Workers face repression during the April strike

Couriers and underground organizers carried equipment, messages and news between the guerrilla zone and urban networks.

Washington halted government arms deliveries as evidence of repression and political instability mounted, though previously supplied weapons remained in use.

A rebel appeal urged coordinated civil resistance, sabotage and armed action to remove Batista.

The July 26 Movement called a nationwide strike, but inadequate coordination and government repression caused it to fail.

Police and military units killed or arrested activists, exposing weaknesses between the urban underground and guerrilla leadership.

The broadcast defended the failed strike movement, condemned Batista’s repression and insisted that the armed struggle would continue.

Batista sent thousands of soldiers into the Sierra Maestra to destroy a much smaller rebel force.

The government offensive combined military pressure with bombing and forced movement in areas suspected of supporting the rebels.

Rebel forces resisted the government’s summer offensive in difficult mountain terrain.

Guides, scouts and local knowledge allowed a much smaller force to resist Batista’s army in the mountains.