📅 26 July 1953
A group led by Abel Santamaría took the Saturnino Lora Civil Hospital as part of the Moncada plan. Many participants were captured after the assault failed.
📅 26 July 1953
Haydée Santamaría and Melba Hernández survived imprisonment and later helped circulate Fidel Castro’s defence speech.
📅 21 September 1953
The government placed surviving attackers on trial in Santiago. The proceedings became a public indictment of Batista’s dictatorship.
📅 15 May 1955
Popular pressure contributed to an amnesty that freed Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro and other imprisoned rebels.
📅 26 July 1953
Haydée Santamaría and Melba Hernández participated directly, preserved testimony and later helped reproduce the political programme of the movement.
📅 15 May 1955
After the amnesty, the two surviving Moncada participants helped rebuild clandestine networks and preserve the movement’s political memory.
