Anti-Castro aircraft drops leaflets over Havana

The Council of Ministers selected Osvaldo Dorticós to replace Urrutia, while effective leadership remained centred on Castro.

Large numbers of rural workers and beneficiaries of agrarian reform joined the anniversary celebration of the Moncada attack.

The appointment placed the reorganization of Cuba’s military institutions under a central leader of the guerrilla struggle.

Matos and other officers resigned in protest at the growing influence of communists within the revolutionary government.

Camilo Cienfuegos carried out Castro’s order to arrest Matos in Camagüey on accusations of treason and conspiracy.

Cienfuegos’s aircraft vanished during a flight from Camagüey to Havana, prompting a major but unsuccessful search.

Guevara’s appointment signalled the increasing role of revolutionary leaders in restructuring Cuba’s economy.

A revolutionary tribunal convicted Matos of treason and conspiracy, marking the collapse of the earlier coalition between moderate and radical leaders.