The Cuban Revolution: From Granma to Havana

On 26 July 1953 Fidel Castro led a small group of revolutionaries against the Moncada Barracks in Santiago. The attack began poorly: the caravan of cars became separated on arrival, and the alarm was sounded before the barracks was entered. The rebels were defeated by far more numerous soldiers. At his trial Castro spoke for nearly four hours, ending with the words "Condemn me, it does not matter. History will absolve me." Today half of the main building is the July 26 Historical Museum.

Para el visitante: Part of the building is open as the July 26 Historical Museum.

In October 1956 a yacht was bought for US$20,000, secretly for Castro. Soon after midnight on 25 November 1956, 82 members of the 26th of July Movement boarded it in the Mexican port of Tuxpan, Veracruz, including Raúl Castro, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos. They set out at 2 a.m. A small museum near the river keeps photographs and memorabilia of the departure.

Precisión del lugar: Sources name the port of Tuxpan, not the exact dock, so the stop has no pin.

Para el visitante: A small museum near the river in Tuxpan holds photographs and memorabilia.

After a series of misadventures at sea the Granma reached Cuba on 2 December 1956 and ran onto a sandbar in a mangrove swamp, a mile short of the planned meeting point. The men left much of their food, ammunition and medicine behind. The wider area is now the Desembarco del Granma National Park, named after the event.

Precisión del lugar: Sources place the landing at Los Cayuelos near Playa Las Coloradas, so the pin marks the beach area only.

Para el visitante: The landing area lies in the municipality of Niquero, in Desembarco del Granma National Park.

The column halted shortly after midnight on 5 December, and the rebels were ambushed in the afternoon at Alegría de Pío. One account of the march calls the place "a spot paradoxically known as Alegría de Pío (Rejoicing of the Pious)". Of the 82, about 12 survived, and international media widely reported that Fidel had died.

Precisión del lugar: The sources name Alegría de Pío without an exact spot, so the stop has no pin.

At 2:40 am on 17 January 1957 they attacked the small army garrison at La Plata, and Fidel fired the first two shots. The barracks was set on fire and the garrison surrendered; no rebel was hurt. It was the movement's first major victory. Radio Rebelde went on air in February 1958. Castro and his soldiers climbed Pico Turquino in 1957; Che Guevara said the mountain had an "almost mystical significance" for the revolutionaries, chiefly because it is the highest point in Cuba.

Precisión del lugar: The pin marks Pico Turquino, the highest point in the range; La Plata village is nearby but not pinned.

On 23 December 1958 Batista sent an armored train with ammunition and weapons toward Santa Clara. Guevara used tractors from the university's agronomy school to tear up the rails, and the train derailed. Its 350 men and officers were taken prisoner. Batista fled by air on 1 January 1959. A monument and museum stand near the Santa Clara station, including a bulldozer sculpture.

Para el visitante: A national memorial and museum near the Santa Clara railway depot.

Guevara and Cienfuegos entered Havana in early January 1959. Castro arrived on 8 January after a long victory march. The old Presidential Palace had been the seat of presidents until the revolution, and the Directorio Revolucionario, a group from the University of Havana, had attempted to kill Batista there in March 1957. It is now the Museum of the Revolution, largely devoted to the revolutionary war of the 1950s.

Precisión del lugar: Sources do not say the rebels' entry took place at the palace; the pin marks the palace, now a museum.

Para el visitante: The palace is now the Museum of the Revolution.