Eulogio Cantillo Porras (13 September 1911 – 9 September 1978) was a
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
in the
Cuban Army
The Cuban Revolutionary Army ( es, Ejército Revolucionario) serve as the ground forces of Cuba. Formed in 1868 during the Ten Years' War, it was originally known as the Cuban Constitutional Army. Following the Cuban Revolution, the revolutiona ...
. General Cantillo served as Chief of the Joint Staff during the dictatorship of
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (; ; born Rubén Zaldívar, January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who served as the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and as its U.S.-backed military dictator ...
, but did not participate in the military
coup that brought Batista to power. During the
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 cou ...
, he led Cuban soldiers in the fight against
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 200 ...
's
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 San ...
. 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
Anselmo Alliegro y Milá (March 16, 1899 – November 22, 1961) was a Cuban politician who served as the Interim President of Cuba for one day (1 – 2 January 1959) after the departure of the President, General Fulgencio Batista, from the country. ...
, as the Interim
President of Cuba
The president of Cuba ( es, Presidente de Cuba), officially the president of the Republic of Cuba ( es, Presidente de la República de Cuba), is the head of state of Cuba. The office in its current form was established under the Constitution of ...
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
Junta may refer to:
Government and military
* Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones
** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...
led by him in accordance with the 1940
Cuban Constitution
Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions sin ...
. However, the appointment of Piedra, the last president to be born under
Spanish Cuba, was met with opposition from Castro, who believed that
Manuel Urrutia should be appointed. After the Cuban Revolution, he was tried by the
Revolutionary tribunal
The Revolutionary Tribunal (french: Tribunal révolutionnaire; unofficially Popular Tribunal) was a court instituted by the National Convention during the French Revolution for the trial of political offenders. It eventually became one of the ...
s and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released before serving his entire sentence sometime in the sixties, and went into exile in Miami where he died on September 9, 1978.
Biography
General Eulogio Cantillo was Chief of the Army Aviation Corps before he was appointed as Head of the Joint Chiefs. In the Cuban revolution, Cantillo led an offensive that unfolded in the summer of 1958 under the name
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 revolutio ...
, which had the goal of destroying the guerrillas of Fidel Castro that had been causing several army losses since the spring of 1957. At the time of the revolution, Cuba had a regular army of 24 battalions, and a total strength of 20,000 soldiers. For Operation Verano, Cantillo had 14 battalions with about 12,000 soldiers. Most of the soldiers were young recruits.
Cantillo surrounded the mountain range of the Sierra Maestra, and set up
roadblock
A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be:
*Roadworks
*Temporary road closure during special events
* Police chase
*Robbery
*Sobriety checkpoint
In peaceful circumstances ...
s to prevent supplies from getting to the guerrillas, and attacked from the north to drive the guerrillas down to the south coast. On the south coast he could make better use of air support, and
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
, than in the jungles of Sierra Maestra where guerrillas were impossible to hit. The offensive failed, largely because Cantillo's soldiers fought in unfamiliar terrain (forests and jungles of the
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 a ...
) and because much of the army was demoralized and unmotivated. They were trained to fight against regular troops and not against 26 July Movement guerrillas that struck with tremendous firepower in one second, and disappeared into the jungle in the seconds after.
On August 8, 1958, Cantillo signed a secret armistice with the 26th of July movement, and thus the entire Verano offensive was over. Reasons to truce is unclear. Some argue that Cantillo sympathized with the guerrillas, while others claim that Cantillo still believed that Castro had over 2000 well-trained and well disciplined guerrillas. Therefore, he needed the truce to regroup his own forces so he could better counter the guerrillas. Fidel Castro however, used this time to create a counteroffensive, known as the Cauto campaign.
He was left as head of the Cuban Military and the De Facto Head of State of Cuba after Batista fled to the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
in the early hours of January 1, 1959. He was later arrested by the revolutionary government, and put on trial. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was released before he served his full sentence, and left Cuba to become a
Cuban exile
A Cuban exile is a person who emigrated from Cuba in the Cuban exodus. Exiles have various differing experiences as emigrants depending on when they migrated during the exodus.
Demographics Social class
Cuban exiles would come from various eco ...
in Miami. While in Miami, he joined anti-Castro groups, and eventually died there on September 9, 1978.
Bibliography
* Foss, Clive (2004), "Fidel Castro" .
* NW Damm & Son * Bonachea, Ramon and San Martin, Marta (1974), "The Cuban Insurrection: 1952-1959." Transaction Publishers, Transaction Publishers, .
External links
The Spirit Of Moncadaby Larry Bockman (Major, USMC), 1984.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantillo, Eulogio
1911 births
1978 deaths
Cuban military personnel
Cuban emigrants to the United States
Cuban anti-communists
Cuban generals
People of the Cuban Revolution
People from Pinar del Río Province