Prior to Fidel Castro's propulsion to power on January 1st 1959, Cuba was led by Fulgencio Batista, a military commander and dictator when the times required. Batista had ruled the nation from 1940 to 1944, and again from 1952 to 1959, until he was ousted from power. When Batista assumed power in 1952, after staging a coup against Carlos Prio the president at the time, civil unrest ensued and a large Cuban population began to conspire a plan to oust Batista from power. Batista's regime was known to be corrupt - mobsters ruled the island and large scale gambling was approved by Batista himself. Student riots against Batista became common in the mid 1950s. Batista dealt with the demonstrations by using force and violence, often executing innocent civilians. Batista also removed all the political parties, replaced the Cuban congress and strengthened the army and police force. Amidst all the commotion and demonstrations, Cuba under Batista's regime was prosperous. Batista put the sugar stabilization plan in effect, which reduced sugar production, since overproduction was a problem. The tourism industry flourished as many Americans were travelling to Cuba. Although Cuba was doing well under Batista's regime, the people were unhappy and as a result there was political unrest in the country. A major problem in the eyes of the Cubans was the governments reliance on the US for its trade and political support.

Fidel Castro, along with many others such as Rafael Garcia Barcena and Eduardo Chibas, wanted to get rid of President Batista due to the regime that he had in place throughout the years that he was in power in Cuba. Castro was part of a small group inside the ‘Ortodoxos’ who saw fighting against Batista’s regime as the only way to remove him from power -- fighting fire with fire as it were. Castro didn’t just try to undermine Batista by trying to destroy him through war. When Castro was sent to Prison in 1953, he wrote a propaganda pamphlet entitled  “History Will Absolve Me” which tried to persuade the Cuban population that he would lead them back to a traditional regime and that he would bring their country glory and prestige in the new world. Castro had been sent to jail because of his attack against the government of Batista. His pamphlet was distributed but not many people read it because he was not well enough known at that time.

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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 ...

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