United States recognizes the new government

Guevara’s column entered the capital and took control of La Cabaña fortress.

Cienfuegos took control of the country’s largest military installation, completing the collapse of Batista’s command in Havana.

Workers kept transport, communications and major workplaces halted until the military succession collapsed and the Rebel Army controlled the capital.

A Santiago speech presented military victory as the start of social reconstruction and insisted on vigilance against elite restoration.

The revolutionary coalition installed Judge Manuel Urrutia as provisional president.

Castro’s Caravan of Freedom reached the capital after a journey from Santiago marked by mass rallies.

In a nationally broadcast speech, Castro warned that victory did not mean that every problem had been solved.

A huge Havana rally defended revolutionary trials of officials accused of torture and murder under Batista, amid international criticism.

The mass gathering asserted popular support for the new government while debating revolutionary justice and the crimes of the dictatorship.

On his first foreign visit after victory, Castro thanked Venezuelans for solidarity with the Cuban struggle.