Some 82 expedition members, led by Fidel Castro, arrived on the island’s southeastern coast on December 2, 1956, after setting sail from Tuxpan, Mexico, on November 25.

They were ambushed by Batista’s army a few hours later. Most were killed or captured, and the survivors dispersed throughout the Sierra Maestra mountain range, located in the eastern Santiago de Cuba and Granma provinces.

A small group gathered in the mountain village of Cinco Palmas with just seven rifles, a context in which Fidel Castro uttered his famous phrase: “Now we will win the war.”

Those men paved the way for the Rebel Army, which, in just over two years, would defeat the dictatorship led by Batista (1952-1958) and achieve victory on January 1, 1959.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) were officially founded on December 2, 1961, as a tribute to that feat, to mobilize the people in defense of national sovereignty from the first moments of any aggression.

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