Moncada Barrack Attack Significance

Moncada Barrack Attack Significance

Have you ever imagined life as the leader of Cuba? Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, a famous political leader in Cuba, brought change to the country in many ways but one very important one was the Moncada Barrack attack. This attack caused many people to look to Castro for guidance and the citizens started to recognize him as a hero for Cuba. Fidel Castro’s attack on the Moncada Barracks was a date to remember with a lot of significance due to the fact that Castro became a leader after this so called, “unsuccessful attack.”

Castro marched devoted Cuban rebels into the well-armed Moncada barracks of Batista, this was clearly a failure of a mission in the short run due to the fact that Castro lost many members

of his rebel group yet in the long run it had sentimental value because he published a book and he created an insurgency “ July 26th Movement”. First of all, Castro planned based on suspicions that the Batista was planning a coup. He marched 129 men and 2 women that supported the ways and works of Castro into the barracks. Sadly, this attack backlashed in their faces and Castro, and he lost most of fighters. 80 were killed in the attack, 12 were badly injured and the rest of the fighters were taken and publically executed. (PBS Staff). Second of all, during his long sentence in prison on the Isle of Pines, an island situated 65 miles south of Cuba; he published a book titled “ My Life”. Castro sent letters out to his close friends and most importantly his mistress, through the writing of these letters Castro shaped his intrigue planning of the revolution (Wadi). Castro’s book sold more than 200,000 copies in Cuba. This was due to the fact it motivated citizens and rebels to overcome hardships that lie in their path just like Castro did when he overcame the hardships that lay before him. Third of all, July 26th was a date that haunted many because it was the day that the rebels and Castro plundered the Moncada Barracks. Much of Cuba said that the attack was a total failure yet Castro used it as a recruiting tool, although many political parties in Cuba railed against Batista and his skeptical regime, Castro was the only one to do anything to try to overthrow the Batista. These actions of Castro attracted much of Cuba to get involved with this movement (Assault). To sum it all up,“ Even though it might fail, there will still be symbolic and heroic value” (PBS). Castro raided the Moncada barracks having a vision in place of becoming a famous and recognized figure in Cuba but also in the world.
Moncada Barrack assault ignited a spark within in him that turned Castro into a man who was revered by his countrymen.

He became a leader because of the fact that he led revolutions in Cuba despite the nation’s small size, which challenged the power of the United States; he remained in power even when people tried to assassinate him yet he still managed to pull Cuba out of it’s misery with the dictatorship and launch the country as a socialist one (100 Leaders). Initially, On January 1st, 1959, Castro lead a revolution against Batista that forced Batista out of government yet this challenged the US government because Batista and the US supported each other politically. Thousands of Cubans rejoiced and celebrated the downfall of the dictator regime and the rise of Castro (History). Additionally, the CIA, also known as the Central Intelligence Agency, detested Castro due to the fact that he forced Batista out. Government-Sanction killing was they were aiming to do to Fidel yet they wanted to do it discretely, some of the ways they tried to do so were: Poisoned Wetsuit, Ball point Hypodermic syringe, exploding cigar, contaminated cigar, exploding conch shell, handkerchief teeming with deadly bacteria, and contaminated milkshake. (CIA) Castro had 638 assassination attempts on his life since he took office in 1959. (Trueman) Fidel states: “ if avoiding assassination attempts was an Olympic sport, he would have won gold medals” which implies that he hid and avoided so many

attempts from the CIA that he became an eminent figure (Bio). Furthermore, On April 16, 1961, Castro officially declared Cuba a socialist country because Castro was a Marxist-Leninist himself, which influentially meant him to side towards communism. Castro strongly supported the communist revolutions in Angola, Ethiopia, and Yemen. He pushed for equality in his own country by building schools and hospitals yet he denied civil liberties. (100 Leaders) To conclude, through his actions at Moncada, Fidel was transformed into a man that led Cuba from the dictator leadership into a leadership that benefitted all.
Even though he was a strong and beloved leader he was also a violent leader.

This violent side became more evident when he ignored and abused human rights against his own people, became the leader of the guerrillas, and was involved with the Macheteros. First, Castro was recognized and loved by his followers yet some hated him due to the fact that he abused human rights. Human rights are rights that are believed to belong to every person, yet Fidel though somewhat differently to that. Castro placed thousands of people into jail that were different such as homosexuals and intellectuals because they went against what the law stated for them (Fidel). Secondly, Fidel created a group whilst in the mountains called the guerrillas which was the group that rebelled against Batista. Through the years, Cuba viewed him as the “Prince of the Guerrillas” because he knew what to do and how to lead a group. These guerrillas were violent though because they attacked many innocent citizens, which is why they are feared in some areas (Geyer). Finally, the Macheteros are a Puerto Rican terrorist group that Castro involved himself in. The men in this group were ones that have committed terrorist attacks and burglaries to multiple banks. Being involved with these groups proved to the people that he was not always the person they believed he was. In conclusion, Castro had two sides to himself a good, moral side and he had a violent, terroristic side. Castro was assumed as good yet Castro was one

that took his political role violently in order to achieve what exactly he wanted.
Do you think Castro was a successful leader for Cuba even with his violent flaws? Castro led his country through hardships such as withstanding the mighty power of Batista, amazingly, whilst leading his country he accumulated many faithful followers. Even though he was a strong leader he also had his flaws, like all heroes have, which is why he warned his people about troubles such as harassment, corruption, and greed that could occur whilst he was in office. Even though people might think Castro was an ineffective leader, others would beg to differ. He passionately transformed Cuba and it’s government through all the adversities and obstacles that they were faced with. Fidel Castro was a powerful leader for Cuba because he used his power in order to benefit society rather than promote himself although his ways to aid Cuba were not always done in traditional ways.