The Escambray rebellion was an armed conflict from 1959 to 1965 in the

Escambray Mountains The Escambray Mountains () are a mountain range in the central region of Cuba, in the provinces of Sancti Spíritus, Cienfuegos and Villa Clara. Overview The Escambray Mountains are located in the south-central region of the island, extending a ...

during which several insurgent groups fought against the

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n government led by Fidel Castro. The military operation against the rebellion was called the Struggle Against Bandits ( es, Lucha contra Bandidos, or LCB) by the Cuban government. The rebels were a mix of former

Batista Batista is a Spanish or Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also known as Batista * Edina Alves Batis ...

soldiers, local farmers, and leftist ex-guerrillas who had fought alongside Castro against Batista during the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. The end result was the elimination of all insurgents by Cuban government forces in 1965.

Beginning

The uprising began almost immediately after the success of the

in 1959. It was led by an ex-guerrilla that had fought against Batista before, but rejected the socialist turn the Cuban Revolution had taken and the ensuing close ties with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Small landowning farmers, who disagreed with the socialist government's collectivization of Cuban farmlands also played a central role in the failed rebellion. The uprising was also secretly backed by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and the

Eisenhower administration Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following a landslide victory ...

because of Castro's ties with the Soviet Union. The insurgent ''guajiro'' rural farmers were aided by some former

forces but were led mostly by former DRE rebels (13 March Movement), such as the anti-communists Osvaldo Ramirez and Comandante

William Alexander Morgan William Alexander Morgan (April 19, 1928 – March 11, 1961) was a United States citizen who fought in the Cuban Revolution, leading a band of rebels that drove the Cuban army from key positions in the central mountains as part of Second Nationa ...

, both of whom had fought Batista's ''casquitos'' in the same area only a few years before (Morgan himself was executed in 1961, long before the resistance ended). Ramirez and Morgan were viewed by the United States as potential pro-democracy options for Cuba and sent CIA-trained Cuban exiles to promote and spread word of them being an alternative to Castro.

Insurgency

The CIA provided some aid to the insurgents but withdrew all support after the failed

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called ''Invasión de Playa Girón'' or ''Batalla de Playa Girón'' after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in 1961 by Cuban exiles, covertly fin ...

in 1961, ensuring their ultimate defeat. Some of the failures could be attributed to Castro's "roll up" of CIA operatives in Cuba.Volkman, 1995. After the Bay of Pigs failure, Osvaldo Ramirez returned to the

and declined an offer by Castro's emissary, Comandante Faure Chomón, to surrender. Faria, pp. 88-89. The main tactic of the Cuban government was to deploy thousands of troops against small groups of rebels, forming progressively-constricting rings of encirclement.Encinosa, Unvanquished, pp. 73–86. The communist leaders that Castro sent to clear the Escambray Mountains were ordered to exterminate the rebels. They were to "comb the brush elbow to elbow" until they had completely cleared the hills of anti-communist rebels.Faria, pp. 105-115. The leaders of the ''Lucha contra bandidos'' counter-insurgency forces were Commandantes Raul Menendez Tomassevich, a founding member of the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26 ...

, and Lizardo Proenza.

Defeat

Both their smaller numbers and the lack of outside assistance, particularly supplies, eventually led to the rebels' defeat. Cuban forces used sweeps by long columns of

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, which cost the government substantial losses but ultimately won the war. The Spanish-Soviet advisor

Francisco Ciutat de Miguel Francisco Ciutat de Miguel, known as Angelito (1909 – November 30, 1986), was a Spanish communist, lieutenant of infantry and commander. Spanish Civil War He fought the Battle of Santander, during the Spanish Civil War, in the summer of 1937 as ...

, who was also present at the

, played a major role in the pacification operation. Castro employed overwhelming force, at times sending in as many as 250,000 men, almost all of whom (including 3,500 out of the 4,000 government fatalities) were militia. (see Puebla). The insurgency was eventually crushed by the Castro's use of their vastly-superior numbers. Some of the insurgents ultimately surrendered but were immediately executed by firing squad. Only a handful managed to escape.Franqui (1984), pp. 111–115.

Legacy

The War Against the Bandits lasted longer and involved more soldiers than the previous struggle against Batista's forces.Ros (2006) pp. 159–201. Raúl Castro claimed in a speech in 1970 that the rebellion killed 500 members of the

Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias; FAR) are the military forces of Cuba. They include ground forces, naval forces, air and air defence forces, and other paramilitary bodies including the Territorial T ...

. The death toll of the rebels and others involved in the rebellion (such as civilians and pro-government militias) is unknown. Estimates for total combatant deaths range from 1,000 to 7,000.Joanna Swanger. "Rebel Lands of Cuba: The Campesino Struggles of Oriente and Escambray, 1934–1974." Page 243.

References

Sources

* * De la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007. ''The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolutio''n. University of South Carolina Press. , p. 314 note 47. * Dreke, Victor (Edited by Mary-Alice Waters) 2002. ''From el Escambray to the Congo''. Pathfinder Press, New York. , . * Encinosa, Enrique G. 1989. ''El Escopetero Chapter in Escambray: La Guerra Olvidada, Un Libro Historico de Los Combatientes Anticastristas en Cuba (1960–1966)''. Editorial SIBI, Miami. * Encinosa, Enrique G. 2004. ''Unvanquished – Cuba's Resistance to Fidel Castro'', Pureplay Press, Los Angeles, pp. 73–86. . * Faria, Miguel A. ''Cuba in Revolution – Escape from a Lost Paradise''. Hacienda Publishing, Macon, GA, pp. 88–93. . * Fermoselle, Rafael 1992. ''Cuban Leadership after Castro: Biographies of Cuba's Top Commanders'', North-South Center, University of Miami, Research Institute for Cuban Studies; 2nd ed (paperback) . * Franqui, Carlos 1984 (foreword by G. Cabrera Infante and translated by Alfred MacAdam from Spanish 1981 version). ''Family portrait with Fidel'', Random House First Vintage Books, New York. . * Priestland, Jane (editor) 2003. ''British Archives on Cuba: Cuba under Castro 1959–1962''. Archival Publications International Limited, 2003, London . * Puebla, Teté (Brigadier General of the Cuban Armed Forces) 2003. ''Marianas in Combat: the Mariana Grajales Women's Platoon in Cuba's Revolutionary War 1956–58'', New York Pathfinder (Paperback) . * Ros, Enrique 2006. ''El Clandestinaje y la Lucha Armada Contra Castro'' (The clandestinity and the armed fight against Castro), Ediciones Universal, Miami . * Volkman, Ernest 1995. "Our man in Havana. Cuban double agents 1961–1987" in ''Espionage: The Greatest Spy Operations of the Twentieth Century'', Wiley, New York . {{DEFAULTSORT:Escambray Rebellion 20th-century rebellions Aftermath of the Cuban Revolution Opposition to Fidel Castro Peasant revolts 1960s in Cuba Rebellions in Cuba Cienfuegos Province Sancti Spíritus Province Villa Clara Province Cold War rebellions Communism-based civil wars Counter-revolutionaries Conflicts in 1959 Conflicts in 1960 Conflicts in 1961 Conflicts in 1962 Conflicts in 1963 Conflicts in 1964 Conflicts in 1965 1959 in Cuba 1960 in Cuba 1961 in Cuba 1962 in Cuba 1963 in Cuba 1964 in Cuba 1965 in Cuba 1959 establishments in Cuba 1965 disestablishments in Cuba

Beginning

Insurgency

Defeat

Legacy

See also

References

Sources