The members of the 26th of July movement in Santiago de Cuba, under the command of Frank País had prepared an uprising as a backup for the landing, but, as the landing had been programmed for two days before, the uprising had ended in an unfortunate failure.

After the setback in Alegría de Pío, that dispersed the expeditionary forces, Fidel Castro and a group was able to reach the Sierra Maestra Mountains and create the initial nucleus of what would be the Rebel Army. The letter of introduction of the Rebel Army would be, barely a month afterwards, the attack and occupation of the small garrison "La Plata." This action would serve to refute the rumors spread by the dictatorship about the complete defeat and supposed extermination of the expeditionary forces.

In 1957, while the Rebel Army was gaining experience through a series of actions -among them the battle at "El Uvero"-, the underground struggle was developing in all its force in the cities. On March 13, a group of members of the Directorio Revolucionario failed in their purpose to kill the tyrant during an attack to the Presidential Palace. In the actions the President of the University Students’ Federation, José Antonio Echeverría was killed. To sabotage and other attempts the tyranny would respond intensifying torture, detentions and a wave of assassinations. In July Frank País was caught and assassinated in Santiago de Cuba, an act that would trigger a spontaneous popular strike and paralyzed most of the nation. Shortly after that, in September, the uprising of the naval station in Cienfuegos shows how deep the division was within the armed forces. The army was unable to defeat the Rebel Army in an offensive launched against it in the mountains where already two guerrilla columns were increasingly strong.

At the beginning of 1958, the revolutionary movement decides to speed up the offensive against the tyranny by means of a revolutionary general strike that at the same time had characteristics of insurrection.

Fidel Castro creates two new columns of the Rebel Army under the command of Raúl Castro and Juan Almeida respectively who are assigned the task to open respective guerrilla fronts in other mountainous regions in Oriente province. The strike of April 9 was unsuccessful and this was a serious setback for the revolutionary movement. Batista, on his part, considers that the time to put an end to the whole insurrection has come and decides to launch an offensive with 10 000 soldiers on the Sierra Maestra mountains.

The strategy used by the Rebel Army ended the tyranny of Batista.

In ferocious battles -Santo Domingo, El Jigüe, Vegas de Jibacoa, and others- the rebel troops defeat and destroy the battalions of the tyranny that could enter the mountains and force them into retreat.

This would be the definite turning point. The parties in the opposition, which up to that moment had been maneuvering to capitalize popular rebellion, hasten to admit the undoubted leadership of Fidel Castro.

Several rebel columns start for different parts of the country. The columns under the command of Ernesto Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos advance towards the province of Las Villas, where several groups of guerrilla fighters -from the Directorio Revolucionario and the People’s Socialist Party (Communist)- are already operating, among others.
	Rebel Army and people: Unity and action.

On November 20, under Fidel Castro’s personal direction the battle of Guisa was launched, action that marks the beginning of the final revolutionary offensive.

In coordinated actions, the now numerous columns integrating the II and III Oriental Fronts occupy several towns and close the circle around Santiago de Cuba. In Las Villas, Che Guevara occupies one after the other the towns alongside the central highway and gets ready for the final assault against the provincial capital, Santa Clara, while Camilo Cienfuegos obtains a resounding victory after a tenacious battle over the Yaguajay Garrison.

On January 1, 1959, Batista flees from the country and in a last minute maneuvering, with the blessings of the US Embassy in La Habana, General Eulogio Cantillo tries to establish a "civic-military" government board. Fidel Castro forces the surrender of the troops in Santiago de Cuba and calls the people to a general strike that, with the support of all the population, will finally guarantee the triumph of the Revolution.

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