Haydée Santamaría and Melba Hernández resume organizing

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

Castro invoked José Martí while arguing that formal independence had not ended inequality, foreign economic domination or political corruption.

Fulgencio Batista became constitutional president after his main opponent withdrew, arguing that repression made a fair election impossible.

Popular pressure contributed to an amnesty that freed Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro and other imprisoned rebels.

The freed Moncada participants were welcomed by supporters and began rebuilding an opposition movement against Batista.

Supporters publicly greeted the Moncada prisoners, demonstrating that the failed assault had become a national political symbol.

Revolutionaries created the July 26 Movement, named after the Moncada attack, to unite urban resistance with preparations for armed struggle.

Facing surveillance and repression, Fidel Castro departed for Mexico to organize an expeditionary force.

Castro arrived in Mexico, where Cuban exiles recruited supporters, raised funds and prepared for guerrilla warfare.

Soon after Castro’s arrival, the Argentine doctor Ernesto Che Guevara joined the planned expedition and its anti-imperialist project.