Artemisa revolutionaries suffer heavy losses

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.

After several days in the hills outside Santiago, Fidel Castro surrendered to a patrol. Lieutenant Pedro Sarría prevented his immediate killing and delivered him for trial.

The government placed surviving attackers on trial in Santiago. The proceedings became a public indictment of Batista’s dictatorship.

Fidel Castro delivered his own defence, outlining demands for constitutional government, land reform, education and social justice.

The court sentenced Castro to fifteen years of imprisonment on the Isle of Pines, where surviving Moncada prisoners organized political study.

The Moncada defence demanded land for tenants, profit sharing for workers, support for small farmers, honest government and restored constitutional rights.