9781422279786

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Revolution B y late 1956, Fidel Castro was ready to launch his sec- ond attempt to overthrow the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. But his plan unraveled before the first shot had been fired. Castro had spent a year and a half in Mexico, where he’d organized, outfitted, and trained a group of fellow Cuban exiles to spearhead a revolution in their homeland. With funds provid- ed by a former Cuban president, Castro had bought an old yacht, the Granma , to transport his men to Cuba. On the night of November 25, 1956, the vessel slipped out of the Mexican port of Tuxpan. Crammed aboard were 82 eager revolutionaries . Castro planned to land his force at Niquero, a small town along Cuba’s southeastern coast, on November 30. The loca- tion and timing were important. Trucks, jeeps, weapons, and

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