was met with oppo ...
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Alberto Del Rio Chaviano
Alberto Roberto del Rio Chaviano was a Cuban brigadier general who served on the side of, and during Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship of Cuba. He was the chief colonel of the Moncada Barracks when Fidel Castro and his group attacked the barracks on July 26, 1953. He had an essential role to play in the military during Operation Verano. He played an important role in the defense of the Batista regime during the Cuban Revolution. During the dictatorship of Batista, he was put in charge of the Cuban Army in the region of Oriente in which Raul Castro's guerrilla unit operated, and later in the province of Las Villas Four days before the Batista government stepped down on January 1st, 1959, he emigrated to Dominican Republic and later to the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorp ...
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Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 2008. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party communist state; industry and business were nationalized, and state socialist reforms were implemented throughout society. Born in Birán, the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist and anti-imperialist ideas while studying law at the University of Havana. After participating in rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he planned the overthrow of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, launching a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. After a year's imprisonment, Castro travel ...
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Che Guevara
Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted by Jon Lee Anderson), asserts that he was actually born on 14 May of that year. Constenla alleges that she was told by Che's mother, Celia de la Serna, that she was already pregnant when she and Ernesto Guevara Lynch were married and that the date on the birth certificate of their son was forged to make it appear that he was born a month later than the actual date to avoid scandal. ( Anderson 1997, pp. 3, 769.) – 9 October 1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia in popular culture. As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout South America and was radicalized by the poverty, hunger, ...
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René Ramos Latour
René Ramos Latour (May 12, 1932 in Antilla, Cuba – 30 July 1958) was a commander under Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution. He was killed in combat against the Cuban army during the Battle of Las Mercedes The Battle of Las Mercedes (29 July-8 August 1958) was the last battle which occurred during the course of Operation Verano, the summer offensive of 1958 launched by the Batista Government during the Cuban Revolution. The battle was a trap, de .... References External links René Ramos Latour {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos Latour, Rene 1932 births 1958 deaths People from Holguín Province Cuban people of Spanish descent Cuban revolutionaries Cuban guerrillas Guerrillas killed in action ...
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Granma (yacht)
''Granma'' is the yacht that was used to transport 82 fighters of the Cuban Revolution from Mexico to Cuba in November 1956 for the purpose of overthrowing the regime of Fulgencio Batista. The 60-foot (18 m) diesel-powered cabin cruiser was built in 1943 by Wheeler Shipbuilding of Brooklyn, New York, as a light armored target practice boat, US Navy C-1994 and modified postwar to accommodate 12 people. "Granma", in English, is an affectionate term for a grandmother; the yacht is said to have been named for the previous owner's grandmother. Background Exile of Moncada attackers Striking their first blow against the Batista government, Fidel and Raúl Castro gathered 70 fighters and planned a multi-pronged attack on several military installations. On 26 July 1953, the rebels attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago and the barracks in Bayamo, only to be decisively defeated by the far more numerous government soldiers. It was hoped that the staged attack would spark a nationwide r ...
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Battle Of La Plata
The Battle of La Plata ''(11-21 July 1958)'' was part of Operation Verano, the summer offensive of 1958 launched by the Batista government during the Cuban Revolution. The battle resulted from a complex plan created by Cuban General Cantillo to directly attack Castro's mountain base in the Sierra Maestra. The battle ended with the humiliating surrender of the assault battalion and the loss of some 500 Cuban army soldiers (killed, wounded, and captured). Background General Cantillo's plan was to bring a direct attack on Castro's base in the Sierra Maestra. Earlier attacks into the hills from the north and east had failed miserably, as the attackers had run into ambushes and minefields. This attack would be different, a surprise amphibious assault from the sea by Cuban army Battalion 18, under the command of Major Jose Quevedo. Once Battalion 18 had landed, Battalion 17 was to move into the Sierra Maestra and attack Castro's base from the north. The battle The landing took place ...
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Battle Of Las Mercedes
The Battle of Las Mercedes (29 July-8 August 1958) was the last battle which occurred during the course of Operation Verano, the summer offensive of 1958 launched by the Batista Government during the Cuban Revolution. The battle was a trap, designed by Cuban General Eulogio Cantillo to lure Fidel Castro's guerrillas into a place where they could be surrounded and destroyed. The battle ended with a cease-fire which Castro proposed and which Cantillo accepted. During the cease-fire, Castro's forces escaped back into the hills. The battle, though technically a victory for the Cuban army, left the army dispirited and demoralized. Castro viewed the result as a victory and soon launched his own offensive. Background Earlier in the month, an amphibious assault from sea by the Cuban army Battalion 18 was crushed by Castro's forces at the Battle of La Plata. Battalion 18 was surrounded and sniped at by the rebel forces. General Cantillo ordered Battalion 17 to cross over the Sierra Mae ...
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