New York Times
January 15, 1958. p. 1.
Special to The New York
Times
HAVANA, Jan. 14—Rebel columns struck boldly into the plains around the big sugar port of Manzanillo in southeastern Cuba today.
Fidel Castro’s insurgents are laying waste to rice and sugar plantations, harassing transportation, and taking supplies and prisoners in the districts around Manzanillo, Campechulea, and Yara.
Persons arriving here from Oriente Province, seat of Señor Castro’s rebellion against the Government, said residents of Manzanillo were abandoning the district because of the activities of the rebels and the repressive methods of the armed forces and pro-Government bands.
No longer do the rebels hide in the adjacent Sierra Maestra. The bands now number from 200 to 400 well-armed and uniformed men, according to inhabitants of the district. At times they appear openly in the small towns, making purchases and leaving leisurely.
During last week the rebels began carrying out threats to destroy the rice crop in Oriente Province. The plantation of Senator Guillermo Aguilera, located fifteen minutes from Manzanillo, was raided by a group that burned the warehouses, offices, garage and home and destroyed agricultural equipment. Several other large rice plantations also were burned.
The equipment of a sugar mill owned by Julio Lobo, who owns and controls several mills in Cuba, has been destroyed. Another mill near Campechulea was attacked by rebels and most of the equipment was burned.
Rebels also assaulted the airport of Manzanillo Christmas Eve. In the battle several soldiers guarding the airport were wounded. The insurgents raided a near-by Government hospital, carrying off all medical supplies.
The rebels have been halting buses, ordering passengers out and burning the vehicles. Saturday a bus traveling from Manzanillo to Bayamo was burned.
A Diesel motor train enroute from Manzanillo to Bayamo last week also was attacked. The rebels took from the train an army corporal named Julio Suarez, who was dressed in civilian clothes. He was carried off a prisoner.
Many private cars traveling the roads from Manzanillo to Bayamo that run through the foothills of the Sierra Maestra have been stopped and searched.
At the same time, a group of twenty-five armed followers of Senator Rolando Masferrer, a supporter of President Fulgencio Batista, has been operating in and around Manzanillo. They have killed so many youths believed to sympathize with the Fidel Castro rebels that the inhabitants of Manzanillo have asked Gen. Alberto Rio Chavino, military chief of Oriente Province, to remove the group.
Reports from Manzanillo said the appeal had been granted.
Manzanillo was reported quiet today but tension was rising. It was feared that the rebels might attack the town at any time.
With the rebels becoming bolder, troops in the district around Manzanillo have been placed on the defensive. Detatchements no longer enter the Sierra Maestra in pursuit of the insurgent bands.
HAVANA, Jan. 14 (AP)—Rebels resumed sabotage in province, the westernmost Pinar del Rio, today. Three bombs were exploded, one in a commercial school. No casualties were reported, but four tobacco-curing houses were burned.
Dr. Manuel Urrutia, Cuban Opposition leader, charged yesterday that President Batista had encouraged gambling and contraband in narcotics as “one way of corrupting the people.”
A 56-year-old retired judge, Dr. Urrutia is the choice of Señor Castro and two other major Opposition groups for Provisional President in the event the Batista Government is overthrown. He spoke at a news conference at the Inter American Association for Depocracy and Freedom, 67 West Forty-fourth Street.
Dr. Urrutia said he believed in “absolute repression” of gambling in Cuba, and added that “tourism should be attracted by more decent features.” He said he believed there was a connection between Cuban politicians and gangsters, including members of the Mafia.
Asked about the lottery, he noted that this was a tradition in Latin-American countries and said he would have to study that situation.
Dr. Urrutia contended that 90 per cent of Cubans opposed President Batista and forecast the Government’s overthrow within “several months.”
Miss Frances R. Grant, the association’s secretary general, said her organization was preparing a report on terrorism and suppression of human rights by the Batista Government to present to the United Nations with a request for investigation.