CASTRO FIDEL: (1926-2016) Cuban Prime Minister 1959-76, later President 1976- 2008. An extremely rare L.S., `Fidel Castro´, two pages, 4to, beige lined paper, Isle of Pines, Cuba, 6<sup>th</sup> December 1953, in Spanish. The multiple letter signed by the Moncada prisoners, probably smuggled out of the Isle of Pines, was written from prison and very shortly after Castro wrote his well-remembered manifesto "History Will Absolve Me". The letter, written by prisoner Agustin Cartaya, is addressed to a lady and is a letter of appreciation to all supporters of their cause, stating in part `Together with these sincere lines, attached are the affection and respect from all my partners. We read your poem and it inspired all of us.. In these difficult times.. I will remember your beautiful thoughts and incomparable ideals..´ further saying `You know that our tasks are firm to serve the ideals, our formula of action demands continuity of our efforts, that is why from here we will fight continuously…´ Signed by the 27 imprisoned comrades, including Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Juan Almeida, Andres Garcia, Mario Chaves, Francisco Gonzalez, Gabriel Gil, Eduardo Rodriguez, Armando Mestre Martinez, Ramiro Valdes, etc.. Overall age wear and foxing stains, few traces of former staples and three small areas of paper loss, only affecting a few words of the letter, but not affecting the signatures. F

 

Castro formed a group called "The Movement" in 1952 which operated along a clandestine cell system, while arming and training anti-Batista recruits. Castro stockpiled weapons for a planned attack on the Moncada Barracks, a military garrison outside Santiago de Cuba. The attack took place on 26th July 1953, but ran into trouble and most of the rebels pinned down by machine gun fire. Castro set out for the rugged Sierra Maestra mountains, where they established a guerrilla base. Responding to the attack, Batista's government proclaimed martial law, ordered violent crackdown on dissent and tortures. Rebels were rounded up, some were executed, and others including Castro transported to a prison. The government put 122 defendants on trial on 21st September 1953. Acting as his own defense counsel, Castro cited Jose Martí as the intellectual author of the attack and convinced the three judges to overrule the army's decision to keep all defendants handcuffed in court, proceeding to argue that the charge with which they were was incorrect, as they had risen up against Batista, who had seized power in an unconstitutional manner. The trial ended on 5th October, with the acquittal of most defendants. Castro was sentenced on 16th October 1953, during which he delivered a speech that would be printed under the title of "History Will Absolve Me". He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in the hospital wing of the Model Prison on the Isle of Pines (Today called Isle of Youth). Imprisoned with 25 comrades, Castro renamed his group the "26^th of July Movement" (MR-26-7) in memory of the Moncada attack. Castro and his comrades were released a year and a half later, on 15^th May 1955.