Cuban Revolution

From 1953 to 1959 the guerrilla movement of Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and built the first communist state in the Americas.

Overview

Castro attacked the Moncada barracks in 1953, turned his trial into a political platform, and after exile in Mexico landed in December 1956 with Che Guevara and a tiny band that survived in the Sierra Maestra. Rural repression by Batista security forces alienated the middle class, and the rebel victory at Santa Clara in late 1958 collapsed the regime. Castro entered Havana on 8 January 1959. The new government executed former officials, nationalized property including American holdings, and aligned with the Soviet Union amid growing hostility from Washington. The revolution delivered literacy, healthcare, and housing campaigns while producing emigration waves, one-party rule, and decades of Cold War confrontation including the missile crisis of 1962.