July 26th is the most important holiday in Cuba, as it commemorates the start of the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1953.
The revolution came after Fulgencio Batista took power for himself and did not allow the elections to continue. He also had friendly relations with the United States and people felt he was serving their interests instead of serving the country, so the opposition grew, and Fidel Castro was a rising star.
What happened on this day? Well, Fidel’s forces attacked a government compound to get more weapons, but this strike was shut down very easily and a lot of them were arrested, Fidel included. They were put on a public trial and since Fidel Castro was a lawyer, he was able to make great arguments against the government, claiming he was fulfilling his citizen duties to the state of Cuba.
“History will absolve me” is one of the most famous quotes from that trial.
He and some of his allies were released and they regrouped in Mexico to plan the next steps. They later returned and faced Batista’s forces on different fronts, and they started allowing international press to come in and publish interviews with them. The movement grew, more battles took place and victory was inevitable. The revolutionary forces took control of the country in January 1959.
The new government in Cuba leaned toward communism and they became friends with the Soviet Union, which was not welcomed by the US. In the time of the Cold War, having an ally of their enemy so close was dangerous and this caused many tensions and dangerous conflicts for decades. This has started to change only recently, and we’ll see how things continue to evolve!
Have fun learning!
