0:00:03.639,0:00:07.849 0:00:07.849,0:00:08.099 0:00:08.099,0:00:09.643 when it became clear he was not going 0:00:09.643,0:00:11.520 be re-elected. He placed Cuba under a 0:00:11.520,0:00:13.270 repressive military dictatorship 0:00:13.270,0:00:15.110 and began to establish close 0:00:15.110,0:00:16.140 relations with the United States. 0:00:16.140,0:00:17.280 This allowed American 0:00:17.280,0:00:19.230 companies to buy up the majority of 0:00:19.231,0:00:23.231 Cuba's natural resources, plus under his 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 rule, the country became a haven for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 organized crime syndicates, all of which 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 angered a young lawyer named Fidel Castro. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Castro put together a group of 138 men 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and on July 26th, 1953, attacked an[br]isolated 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Barracks in Moncada in the hope of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 securing more weapons. The attack was a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disaster, and the rebels were fought back. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 securing more weapons. The attack was a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disaster, and the rebels were fought back. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Most of those who were not killed were 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 captured, including Fidel and his brother 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Raúl. The public trial of the captured 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Rebels helped turn public opinion and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Castro's favor when he argued against 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the dictatorship and said, "History will 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 absolve me". He was sentenced to 15 years 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in prison, but Batista was under 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 International and Domestic pressure for 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 reforms and released the political 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 prisoners in just two years. Fidel and Raúl 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fled to Mexico to regroup and make new 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 plans for the revolution. They met with 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 other Cuban exiles and an Argentinian 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 doctor named Che Guevara, who joined the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 '26th of July Movement'. [br]In the meantime, a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 controversial election and increasing 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 unemployment in Cuba, led to more and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 more anti-Batista riots, although they 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 weren't necessarily socialist. Batista 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 responded by becoming even more 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 oppressive, which led to even more people 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 calling for him to resign. Back in Mexico, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the revolutionaries purchased a small 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 yacht named 'Granma' and in November 1956, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 82 Men set sail for Cuba. The Cuban 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 government, however, was aware that the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 rebels were returning to Cuba and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 attacked them. Only a handful of them 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 survived to escape up into the mountains. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 From their Mountain Base they gathered 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 new supporters and launched guerrilla 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 attacks on Military targets. Plus, foreign 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 journalists were allowed to visit, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 along with their Pirate Radio Station, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this gave their struggle International 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 attention and ultimately increased their 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 popularity. Meanwhile, in the cities too, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 new rebel groups were launching attacks 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 against Batista. Angered and desperate, in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 1958, Batista sent a large army into the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 mountains to try and flush the rebels 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 out once and for all. However, this was a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disaster and the hardened guerrilla 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 fighters were able to fight them back, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 causing many in the Army to switch sides. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The rebels then saw this as the perfect 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 opportunity to launch a Counterattack. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Che Guevara took control of one arm of the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Rebel Army and headed to Santa Clara. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Cienfuegos took another and marched into 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Yaguajay and Castro followed with the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 reinforcements. As they passed through 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 towns and villages, they were largely 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 welcomed, demonstrating to the world that 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Batista's regime was on the brink of 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 falling. The International Community 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 persuaded Batista to flee, allowing the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 rebels to move into Havana in January, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 1959, relatively unopposed. The 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 revolutionaries took control of Cuba and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 their leaders, Fidel, Raúl and Che, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 consolidated their power by wiping out 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 all remnants of Batista from the island, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and arrested and killed many of those 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 old supporters. This, as well as a few 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 other repressive laws, led to a large 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 number of people fleeing to the US. On 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the other hand, they nationalized the 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 land that was owned by us companies, shut 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 down the Mob's casinos and set about 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 reforming and improving health 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 facilities, housing and schools. These 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 socialist policies angered the Americans, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 who decided to place economic sanctions 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on them. The US would also go on to aid a 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 group of Cuban Exiles, in an attempt to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 oust Fidel Castro in 1962. But the infamous 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 'Bay of Pigs' invasion was a disaster. In 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the aftermath of the 'Bay of Pigs' 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 invasion, Castro announced that Cuba was 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a Socialist Republic and rushed into 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 seeking an alliance with the Soviets, and 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this friendship led to one of the most 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 infamous consequences of the revolution, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 'The Cuban Missile Crisis'. The revolution 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 spurred on left-wing idealists in Latin 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 America, whose actions indirectly led to 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 far-right reactionary dictatorships in 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 countries like Argentina and Chile.