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Charge: Che Guevara paid for the train in Santa Clara.
During the Cuban Revolutionary War the most important battle was the Battle of Santa Clara and the most decisive moment was when Che Guevara and his combatants used a bulldozer to derail an armoured train that was carrying a huge load of provisions and ammunition for Batista’s army, and 373 armed soldiers.
Three of the twenty-two cars fell off the track and overturned, the others were attacked by Molotov-cocktails and gunfire. Soon the soldiers inside couldn't tolerate the heat and the attacks anymore and they surrendered themselves to Che.
The rebels seized the weapons and the ammunition - twelve hours later, after Batista heard the news, he left Cuba forever.
However, there are some people who claim that things did not happen the way as it has been told so far.
Gutiérrez Menoyo claimed that he was the person to whom Batista's troops wanted to surrender. The train was under the command of Lieutenant Rossel - he was offered a promotion and his soldiers were offered a guarantee by Menoyo, but then Rossel's brother had a talk with Che Guevara, and finally the troops surrendered to the Argentinian comandante. Menoyo said that later he asked Che what he had offered to the troops, but Che had just laughed and never told him the truth.
Antonio Nuñez Jiménez (a member of Che's column, who wrote about the derailed train) denied Menoyo's claims and he insisted that there was a derailment.
Fulgencio Batista claimed that there was a surrender and Che Guevara gave 350,000 or one million dollars for the train.
Ramón Barquin, the only Batista officer who was put into prison for conspiracy against the dictator, claimed that the train was handed over as part of a deal.
Ismael Suárez de la Paz, a member of the July 26th movement in Santa Clara, swore that a straightforward surrender happened.
Source: Jorge G. Castañeda: Compañero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara
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