Page 57 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

THE HIST OR Y OF CUBA  55

Raúl Castro, Fidel’s brother, currently
President of Cuba, was one of the few
survivors of the landing of
the Granma. He was a com-
mander in the guerrilla war
and became a member of
the government, adopting
a radical stance. As
Minister of Defence
he signed, with
Khrushchev, the
agreement for the
installation of the
nuclear missiles in
Cuba that caused
the 1962 crisis.

Fidel Castro with Juan Almeida (left), one of the
strategists of revolutionary guerrilla warfare. Castro, a great
The Cuban flag, used after the wars orator and political strategist, the Líder Máximo and an
of independence, has the colours of
the French Revolution. The three uncompromising patriot, personified the Cuban state.
blue stripes represent the old As poet Nicolás Guillén wrote, “he accomplished what
provinces of the island. José Martí had promised”. Born on 13 August 1926 in
Mayarí in Eastern Cuba, the son of Spanish immigrants,
he studied with the Jesuits and took a degree in law.
He began to fight for the cause while at university.

The Barbudos
The rebels were referred to as
barbudos (bearded men) because
during their time in the mountains
they all grew long beards. A large
number of farmers joined their famous
marches. This photograph, taken by
the Cuban photographer Raúl Corrales,
expresses the dynamic team spirit of
the Revolution.

Guillermo García Morales
was one of the first
Cuban farmers to join
the revolutionary war of
the Movimiento 26 de Julio. Celia Sánchez Manduley espoused
A guerrilla in the Sierra the revolutionary cause at an early
Maestra together with age and fought in the Sierra Maestra.
Castro, he was named Considered Fidel Castro’s right-hand
Commander of the “man” and companion, after 1959 she
Revolution for his filled important political positions. Celia
distinguished service. died of cancer in 1980, while still young.

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