1953: the tyranny accused in a trial that made history

Nobody expected the young lawyer Fidel Castro Ruz, the main defendant among those who would be tried on September 21, 1953 for the attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, to become the accuser during his shocking self-defense, a plea remembered as “History will absolve me”.

During the trial, held at the Palace of Justice in the city of Santiago de Cuba, another truth would break through to show that the young revolutionaries who took part in the attacks, determined to honor the Apostle in the year of his centenary, were not only courageously devoted to fighting for freedom, but also guided by a profound political ideological program.

Months before, Dr. Fidel Castro had taken on the task of organizing the military training of a sort of patriotic force made up of some 1,200 students, workers and public employees.

After seizing power through a coup on March 10, 1952, Fulgencio Batista had given more than enough proof of his submission to the U.S. and the Cuban oligarchy, based on repression and dictatorial methods and a mercilessly persecution of socialists and communists and whoever demanded justice.

Some 160 members of the secretly trained contingent decided to join Fidel in the assaults on the military garrisons, although their effort fell through owing to tactical failures and they failed to reach their main goal: to take the barracks and give arms to the people. The tyranny reacted by massacring both the attackers on site and those who fell prisoner.

Fidel was detained a few days later and kept confined for 76 days before he was subjected to a rigged trial in which his procedural rights were disrespected. His categorical denunciation in court put the tyrant on the alert, scared as he was, like all people of his ilk, of the brave and of the truth and its bearers.

In his trial, held on September 21, the young leader was adamant: he declared himself the leader of the attack. As part of his self-defense, Fidel denounced the barbaric murder and torture of his fellow prisoners and described the political reasons for the struggle, presenting truthful data on the reality of people’s life, the violation of their rights and an economy that only favored a privileged minority, in addition to the assassination, imprisonment or torture used against those who opposed these excesses.

He also highlighted that their action was a tribute to the memory of José Martí, whom he proclaimed as the inspiration and the intellectual author of the attacks.

Fidel was sentenced to 15 years in the Modelo prison, in the then Isla de Pinos. In his plea History will absolve me—part of his closing phrase “Condemn me, it doesn´t matter, history will absolve me”—the Cubans saw the birth of what was later called the Moncada Program, the body of the most important objectives to be achieved by the Revolution once the longed-for triumph was reached, which occurred years later.

Batista was forced to release Fidel and his comrades-in-arms in mid-May 1955. The leader immediately founded the revolutionary movement 26th of July and went into exile in Mexico to organize the ultimate charge and resume the fight. Which he did, as we all know.