CUBA
Santiago de Cuba Province
Santiago de Cuba
The "Taco's & Toucan's" Trip
Museo 26 de Julio - Moncada Barracks
Saturday April 20th, 2019
We broke out the rain gear for this morning’s visit to the Museo 26 de Julio - Moncada Barracks where Fidel Castro first launched his revolution in 1953.
15 soldiers and 3 policemen were killed along with 23 soldiers and 5 policemen being wounded during the attack. 9 rebels were killed and 11 wounded in combat, including four by friendly fire. 18 rebels captured in the adjacent Civil Hospital were immediately executed and their corpses were strewn throughout the garrison to simulate death in combat. 34 fleeing rebels were captured during the next three days and were subsequently executed, after admitting their participation.
As military campaigns go, it was an unmitigated failure in which he barely escaped with his life, but after a year's imprisonment, Castro travelled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, the Movimiento 26 de Julio (26th of July Movement) to continue the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Cuban military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.