Simultaneous attack at Bayamo

Batista’s coup prevented an election in which reformist and opposition parties expected to compete, closing an important legal path for political change.

Young opponents of Fulgencio Batista gathered before dawn for coordinated attacks in Oriente. The action challenged a dictatorship created by the 1952 military coup.

A force led by Fidel Castro attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The failed assault later gave its date and symbolism to the July 26 Movement.

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.

Raúl Castro commanded a detachment assigned to the Palace of Justice overlooking the Moncada complex.

The attackers lost the element of surprise and withdrew. Batista’s forces then pursued, tortured and killed many captured rebels.

Abel Santamaría, a principal organizer of the operation, was captured and later killed in custody during the repression following Moncada.

Haydée Santamaría and Melba Hernández survived imprisonment and later helped circulate Fidel Castro’s defence speech.

Before the attack, Castro framed the action as a struggle to restore popular sovereignty and the democratic Constitution of 1940.

Haydée Santamaría and Melba Hernández participated directly, preserved testimony and later helped reproduce the political programme of the movement.