New York Times
July 8, 1957. p. 15.
Rebels Under Castro Project a Government to Follow an
Attack on Santiago
By R. Hart Phillips
HAVANA, July 6 – Rebel forces under Fidel Castro plan to set up a revolutionary Cuban Government, sources close to the rebel leader said today.
Formation of the government to be headed by Raul Chibas, brother of the late Eddy Chibas, founder of the opposition Ortodoxo party, is predicated on success of a contemplated insurgent attack on Santiago de Cuba, according to these sources.
Señor Castro, who is now in the Sierra Maestra of Oriente Province, would set up the government in Santiago de Cuba, where he has the most supporters, the sources said.
In accordance with the precedent of Carlos Manuel de Cepedes in 1868, when the Cubans were fighting Spain’s rule, the regime would be known as the Cuban Government Under Arms.
The naming of Raul Chibas as prospective chief of the regime is in line with a plan to consolidate the entire Cuban opposition in an effort to overthrow President Fulgencio Batista, March 10, 1952, deposed the then President, Carlos Prio Socarras, and seized the Cuban Government, the opposition has been split into many factions.
Now, however, it appears that opponents of General Batista may be united under the aegis of the Ortodoxo party. It is significant that a son of Roberto Agramonte, head of the Ortodoxo party; a son of Sergio Carbo, publisher of the newspaper Prensa Libre, and a son of Felipe Pazo Pazos, former President of the National Bank of Cuba, are reported in the mountains with Señor Castro.
Dr. Roberto Agramonte has been granted political asylum in the Mexican Embassy, after a hand of armed men, identifying themselves as Government agents, broke into his house and searched it. Rebel sources say the search was for a list containing the names of leaders of the projected regime with Señor Chibas as president and members of his Cabinet together with plans for the setting up of the Government Under Arms. However, the Chief of the National Police, General Hernando Hernandez, denied that the band of raiders hand any connection with the armed forces of the nation.
There is a marked enthusiasm in rebel sources here in Cuba, and it is apparent that some dramatic move is in the works.
Sources close to President Batista, however, assert that the Government has long wanted the rebels to come out of the mountains for an open fight.
Señor Castro, who landed with about eighty men in Oriente, Cuba’s easternmost province, last December, has been successful in guerrilla activities, attacking military posts and killing eight or nine men at a time. If he were to stage open attack on Santiago, he would be challenging the unquestionable superiority of the Government.
At the same time, Government sources do not lose sight of the fact that the readiness of the rebels to talk about an attack on Santiago may be a cover for an attack on another key city in Oriente province, for example, the port of Manzanillo.
For several weeks the Government has been pouring troops into Oriente. Headquarters of the operations against Señor Castro, established at Estrada Palma, a sugar mill near Palma Soriano, twenty miles west of Santiago, is under Col. Pedro Barrera. Hundreds of rumors have circulated concerning fighting between Colonel Barrera’s troops and the rebels, but Camp Columbia, Army headquarters in Havana, has denied every report of clashes.
Señor Castro has been increasing his forces and it is believed that he has about 500 men.
A statement by a clandestine radio station of the Castro rebels, saying that his forces were holding Colonel Barrera as prisoner was proven false today. This correspondent talked by telephone with Colonel Barrera in his headquarters.
The correspondent put in the call to Estrada Palma, about 600 miles from Havana, and the connection was made quickly.
In the indications that the Castro forces may make a supreme effort soon, the date of July 26 has been mentioned . On July 26, 1953, Señor Castro heading a poorly armed group, attacked Moncada with a loss of 100 lives. Señor Castro escaped, largely through the help of Archbishop Enrique Perez Serantes. The present Castro forces are known as the Twenty-sixth of July Movement.