From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 149-150
Image Count:
3
Description:
Fidel Castro in a home along the route followed by his victorious motorcade from Oriente to Havana in the first week after the rebel victory in January 1959. Surrounded by rebels, as well as civilian supporters who appear to reside at the home, Fidel is seen granting a television interview to a Cuban reporter (frames 9-17) and signing an autograph for a young adolescent Cuban girl wearing glasses (frames 3-7). Exact location of the event is unknown although it is likely that the home was located along the national highway, perhaps in Camagüey. See also Print 26.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 1
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 156-157
Image Count:
2
Description:
Taken on January 1, 1959, and stamped January 7, 1959, on the reverse side, these prints document the first victory speech given by Fidel Castro upon the fall and flight from Cuba of the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Having taken the reins of power in the city of Santiago de Cuba earlier that day, Fidel declared Santiago the temporary capital of the country and spoke for over three hours, well past midnight, to a huge crowd gathered in the city's central plaza. See also Prints 9, 20, 22, 39 and 41.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 180-181
Image Count:
2
Description:
These prints show Raúl Castro, surrounded by guerrillas, as he delivers his first national radio address after the fall of Batista; the address is apparently being televised from Oriente's central broadcasting station, CMKC, Radio Oriente. See also Prints 57, 58 and 59.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 186-189
Image Count:
4
Description:
These prints all relate to one of the first press conferences given by the revolutionary alliance of guerrillas, civilian leaders and members of the Catholic hierarchy at the Havana Hilton shortly after Fidel's victorious entrance into Havana. Print 61 shows an unidentified man wearing civilian clothes as he is being interviewed; the print includes a slightly out-of-focus picture of Andrew St. George, probably taken by himself to test the camera. Print 62 shows Fidel sitting with a panel of officials as they are greeted by admiring citizens at the Havana Hilton, probably moments before the press conference. Prints 63 and 64 show the press conference itself. Sitting to Fidel's immediate right is the Archbishop of Havana (see especially frames 16-19). They are joined by a number of other unidentified men in business suits. In both Prints 63 and 64, reporters are seen approaching the panel with a microphone and asking their questions at close range, apparently so that they could be filmed in the same shot as Fidel Castro for television.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 191-192
Image Count:
2
Description:
These prints document Fidel Castro's speech in an outside auditorium, probably in the city of Santa Clara, one of his last stops on the way to declaring a rebel victory in Havana. Frames 32-26 show closeup shots of a stage that is draped by the Cuban flag and two painted posters, one of Fidel and the other of a generic barbudo. In between these images is a small banner that reads: "Cadena Occidental de Radio."
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 13
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 2, folder 194-200
Image Count:
10
Description:
These prints feature incredible panoramic shots of Fidel's speech at a rally to denounce United States officials and press for criticizing the trials and denouncing the executions of former officials, police and intelligence agents of the fallen dictator and former United States ally, Fulgencio Batista. Fidel speaks from a platform on the grounds in front of the Presidential Palace before a sea of one million Cubans with Camilo Cienfuegos in cowboy hat at his side. Frames 16 & 17 of Print 69 show a sign to the right of Fidel and Camilo, plus another group that reads "Fidel, Martí y Maceo" with faces of both 19th century heroes flanking Fidel's face in center. Some of the writing says "Hoy!...justicia si!...piedad!" The same sign can be seen in frames 14 & 15 of Print 71, taken earlier in the day when the demonstrations began. It is likely that Fidel announced "Operation Truth" at this rally on January 13, 1959. "Operation Truth" was a plan to invite all interested foreign press to come to Cuba and witness the people's support for revolutionary justice against the Batistianos first hand. Print 72 features closeup images of some of the signs protestors held, such as a banner reading "American People Believe in Us" (frame 14). It also shows members of the organization of Cuban university students, or FEU, a major target of state terror under Batista, pretending to tie a noose around one student's neck and inviting this treatment for former police, military and officials of Batista. See also Print 68.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 3, folder 201-205
Image Count:
5
Description:
These prints document Fidel Castro's record five-hour press conference for foreign reporters participating in "Operation Truth" in the ballroom of a Havana hotel. "Operation Truth" represented Fidel Castro and the revolutionary government's response to the furious attacks in the foreign media and by United States officials on the summary trials and executions of former officers, police agents and intelligence agents responsible for state repression under Fulgencio Batista. Launched as a counter-campaign meant to bring the press to Cuba to witness the trials and their popularity among Cubans, "Operation Truth" paid the travel costs out of Cuban government coffers of all foreign reporters who would come. Fidel Castro at center; others present include all of the members of the original revolutionary government, including President Manuel Urrutia and Minister of the Treasury Rufo López Fresquet. See also Prints 81-91.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 14
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 3, folder 206-207
Image Count:
2
Description:
Overview shots of the public trials of Batistiano officials held in Havana's National Stadium. This trial in particular was held on January 14, 1959, before 18,000 spectators and members of the international press corps. The man tried was Captain Jesús Sosa Blanco, commander of the military garrison in Holguín, Oriente Province, and one of the most despised batistiano officials on the island. Calling the plan "Operation Truth," Fidel Castro had personally invited members of the international press to witness the trials and come to Cuba at the revolutionary government's expense. Operation Truth was launched earlier that week with the mass rally in support of the executions and trials of Batista's agents, largely considered war criminals and torturers by the public, depicted in Prints 69-75. The trials were the subject of an intense United States-led campaign to discredit the Cuban revolutionary government, but were immensely popular among Cubans. Fidel Castro and other members of the guerrilla movement presided over the trials; witnesses present included family members of Cubans who had been captured, tortured and had disappeared at the hands of the very men being tried. See also Prints 69-75, 83, 84, 85 and 86.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 14
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 3, folder 208-209
Image Count:
2
Description:
Captain Jesús Sosa Blanco, commander of Batista's military garrison in Holguín, stands handcuffed before his accusers in public trial and attempts to defend himself before the microphone. Sosa Blanco famously asked for clemency while ridiculing the trial, saying that he felt like a Christian in Roman times being thrown into a den of lions. This trial was held January 14th, 1959, at Havana's National Stadium. See also Prints 69-75, 81-82, 85-91.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1959 January 14
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 3, folder 215-216
Image Count:
2
Description:
These prints focus exclusively on family members of the victims of Batista's state terror as they testify against Captain Jesús Sosa Blanco at his internationally televised public trial held on January 14, 1959, in Havana's Stadium. The trial formed part of "Operation Truth," a campaign to convince foreign journalists and United States officials who rebuked the tribunals and executions that they were not only justified, but legitimate because of overwhelming public support. See also Prints 69-75, 81-89.