Havana Presidential Palace attack (1957)

Presidential Palace Attack, Havana
Part of Cuban revolution
Attack Radio Reloj.
Date	March 13, 1957
Location	Havana, Cuba
Lead figures
Carlos Gutiérrez Menoyo, Faure Chomón, José Antonio Echeverría

The attack on the presidential palace in Havana, Cuba took place on March 13, 1957. The result of the attack were different from what the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil had planned as the objective of killing Fulgencio Batista was not achieved. According to one of the attackers, Faure Chomón the Revolutionary Directorate, they were following the “golpe arriba" strategy and together with Menelao Mora Morales sought to overthrow the government by killing President Batista.

Plan

Presidential Palace Attack_Havana, Cuba. March 13, 1957

The plan by the Revolutionary Directorate had been to attack the Presidential Palace and simultaneously occupy the radio station Radio Reloj at the CMQ complex. The attack on the palace would result in the elimination of Fulgencio Batista, the purpose of taking of Radio Reloj, was to announce the death of Batista and to call for a general strike and to incite the people of Havana to join the armed struggle.

The plan to capture of the Presidential Palace by up of 50 men, under the direction of Carlos Gutiérrez Menoyo and Faure Chomón, the command was to be supported by a group of 100 armed men whose function would be to occupy the tallest buildings in the surrounding area of the Presidential Palace (La Tabacalera, the Sevilla Hotel, the Palace of Fine Arts) and, from these positions, support the main command. However, this support operation was not carried out as the men who were to participate never arrived at the scene of the events because of last-minute hesitation. Although the revolutionaries reached the third floor of the Palace, they could not execute Batista.

Reprisal

The failed attack provoked a strong reprisal by the Batista police as they launched one of the worst waves of repression and violence Havana had experienced. Police squads, on their own initiative, went after opposition leaders who had not participate in the attack, including Carlos Márquez-Sterling. One of the casualties was an attorney and former senator Pelayo Cuervo Navarro, a figure in the opposition and leader of the Ortodoxo Party. Pelayo Cuervo was assassinated by the police the night of March 13. Pelayo Cuervo was buried at Colon Cemetery.

Trials

The Havana Urgency court announced there would be a trial on April 5, 1957, for those charged in the March, 13 attacks. Two individuals were under arrest and to be tried: Oriando Olmedo Moreno, wounded during the attack, and Efrain Alfonso Liriano. All others connected with the attack either escaped or were killed.

Participants

Forty-two people participated in the attack against the Palace, of which 34 were from the Partido Autentico and the rest from the Student Directory.

Dead in the Palace Action:

Menelao Mora Morales

Carlos Gutíerrez Menoyo (brother of Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo)

José Gómez Wangüemert

José Briñas

Ubaldo Diaz Fuentes

Abelardo Rodriguez Mederos

José Castellanos

Evelio Prieto Guillaume

Adolfo Delgado

Eduardo Panizo Bustos

Pedro Esperon

Reinaldo León Llera

Norberto Hernández

J. Monzón

Pedro Tellez

Gerardo Medina

Eduardo Domínguez

Angel González

Salvador Alfaro

Celestino Pacheco

Ormani Arenado

Pedro Zayden

Luis Almeida

José Hernández

The following survived the action of March 13 but were killed by Lt. Colonel of the Police Esteban Ventura Novo, in the afternoon on April 20, 1957, at apartment 201 of No. 7 Humboldt Street. JP Carbó was additionally sought by police for the assassination of Col. Antonio Blanco Rico, Chief of Batista's secret service. The event as been called “The Humboldt 7 Massacre."

Juan Pedro Carbó Serviá

José Machado

Fructuoso Rodríguez

Joe Westbrook Rosales

In 1964 the revolutionary courts of the Castro government tried and convicted Marcos Rodríguez Alfonso, aka “Marquitos”, for tipping the police to the Humboldt hideout. Marcos was executed by a firing squad.

The action of Radio Reloj, directed by José Antonio Echeverría, accompanied among others, by Fructuoso Rodríguez, Joe Westbrook, Raúl Diaz Argüelles, Julio García Olivera, including reading a prepared statement announcing the execution of Batista. The operation failed because Batista was never killed and the troops that guarding the Radio Reloj transmission tower in Arroyo Arenas knocked down the transmission.

José Antonio died on the corner of November 27 and L, on his way back to the University.

Surviving the attack :

Orlando Manrique

Santiago Aguero

Manuel Toranzo

Ricardo Olmedo (shot for attempting to kill Fidel Castro)

Faure Chaumón Mediavilla

Antonio Castell Valdes

José M. Olivera

Marcos Leonel Remigio González

Orlando Lamadrid

Juan José Alfonso Zuñiga

Evelio Álvarez

Luís Goicochea

Redress

Pro-Batista, Presidential Palace Attack Redress Demonstration, Havana_April 7, 1957

The public act of redress by the people of Havana for the assault on the Presidential Palace took place on April 7 of 1957. It was reported that more than 250,000 people attended. Following is a report:

By R. Hart Phillips

Special to the New York Times.

HAVANA, April 7—Thousands of persons marched to the Presidential Palace this afternoon to signify their support of President Fulgencio Batista. Representatives of labor, commerce, industry, Government, political parties and supporters of the Administration filled the park in front of the palace and all adjacent streets. Placards and banners carried by the marchers proclaimed approval of General Batista’s policies, his public works program and his efforts to suppress the revolutionary activities of his enemies.One large banner said, “For Batista, in the Past, Now and Forever.”Another read “Five Hundred American Residents of the Isle of Pines Have Faith in Batista.”The keynote of the demonstration was “Peace.”Flocks of white doves were released during the demonstration to signify a demand for peace. Precautionary measures were taken by the Government to protect the demonstrators. Policemen armed with rifles surrounded the palace.On all near-by roofs policemen and soldiers armed with rifles and machine guns were on duty.

Golpeando Arriba

On January 22, 1959, Fidel Castro explained to journalists gathered in the Copa Room of the Havana Riviera hotel, among other topics, that hitting up, "golpear arriba," was one of the "false concepts about the revolution" because "tyranny is not a man; tyranny is a system (...) We were never supporters of tyrannicide or military coups, [which tended] to inculcate the people a complex of impotence " A few months earlier Castro had reprimanded Guevara for having signed a pact with Rolando Cubela, Chomon's lieutenant in the DR-13-3 guerrilla in Escambray mountains, the "Pacto del Pedrero". The letter is dated in Palma Soriano on December 26, 1958, in its crucial passage reads:

"You are committing a serious political error by sharing your authority, your prestige and your strength with the Revolutionary Directorate. There is no sense in raising a small group whose intentions and ambitions we know so well, and which in the future will be a source of problems "

Photo gallery

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External links

El asalto al Palacio Presidencial

Directorio Revolucionario 13 de Marzo

Asalto al Palacio Presidencial y toma de la emisora Radio Reloj