Cuban revolutionaries, including Fidel Castro (far left) and Che Guevara (center), in Havana in 1960.

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.

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  • ratboy [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    24·
    21 days ago

    Bro I love my fucking cat so much. He curled up next to me, and tilted his head straight up to look at me backwards if that makes sense. He kept staring and I gave him good neck scritches, then he stretched out his cute lil arm and pawed at my glasses a bunch. So cute I’m gonna cry kitty-cri

    • ratboy [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      15·
      21 days ago

      I taught him to talk over the years too so we chat all day long. He has a very specific meow when it’s bedtime, among others

    • spudnik [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      8·
      21 days ago

      and tilted his head straight up to look at me backwards if that makes sense

      This made me think of a seal I saw recently, which reminded me of my cat who used to do just that!

      • ratboy [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        8·
        21 days ago

        Lmao that’s exactly it, you know what’s up! He never did that up until a year or so ago (hes almost 8).

        I like to think that cats are like RPG characters in that they accumulate XP and level up to unlock new skills. Like he used to be so quiet and one day he became super chatty, we have had the same cat tree since he was a kitten and just 2-3, years ago he figured out that he could sleep on the very top perch, one day he figured out that he could perch on my shoulder, etc.

        • spudnik [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          4·
          20 days ago

          I like to think that cats are like RPG characters in that they accumulate XP and level up to unlock new skills.

          Ha, they totally are! They even unlock new areas too. It’s fun when they discover some new even more comfortable place to nap and then spend all their time there. That’s so funny that your guy just woke up talking one day too, that must have been a real game changer for him