During the years 1956 to 1959, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Raul Castro took cover in Sierra Mastra and plotted ways to overthrow the then-incumbent dictator, General Fulgencio Batista. The tactics used by Castro’s forces are known as guerrilla warfare. This type of conflict, albeit consisting of several characteristics, stays true to some clear rules. Some of these rules are – support from the local population and the usage of surprise attacks and secret intelligence. When Castro was brewing revolution in the remote parts of Cuba, he knew he was fighting against a large force (about 35,000 of Batista’s men against a mere 200 of Castro’s), therefore it was crucial for Castro to ally himself with the local population. This did not seem very hard to do as the peasantry of the Sierra Mountains, which had been terrified of Batista’s Rural Guard, “welcomed the protection and promises offered by Castro and his group”. The peasant support became extremely useful for Castro’s eventual triumph over Batista by providing them of information on Batista’s troops’ locations and warned them of any possible surprise attacks.
Then as Castro’s seize of power approached, major turning points in July and August 1958 occurred when Castro’s men approached Camaguey. The rebels’ victory was largely due to the population intelligence which informed them of a double, ambush by the Batista forces. The guerrilla forces, although outnumbered 5 to 1 were much more familiar with the land and used to this unusual style of fighting that a victory was easily awarded to the seemingly disadvantaged men. Another factor that must be considered to justify Castro’s victory over Batista’s forces with guerrilla warfare was the work of the urban underground. Castro allied himself with the Civic Resistance Movement of the Revolutionary Directorate which operated in the cities and was responsible for sabotaging government operations and distributing propaganda.
Throughout this whole period of guerrilla warfare, the key leader was not Castro but a very close friend, Ernesto “Che” Guevara. He had much experience in unfamiliar grounds and knew various tactics as he was a skilled warrior, tactician and teacher. He was the one that understood the importance of settling in the Sierra Maestra mountains and helping the local peasants in exchange for support of any kind.
Castro chose guerrilla warfare over many other possible ways firstly because of his ideology of independence; he could not use the Cuban army and certainly not on any external country’s army(the negotiations between Batista and Cosme de la Torriente, “El dialogo civico” had ended in the failure of political groups to find a peaceful solution, so peaceful attempts were largely out of the question).. He wanted it to be a revolution led by his future people, a key for their future support in his dreamed government. In addition to this, the USA’s policy of placing an arms embargo on Cuba greatly decreased the morale of the army and raised hopes in Castro’s men as they knew that without the American spare parts, the Cuban army would not be able to function properly. Also guerrilla warfare kept the state of Cuba in a mild turmoil during these revolutionary years and greatly helped in meddling up Batista’s priorities.
The conditions in which Castro rose to power gained him popular support from the urban and rural populations of Cuba which in turn allowed him a smoother transition for rule. 17 percent of the labor force was unemployed while another 13% percent was classified as underemployed. Furthermore, throughout the year, the number of people without a solid job varied from 200,000 persons in harvest months to 457,000 persons in the dead season. As a result, living standards were considerably low, especially those of the rural communities who had limited access to major urban centers, livable housing, education and health services. The urban and rural communities, as well as a large portion of students, grew impatient and ready for change. By contrast to the policies and wishes of Batista, Castro offered to provide an alternative, offering more jobs and well-being to the people (they would be provided with extensive social services). Thus, the temptation for a new leader was at its peak. It is this reason why Castro was endowed with more support and power in his guerrilla tactics against the Cuban army, permitting him to become more popular as can be seen through the large and loosely related urban resistance movement that developed throughout the island and urban-youth groups motivated at promoting him. This was one of the most important conditions that led Castro to develop a policy that appealed to the majority of the population.
In the extract from “Cuba: from Columbus to Castro and beyond” by Jaime Suchlick (2002) mentions the insistence of many writers in the 1950’s that the Cubans “rejected their individual responsibilities by claiming that society as a whole was not fulfilling its collective responsibilities” and believed they did not deserve to have men like Jose Marti. Jose Marti was a strong revolutionist whose idolization by the Cubans grew stronger in 1952 and onwards. According to the same source, many books talk about Marti’s “epic struggle for Cuba’s independence”, and that the media seem to “find shelter and comfort by repeating his words”.
During Castro’s stay in prison (caused by the failure of the attempt to struggle against Batista), he wrote a book, “History Will Absolve Me”. In this book, he mentions that his revolution he led “us inspired on the ideas of Marti”. This helped Castro because the Cubans saw Marti as a great hero who fought for Cuba’s Independence. Castro associating his revolution with Marti help many Cubans identify his nationalism and wish for Cuban independence, eventually leading to increased support by the Cuban population appreciative of Marti’s ideals.
Castro took great control over the media when the struggle against Batista appeared. Especially after the failure of this movement, it in fact gave Castro ‘’national prestige’’ and the media made Castro seem as an important man who will play a great role in Cuba’s history. Cuban people were hoping for “honesty in government, and an end to violence” as the source mentions.
Castro has become known as a communist leader, however when his revolution began he had many different ideologies. He was both a nationalist and socialist and had some Marxist and Leninist ideas. At first he was sure to isolate himself from anything that could be assumed as a communist revolution, although he was eventually left with no choice but to declare it communist to gain soviet support in the years that would follow. So indirectly his ideology helped make the revolution what it was.
It could also be argued that the policies of the USA actually allowed the Revolution to happen. During the early stages of Castro’s rise to power, the USA was not supporting a clear side. It supported both forces: General Fulgencio Batista by sending planes to Cuba in order to exterminate rebel forces, and indirectly Castro. In response to talks between Castro’s allies and US government ministers, Castro joined his 26th July movement with the Orthodox party to give an international gloss to his actions, a “civic revolutionary front”. Still the US kept supplying weapons to Batista but in an insufficient number that would have never allowed him to win through a military victory. Also, the USA were increasingly despairing of Batista’s corruption (for example he “cleared” peasants who were supporting Castro) that for some influential Americans, Castro was looking like a viable, and preferable, alternative. If the USA could have acted to prevent the Castro Revolution, they did not.