In 1958, with the onset of spring, the advance and strengthening of the forces of the Rebel Army, commanded by Fidel Castro in several areas of the Sierra Maestra mountains was irrefutable.
On March 1st, Commanders Raul Castro Ruz and Juan Almeida Bosque left in command of their columns to form the 2nd Front Frank Pais, in Sierra Cristal, in the north of Holguin province; and the 3rd Front Mario Muñoz Monroy, near Santiago de Cuba, respectively. Commander Camilo Cienfuegos made himself felt in the Cauto plains.
Fidel, as Commander in Chief, had instilled in the guerrilla troops his invincible enthusiasm that led him to believe that that year would be the last of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship.
For that reason, also at the beginning of that month, he met in the high elevation called Alto del Naranjo, antemural of the La Plata Command, with leaders of the 26th of July Movement and the Rebel Army, and on the 12th he presented Manifesto Number 2 to the people of Cuba, with 21 points, arranged by the revolutionary political organization that he had officially led since 1955, after his release from prison on the Isle of Pines.
One of the most precise statements of the document was the one declaring the need to further extend the fight against the tyrant with the participation of all sectors of the people, in a determined and belligerent manner and with the contribution of funds for the acquisition of armaments.
Taking advantage of the strengthening of the guerrilla struggle, which Fulgencio Batista insisted on hiding from the Cuban press, eager to get closer to the theater of operations, the Revolution should include and interest all Cubans in this decisive moment. One way to demonstrate this would be to carry out a Revolutionary General Strike that would shake the nation, seconded by the Armed Action. This could accelerate the triumph of the patriots, more likely than ever.
Attentive to the multiplicity and richness that the struggle had to gain, Fidel thought of achieving a total synchronization between the actions to be carried out in the country, to ensure the success of a mobilization of such magnitude. And it was necessary to get the population to give the necessary support to the fighting forces that were already in a better position and with great offensive power.
With his usual meticulous method, he approved the General Strike project approved on that occasion, so that it would take effect on April 9, 1958, planned as a defining uprising.
The leader of the armed insurrection had not been mistaken in assessing that Batista's tyranny was already mortally wounded and was heading towards its end, not very far away, although in spite of everything the dictator launched a criminal summer offensive that riddled civilian communities or isolated rural dwellings with bullets in his eagerness to wipe out the guerrillas in vain.
The historic Proclamation called on the citizens to be alert and forewarned against any false order, and oriented to continue the armed struggle in case the predicted objectives were not achieved with the action.
As the great national mobilization would include broad sectors (workers, students, men and women of the people, agricultural workers) the organization and leadership of the student strike would be in charge of the National Student Front, while the armed part would correspond to the Rebel Forces, the militias of the 26th of July Movement and all the revolutionary organizations that would support them.
The document urged students throughout the country to maintain, with more determination than ever, the indefinite strike already begun, so that the courageous force that had fought so heroically for freedom would be the vanguard of the Revolutionary General Strike. No student should return to class until the dictatorship fell, it was demanded.
The manifiesto pointed out in another aspect that given the state of war existing between the Cuban people and Batista's tyranny, any officer, class or enlisted man of the Army, Navy or Police who as of April 5 continued serving against the oppressed people would lose his right to remain in the armed forces, because nothing would justify wielding arms in those circumstances.
It communicated that from that moment on, the country should consider itself in total war against tyranny. The weapons in the hands of the Army, the Navy and the Police should be at the service of the people, who would find it necessary to annihilate those who fought them wherever they were, since they would be the worst enemies of their freedom and happiness.
Unfortunately, that heroic action could not triumph when they tried to crystallize it, because a bloody repression struck down first in Havana almost unarmed combatants, among them the unforgettable Marcelo Salado.
The participation in Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas and Ciego de Avila was very outstanding, which showed that the flame of combat was well lit among Cubans and that the action, finally, was not in vain, despite the pain for the fallen.
But in addition to the transcendental agreement on the feasibility of the General Strike, that Proclamation of March 12, 1958, nine months after the triumph, objectively recognized the cracking of the dictatorship, as well as the rise of the maturing of the popular conscience. Much struggle, sacrifice and dedication were still to come, but the dawn of the next January was going to be very clear, dazzling.








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