BY FIDEL CASTRO
At 2:00 a.m. on Jan. 1, 1959, Fulgencio Batista, the U.S.-
backed dictator of Cuba, fled the country in face of the
advancing forces of the Rebel Army. Speaking over Radio Rebelde
from the outskirts of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba,
Rebel commander-in-chief Fidel Castro denounced Batista's
attempt to turn power over to a military junta, and called for
a nationwide general strike. Cuban workers responded to this
revolutionary appeal with a massive uprising. By the time the
main Rebel Army columns arrived in Havana January 8, the
revolution had triumphed, opening the door to Cuba's
independence from U.S. imperialism and the road to the first
socialist revolution in the Americas.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of this victory, the Militant will publish speeches and other materials throughout the year documenting the revolutionary acts of Cuba's workers and farmers in power. We begin here with Castro's radio announcement to the people of Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959. This translation was published in the March 18, 1973, issue of the Cuban weekly Granma Weekly Review. Footnotes and minor corrections to the translation are by the Militant.
Regardless of the news coming from the capital, our troops are not to cease fire, no matter what. Our forces are to continue their operations against the enemy on every battlefront. A truce will be accepted only in the case of those garrisons that want to surrender.
It appears that a coup d'etat has taken place in the capital.(1) The events in connection with the coup are not known to the Rebel Army. The people are to remain on the alert and obey only the instructions issued by the General Command.
The dictatorship has crumbled as a result of the crushing defeats dealt it in the last few weeks, but this doesn't mean that the Revolution has already triumphed.
Military operations are to continue without any change as long as no direct order is given by the General Command to act otherwise. That order will be issued only after the military elements that have rebelled in the capital place themselves unconditionally at the disposal of the revolutionary leadership. Revolution, yes; military coup, no!
A military coup behind the backs of the people and the Revolution, no! because it would only serve to prolong the war.
A military coup to help Batista and the big criminals escape, no! because it would only serve to prolong the war.
A military coup in cahoots with Batista, no! because it would only serve to prolong the war.
Robbing the people of their victory, no! because it would only serve to prolong the war until the people scored a total victory.
After seven years of struggle, the democratic victory of the people must be complete - so that there will never be another March 10 in our homeland.(2)
Nobody should be confused or misled. The watchword is to remain on the alert.
The people - and, most especially, the workers of the entire republic - should keep in touch with Radio Rebelde and make immediate preparations in every workplace to declare a general strike as soon as the order is given, if necessary, to thwart any attempt at a counterrevolutionary coup.(3)
The people and the Rebel Army must be more united and firm than ever, not to allow a victory that has cost so much blood to be snatched away.
People of Santiago, the garrison of Santiago de Cuba is surrounded by our forces. If they haven't laid down their arms by 6:00 p.m. today, our troops will advance on the city and storm the enemy positions.
All air and maritime traffic to and from the city will be prohibited as of 6:00 p.m. today.
Santiago de Cuba, the thugs who murdered so many of your children will not escape - as Batista and the big criminals did, with the collaboration of the officers who led last night's treacherous coup.
Santiago de Cuba, you are not free yet. Those who oppressed you for seven years, the murderers of hundreds of your best children, are still walking free in your streets. The war is not yet over, because the murderers are still armed.
The putschist military are trying to keep the rebels from entering Santiago de Cuba. We are forbidden to enter a city that we could take with the courage of our fighters, as we have taken other cities. An attempt is being made to forbid those who liberated our homeland to enter Santiago de Cuba.
The story of 1895 will not be repeated! This time, the mambises will enter Santiago de Cuba!(4)
Santiago de Cuba, you will be free because you deserve it more than any other city and because it is an insult to see the defenders of the tyranny still walking your streets.
Santiago de Cuba, we count on your support!
The city is to be completely paralyzed as of 3:00 p.m. today. Everybody must stop working, in solidarity with the fighters who are to liberate the city. Only the power plant should continue in operation, so the people may receive instructions over the radio.
Santiago de Cuba, we repeat: you will be free because you have earned it and because it isn't right for the soldiers of the tyranny to go on tramping your streets in boots so often drenched with revolutionary blood.
Notes
1. As he fled the island Batista handed power over to Gen.
Eulogio Cantillo.
2 .On March 10, 1952, Batista, a retired general, carried out a coup d'état against the government of Carlos Prío. With Washington's support, Batista established a military dictatorship, canceling scheduled elections and suspending the 1940 constitution. Following the coup, Castro began organizing a revolutionary movement to overthrow the Batista tyranny.
3 .Cuban working people responded to this call for a general strike with an uprising that paralyzed the country. The army garrison in Santiago de Cuba surrendered in the afternoon of January 1, and Castro's forces began their week-long march across the country to Havana. Rebel Army columns headed by Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto Che Guevara took control of the main army bases of the dictatorship in Havana on January 2. Fidel Castro was appointed prime minister on Feb. 16, 1959. A detailed account of these events is included in Fidel Castro's speech of Jan. 1, 1989, contained in In Defense of Socialism: Four Speeches on the 30th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, pp. 39-58.
4. Mambí was the name given to fighters against Spanish colonial rule in Cuba's wars of independence of 1868-78 and 1895-98, many of whom were Black agricultural workers and former slaves. In 1898, as Cuban independence forces were on the verge of victory over the Spanish colonial army the U.S. government declared war on Spain and invaded Cuba. After occupying Santiago de Cuba, on the eastern end of the island, the U.S. military refused to allow Cuban troops into the city. Washington's military occupation of Cuba lasted until 1901, when the Platt Amendment, codifying U.S. domination, was imposed.