On this day in 1959, U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country following the victory of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement (M-26-7) at the Battle of Santa Clara, marking the successful conclusion of the Cuban Revolution.
The 26th of July Movement takes its name from the date of with a failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953, however, the movement bearing this name was not formally organized until the attackers were released from prison in 1955. Public resistance continued sporadically until November 1956, when 80 members of the M-26-7 returned from exile.
Soon after landing on the island, a separate revolutionary group, the "Directorio Revoluncionari Estudiantil" (DRE), unsuccessfully attempted an attack on the Presidential Palace in Havana.
Throughout 1957, armed resistance from groups such as the DRE and M-26-7 would escalate. After a failed offensive by the government against rebels in the summer of 1958, the rebels launched a major counter-offensive.
On December 28th, 1958, after a fraudulent election in favor of Batista, revolutionary forces reached the city of Santa Clara. Seizing equipment from an armored train intended to transport government reinforcements, the rebels quickly captured the city, prompting Batista to panic and flee to the Dominican Republic with a personal fortune of more than $300 million.
In the following days, revolutionary forces entered Havana with no resistance, and Castro established a provisional government. The 26th of July Movement later reformed along Marxist–Leninist lines, becoming the Communist Party of Cuba in October 1965.
Batista later settled in fascist Spain, dying there in 1973 at the age of 72.
The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto "Ché" Guevara
Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War by Ernesto "Ché" Guevara
History Will Absolve Me by Fidel Castro
To the U.N. General Assembly, The Problem of Cuba and its Revolutionary Policy by Fidel Castro
r/Communism Cuba and Fidel Castro Megathread
r/Communism Another Cuba and Fidel Megathread
lecture from Michael Parenti about Cuba
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You should join a book club. It's a great way to make new friends who share an interest.
But I think about this a lot, the idea that the ease of access to hyperniche art draws people further apart. I think a lot of it is that we tend to experience art as individuals as opposed to collectively now, like in our earbuds instead of on the stereo together, or on our laptop instead of at the movie theatre.
There's also a dopamine treadmill aspect, that the consequence of having access to whatever art is so perfectly titrated to give us a 10/10 experience that a randomly selected group or artist or film someone else might like it's just way more likely to feel boring.
I try to fight against this by listening to coop and college radio when driving to fight against this algorithmic titration of music I listen to, and go watch films in repertory theatres with friends more than at home on a laptop. I also try to say yes more when someone invites me to something that might not be my thing, and try to have simpler expectations.