Yesterday, on 1st January the Cuban Revolution celebrated its 55th birthday. 
With a one-day delay, I have brought you three articles (one in Spanish and two in English) that deal with this extemely important event and tell the story of the Cuban Revolution in a shorter and in a more detailed way.
Enjoy reading!

1959 Cuba: Batista forced out by Castro-led revolution

On this day in 1959, facing a popular revolution spearheaded by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees the island nation. Amid celebration and chaos in the Cuban capitol of Havana, the U.S. debated how best to deal with the radical Castro and the ominous rumblings of anti-Americanism in Cuba.
The U.S. government had supported Batista, a former soldier and Cuban dictator from 1933 to 1944, who seized power for a second time in a 1952 coup. After Castro and a group of followers, including the South American revolutionary Che Guevara(1928-1967), landed in Cuba to unseat the dictator in December 1956, the U.S. continued to back Batista. Suspicious of what they believed to be Castro's leftist ideology and worried that his ultimate goals might include attacks on the U.S.'s significant investments and property in Cuba, American officials were nearly unanimous in opposing his revolutionary movement.
Cuban support for Castro's revolution, however, grew in the late 1950s, partially due to his charisma and nationalistic rhetoric, but also because of increasingly rampant corruption, greed, brutality and inefficiency within the Batista government. This reality forced the U.S. to slowly withdraw its support from Batista and begin a search in Cuba for an alternative to both the dictator and Castro; these efforts failed.
On January 1, 1959, Batista and a number of his supporters fled Cuba for the Dominican Republic. Tens of thousands of Cubans (and thousands of Cuban Americans in the U.S.) celebrated the end of the dictator's regime. Castro's supporters moved quickly to establish their power. Judge Manuel Urrutia was named as provisional president. Castro and his band of guerrilla fighters triumphantly entered Havana on January 7.

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Another interesting article in English: [This week in history]
An article in Spanish language: [55 aniversario de la Revolución Cubana ]
 

Először is szeretnék minden kedves látogatómnak örömökben gazdag, boldog új évet kívánni 2014-re!

A mai frissítés egy videóból áll: Che Guevara lánya, Aleida interjút adott (arról nincs információ, mikor, kinek és hol) és bár a felvétel spanyol nyelvű, mindenki élvezheti a bejátszott archív felvételeket, amelyeken Che Guevara látható - időnként színesben.


 

First of all, I would like to wish a wonderful, happy new year to all my lovely visitors for 2014! 

The update for today is a simple video: Che Guevara's daughter, Aleida gave an interview (there is no information about when, where and to whom) and although it is in Spanish, everyone can enjoy watching the archive footage where Che Guevara can be seen - sometimes in colour.
 

Tegnap találtam egy kubai híroldalról származó cikket a Santa Clara-i Che Guevara Komplexumról, amely december 28-án ünnepelte a felavatásának 25. évfordulóját - és egyben a Santa Clara-i csata 55. évfordulóját.

Forrás

Korábban már írtam egy összefoglalót az emlékhelyről [itt olvasható] ezért a cikkből csak azokat a részeket emelem most ki, amelyek új információval szolgálnak.

- A tér 17 556 négyzetméter területű és százezer ember befogadására alkalmas.
- Az emelvény 2000 négyzetméter területű és kilencszáz embert képes befogadni.
- Mindkét oldalon tizennégy pálmafa áll - ezzel utalva Che Guevara születési évére (1928) és napjára (14).
- A reliefeken 144 alak látható, köztük maga Che, Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, Celia Sanchez, a 4. hadoszlop tagjai, valamint bolíviai gerillák. Olyan eseményeket örökítettek meg, mint a Las Villas-i hadjárat, a Santa Clara-i csata, a 31.-es barakk elfoglalása, a páncélvonat kisiklatása, Che önkéntes munka közben és a írástudatlanság felszámolását célzó kampány. 
 

Yesterday I found an article on a Cuban news site - it is about the Che Guevara Complex in Santa Clara that celebrated its 25th birthday on 28th December - on the same day when we celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Battle of Santa Clara.

Source

I have already written a summery about the complex [here you can read it] that is why I translate only those parts that give us new information.

- The square has an area of 17,556 square metres and its capacity is enough for a hundred thousand people. 
- The gallery has an area of 2,000 square metres and its capacity is enough for nine hundred people.
- On each side fourteen palm trees stand - referring to the birthdate of Che Guevara - 14 of July 1928.
- On the murals there are 144 figures, including Che himself, Fidel Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, Celia Sanchez, the members of the column Nr 4. and Bolivian guerrillas. There are such events shown like the campaign in Las Villas, the battle of Santa Clara, the occupation of the barracks Nr 31, the derailment of the armoured train, Che's doing some voluntary work and the Literacy campaign.
 

I found an interesting interview (it is not a fresh one as it was published in 2008) - today I am sharing it with you.


Jesus Parra Barreros, one of Ernesto "Che" Guevara's comrades-in-arms, gave an exclusive interview to RIA Novosti on the iconic revolutionary's 80^th birthday.

Question: On the eve of Che Guevara's 80^th birthday, could you describe one of the funniest and one of the saddest episodes from his life?

Answer: Well, I don't remember a lot of funny episodes, but I know many tales of the war. I had the honor to be Che's military adjutant, a kind of a secretary.

I can tell you one tragic-comic story. During the famous offensive, when we were moving from the east to the center of the Island in Las Villas, in the Escambray Mountains, we were caught in a government army trap in a place called "four comrades." Che said that if we met the enemy, we should run to the south. The funny thing was that many captains were not educated enough to orient themselves. They were peasants from Sierra Maestra, and simply fled in all directions. Che ordered me to tell them to flee to the south.

During a shoot-out I ran across two captains, Ángel Frías and Joel Iglesias, and told them what Che suggested. They said that they were illiterate, and did not know where the south was. I explained them that since we were moving from the east to the west, to Las Villas, the east was behind us, the west in front of us, and the south to the left, and that this was where we should be going. They replied that they had circled too much, and lost their orientation. It was difficult for them to find the south.

I returned to Che and told him the problem. Che asked me to help them. I was not very knowledgeable myself, but was more educated than them. Che advised me to orient them using the Pole Star. I went back and told them to look for it. They looked at me in bewilderment, and said: "Have you looked at the skies? We don't see any Pole Star." It dawned on me that the skies were overcast and the Pole Star was not visible. You can imagine, it was a comic moment because we did not know where to flee.

As for a sad episode from Che's life, I can tell you the following story. It happened when we were fighting in Santa Clara. There was a soldier by the name of Roberto Rodriguez, whom we called "el Vaquerito", or a Little Shepherd. He was very tiny, but very courageous. He used to exaggerate everything, and told us fantastic stories, and... we appreciated him for that. When we entered Santa Clara, Che ordered him to seize a police station with his 30-strong detachment. He suggested setting up a commando squad but Che said: "What you want to do is suicide." From then on, his detachment came to be called the Suicide Unit. During the fight for the police station, the Little Shepherd was killed by a shot to the head. On learning of his death, we rushed to the city's hospital where his corpse was. Che came with us. He said that considering the Little Shepherd's valiance, resolve, and courage, features which he had displayed in every battle, because he really was ready to sacrifice his life, it was possible to say that "by killing him they killed a hundred people."

I think this was one of the moments when Che displayed emotion, which is quite normal for real men, great warriors. There are people who say that at that very moment he wept. Knowing Che, I doubt that, but he became very human and sentimental in such sad moments.

Q.: Why do you think he still lives in the hearts of Latin Americans?

A.: I'll express my personal opinion. Che was the incarnation of revolutionary and moral integrity. He was an example of boldness and resolve during fighting, and in everyday life. Che always shared everything he had, and respected the opinion of his soldiers, his mates. He was not one of those leaders who only order others to do something; he was the first to do everything himself. This was the best example for all of us, and we followed it without a murmur. Che personified a revolutionary fighter whom many tried to copy. He was a man of great inner culture and advanced ideas.

It would not be a mistake to say that Che was a man of those times, a man who seemed to have traversed the roads of the future and come back. It seemed that he had looked into the future, and returned to us with the knowledge of the country's political and cultural development, its industrialization, and all aspects of its economy, politics and social system.

This is why Che still exerts influence on Latin America and the rest of the world, even after his death.

Q.: What advice would you give to the younger generation, which is losing the values of older people, such as honor and honesty?

A.: I'd advise them to read more about outstanding people. Latin Americans should concentrate on their heroes, Europeans on their own, and so on and so forth. 

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