Children reenact attack that triggered Cuban revolution

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(26 Jul 2003) • • 1. Exterior Moncada Barracks • 2. 50th anniversary banner • 3. Crowd watching • 4. Guards • 5. Crowd watching • 6. Traveling shot re-enactment attack on Moncada • 7. Various re-enactment • 8. Bullet holes in building • 9. Children standing guard • 10. Projected image on Moncada of fallen rebels • 11. Crowd watching • 12. Children storming Moncada • 13. Children waving Cuban flags • 14. Children standing outside barracks • 15. Santa Efigenia cemetery • 16. Various of wreath laying at tomb of Jose Marti • 17. Moncadista rebels at cemetery • 18. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Rafael Garcia, Moncada rebel: • For us this day signifies the day freedom arrived to this country. A freedom we have continued to fight for for over fifty years because we want to keep it and make it stronger every day. • 19. Relative of fallen rebel at tomb • 20. Moncadista rebel laying flowers at tomb • 21. Wreath at tomb • 22. Various of people laying flowers at tomb • • STORYLINE: • • Arriving outside the old military barracks early on Saturday in vintage American sedans, hundreds of Cuban schoolchildren wielding ancient BB guns re-enacted the armed attack that launched Fidel Castro's revolutionary battle 50 years before. • • Gunshots rang out over the Moncada barracks, setting off a day of 50th anniversary activities and preparation leading up to a key speech later that night by Castro, who was just 26 years old when he led a group of 129 revolutionaries in a raid on then-dictator Fulgencio Batista's army. • • More than a dozen of the men who survived that early disastrous attack, which ended Castro's revolutionary battle almost as soon as it started, attended the pre-dawn re-enactment at the former barracks that now serves as a primary school. • • Although they were initially caught off guard, Batista's soldiers gained control of the situation. Six attackers and 16 soldiers were reported killed during the resulting fire fight. • • Cuban historians say 55 of those captured were tortured to death, and the military killed 10 civilian bystanders. • • Many of the dead are buried at Santa Efigenia cemetery in Santiago where several survivors and relatives of the fallen rebels laid a wreath and flowers to commemorate the occasion. • • Although Castro's attempt to overtake the Moncada failed, it was a public relations success. Batista's violent response only brought Castro and his supporters more sympathy. • • During the subsequent trial, Castro, a trained lawyer, defended himself and gave a courtroom speech that brought him and his cause even more support. • • In the speech which was later secretly distributed, Castro said: I know that prison will be harder for me than it has been for anybody...but I do not fear it, as I do not fear the fury of the miserable tyrant .... convict me, it does not matter. History will absolve me . • • Castro and the other survivors were freed in a general amnesty after 22 months. They went to Mexico, where they organised a guerrilla campaign and toppled Batista's government on January 1, 1959. • • The Cuban leader, who will turn 77 in August, has now been in power for 44 years - the world's longest serving head of government. • • The anniversary of the attack, July 26, is now communist Cuba's most important national holiday - known here as the Day of National Rebellion. On the island, it replaced May 20, Cuban Independence Day, a date embraced by Cuban exiles as their own patriotic holiday. • • The imposing Moncada barracks were closed to the news media on Saturday as Castro's security team swept the area and erected a security perimeter for the evening speech on a stage outside the building. • • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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