Manifesto No. 1 of the M-26-7 (July 26 Movement) to the People of Cuba

On August 8, 2025, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) commemorated the 70th anniversary of "Manifesto No. 1 of the M-26-7 (26th of July Movement) to the People of Cuba", a revolutionary program drafted by Fidel Castro during his exile in Mexico which was released on August 8, 1955.

On X he posted:

On the PCC website the manifesto was released in full and we have translated it from the Spanish:

Manifesto No. 1 of the M-26-7 (July 26 Movement) to the People of Cuba

I live for my country and for its real freedom,

although I know that life will not be enough

for me to enjoy the fruit of my labors,

and that this service must be done

with the security, and the courage,

of not waiting for a reward. -- JOSÉ MARTÍ

My duties to the homeland and to my convictions are above all human effort, so I will reach the pedestal of the free or I will succumb fighting for the redemption of my people. -- ANTONIO MACEO

Under this nom de guerre, which evokes a date of national rebellion, the Cuban revolutionary movement is organizing today and prepares for its great task of redemption and justice.

With the explicit agreement of its leaders, I was given the responsibility of drafting this initial manifesto to the country, as well as any future ones that will be released clandestinely.

In fulfilling this mission that duty imposes on me, I do not hesitate to assume the responsibility of signing these proclamations that will be a constant harangue to the people, an unambiguous call to revolution, and a frontal attack on the clique of criminals that tramples on the honor of the nation and governs its destinies against the grain of its history and the sovereign will of the people. Although I am currently outside the national territory and beyond the reach of the courts that enforce the sentences dictated by the master, I did not hesitate to unmask the executioners directly in front of the tribunal that judged me. From the prisons, I accused the dictator and his ruthless generals of the Moncada crimes in a manifesto on January 6, 1954. I rejected the amnesty with preconditions, and once free, I revealed to the people the cruel and inhuman nature of the Batista regime. I am unconcerned with any accusations that may be brought against me before the emergency courts! Cuba is my homeland, and I will either never return or come back with dignity, as I have vowed. The ships are burned: we must either win back our homeland at any cost, where we can live with dignity and honor, or we will be left without it.

"Homeland is something more than oppression, something more than a piece of land without freedom and without life."

There is little need to defend the choice of this medium to present our ideas. The shutdown of the newspaper La Calle, which gained public support through its brave position, boosting its circulation to over twenty thousand copies in just a few weeks, marked the continuation of the more or less overt censorship that the dictatorship has imposed on the legal press in Cuba for over three years.

The spirit of censorship and the Law of Public Order with which the regime wanted to hide the barbaric massacre of the Moncada from the people, weighs like a claw suspended on the organs of public opinion. The shutdown of Luis Orlando's civic newspaper served as yet another warning to the press that their opinions must remain within certain boundaries, which are, in truth, harmless to those in power. This was similar to previous events, such as the torture of Mario Kuchilán and Armando Hernández, the attack on the Universidad del Aire and the newspaper Pueblo, the reprimand of the CMKC announcers, assaults on numerous photojournalists, and the sentencing of Luis Conte Agüero and Pincho Gutiérrez. Additionally, the closures of Pardo Llada, Guido García Inclán, Max Lesnick, Rivadulla, García Sifredo, and other acts of arbitrariness contribute to the ongoing chapter of aggression against free expression of thought since March 10.

The government inquiry was especially vicious on the author of this text. Due to our articles in Bohemia magazine, which addressed the cowardly provocation of a contemptible lackey who who came for wool and came out shorn, they imposed a strict and permanent ban on our appearances on any radio or television platform.

Twice consecutively, the Cuban People's Party was restricted from broadcasting, with the stipulation that it could only continue if our voice remained unheard by the public. In an urgent telegram numbered 142 R-OU-OF dated June 13, 1955, the company was notified that proceedings had begun to strip me of that right. An unusual situation: it wasn't a station or a program that was shut down, but a citizen. Ramón Vasconcelos, who has been involved in all government affairs, bought a newspaper when he was a minister under Carlos Prío. From its pages, he launched severe attacks against him after gaining power and influence, yet no one silenced him—not even Batista before March 10, as he was pursuing a senatorial position within orthodoxy. Vasconcelos had indeed discovered a unique method to suppress the truth.

All the mechanisms of power were effectively employed to enforce the slogan of silencing me everywhere, highlighting how any new moral expression is stifled in Cuba today amidst the disgraceful alliance of oppression, vested interests, and widespread hypocrisy.

Thus, when Santiago Rey, another cynic who was a PRI member until March 10, 1952, a Batista supporter until October 10, 1944, and a Machado ally until August 12, 1933, ordered the shutdown of the newspaper La Calle, it coincided with the publication of our article titled "You can no longer live here." In that piece, we addressed one of Colonel Carratalá's absurd accusations and challenged him to bring to court the names of the police chiefs who had profited from illegal gambling. As a result, we lost our platform to express our views.

They took similar actions with all public events announced with our presence, starting with the gathering to welcome political prisoners on the university steps. They even went as far as banning a film that documented our visit with Guido García Inclán to the National News, annoyed by the public's displays of support.

We find ourselves unable to speak, write, perform public acts, or exercise any civic rights. It is as though we are not Cubans, as if we have no rights in our own country, as if we were born as outcasts and slaves in the glorious land of our immortal liberators.

Is that called constitutionality, equality before the law, and guarantees for civic struggle?

In Cuba, the only ones who can write freely are those contributing to the six publications supported by the dictatorship with funds taken from teachers and public employees. In Cuba, only the regime's unwavering supporters or those who engage in a compliant and non-threatening opposition can gather without restriction. In Cuba, only those who submit have the right to live.

The regime's insincerity and the petty manner in which it granted the amnesty that the people demanded were apparent from the outset. Just three days after we returned to the streets, the first false accusation of subversive activities was made against us. This happened when our families had barely had the chance to welcome us and express their joy, naively believing that a new era of peace and respect for citizens was beginning, and that their children would not be drawn back into the maelstrom of revolutionary conflict. This agony and martyrdom, ongoing for three and a half years, causes the deepest sorrow not for the combatants who fight bravely despite the risks, but for the mothers who, as Martí said, are "love and not reason," and who cry with inconsolable pain.

We had changed prisons. Everywhere, there was a display of hunger and injustice. The difficult fight demanded by ideals, dignity, and duty resumed, only to end when there are no more oppressors in Cuba or when the last revolutionary falls on the sorrowful and martyr-filled land.

To those who question our resolve to fulfill our promise, who think we are powerless because we lack personal wealth for our cause or millions taken from the people, remember the 26th of July. Recall that a small group of underestimated men, without any economic resources and armed only with their dignity and ideals, faced Cuba's second military fortress and succeeded where others with vast resources have not. Remember that there is a people who trust their honest defenders and are willing to collect the necessary funds, penny by penny, so that the weapons that will secure freedom with clean blood and money are not left unarmed again. Remember, ultimately, that for every young person who fell in Santiago de Cuba, thousands more await the call to fight, with a hundred thousand idealists now forming the revolutionary reserve of the people. And for every person who writes cowardly messages of submission, surrender, and compromise with oppressors, urging our people to peacefully accept tyranny and abandon their tradition of rebellion and dignity, as if nothing happened in Cuba on March 10, there are a million voices condemning them.

The voices of those who are going hungry in the countryside and cities, the desperate voices of those who have no work or hope of finding any, the outraged voices of our workers, for whom Batista seized power in a cursed moment, the voices of a whole people oppressed and ridiculed, who have witnessed their children being killed in the shadows, and who refuse to live without rights and freedom.

Those who think a revolutionary movement's value lies in the millions it can mobilize, rather than in the reason, idealism, determination, and integrity of its fighters, are truly obstinate. As Martí stated, "What matters is not the number of weapons in hand, but the number of stars on the forehead!"

To those who ask us to abandon the revolutionary struggle in order to accept the alms of legality offered by the regime, we reply: why don't you first ask Batista to renounce power?

He is the only obstacle; he was the one who resorted to violence when all legal avenues were open; he fixes and protects the henchmen who murder and kill; he, he alone, is the one who has caused this situation of uncertainty, unrest and ruin.

Why request that people give up their rights instead of asking a fortunate adventurer to relinquish the power that isn't rightfully theirs?

To those who shamelessly advise attendance at by-elections as a national solution, we reply: who cares about these elections? The dissatisfaction lies not with the politicians seeking office, but with the people yearning for justice. Those who reduce their serious political, social, and economic issues to merely fulfilling the ambitions of a dwindling number of candidates for a few mayoral and representative positions underestimate Cubans. What has politics provided the country in the past fifty years? Speeches, empty promises, deceitful parades, lies, compromises, betrayals, the illicit enrichment of a few swindlers, empty rhetoric, corruption, and disgrace. We do not view politics as ordinary politicians do. We are not concerned with personal gain but with the welfare of the people we serve selflessly, driven by a mission of redemption. Glory outweighs triumph, and "true glory is the contentment of the soul." If we seek power, it is as a means, not an end. We are not tempted by the electoral scraps with which Batista buys his minor adversaries; the pride with which we disdain them is worth more than all electoral positions combined.

To those who talk about general elections, we ask: elections with Batista or without Batista? With Batista, the general elections of November 1 were the most scandalous and fraudulent in our republican life, an indelible stain on our democratic tradition, which took us back to stages that seemed to have been overcome forever. How do the proponents of the electoral solution led by Batista respond to this situation? What arguments remain for them after this unprecedented scandal? Didn't they previously use the same reasons, the same words, the same lies? Who can forget the mobilization of tanks along the roads and Tabernilla's dramatic farewells at the Terminal Station, as if the soldiers were heading to a battlefield? After the experience in November and a coup d'état eighty days before the elections on March 10, simply because they lacked the best chance of winning, can anyone convince our skeptical people to believe in an honest election with Batista in power? Those who try to rekindle the illusion that the events of '44 can be repeated deliberately and criminally betray the people. They attempt to convince us that the circumstances are the same, ignoring the signs of the times and failing to recognize the current era of an America increasingly dominated by reactionary dictatorships, contrasting with the period when that event occurred under the opposite sign of a world stirred by a wave of popular enthusiasm and democratic optimism, which, with the latest developments in Europe, fostered hopes of a happier and more humane future for the peoples. At that time, Batista yielded to world public opinion just as the ruling cliques of Peru, Venezuela, Guatemala, and other countries in the Americas were forced to yield.

The only civic solution that we would accept, the only honest, logical and fair one is that of immediate general elections without Batista.

In the meantime, we will continue tirelessly in our revolutionary line. To those who insist that general elections are the sole solution: what is their plan if, as expected, Batista outright refuses to grant them? Will they simply lament like Magdalenes for what they lacked the courage to demand with dignity? "Rights are seized, not asked for; they are wrested, not pleaded for." The people are also awaiting their response.

To those who claim that the 1940 Constitution has been restored, we say that they are blatantly lying. A fundamental principle of our constitution strictly prohibits presidential reelection, and Batista was re-elected to office on November 1. He didn't resign; instead, he requested leave and left one of his servants in the Presidential Palace. According to the constitution, if anyone has held the position, they cannot occupy it again until eight years have passed. Therefore, Batista's continued presence in the presidency is unconstitutional.

Another principle asserts that sovereignty resides with the people and all authority originates from them. If this holds true, then the Constitution is valid, and none of those who appointed themselves in the unilateral and fraudulent elections of November 1 have the right to hold their positions, thus they must all resign immediately. Sovereignty belongs to the people, not the military. Batista is the primary adversary of our constitution, which he disgracefully dismantled on March 10; both cannot coexist in the same republic.

To those who accuse the revolution of disturbing the country's economy, we respond: for the peasants who have no land there is no economy, for the million Cubans who are out of work there is no economy, for the railroad workers, port workers, sugar workers, henequen workers, textile workers, bus workers and many other sectors whose salaries Batista has ruthlessly lowered there is no economy, and it will only become a reality for everyone through a revolution of justice that redistributes land, harnesses the country's vast wealth, and equalizes social conditions by eliminating privilege and exploitation. Can we anticipate this miracle from the candidates running in the upcoming partial elections?

Or is it perhaps the economy of the senators who earn five thousand pesos a month, of the millionaire generals, of the foreign trusts that exploit public services, of the large landowners, of the tribe of parasites who thrive and enrich themselves at the expense of the state and the people? So: welcome the revolution that disturbs the economy of the few who enjoy it immensely! After all, man does not live by bread alone.

And another question for those discussing the economy: isn't Batista jeopardizing the country's credit for the next thirty years? Isn't the public debt exceeding eight hundred million pesos? Isn't there a deficit of over a hundred million? Isn't he pledging the nation's monetary reserves to foreign banks in a desperate search for money? Doesn't he waste the three hundred and fifty million pesos from the latest loan on jet-propelled airplanes and similar items, without any plan, program, or guidance beyond his personal whims? Can a country's future be gambled with in this manner? Did anyone authorize him to embark on these reckless credit ventures? Did he consult the public in any way? How much do the millions transferred to U.S. banks by individuals close to Batista amount to? It is our responsibility, more than anyone else's, to be concerned, because we and future generations will bear the brunt of the consequences from this corrupt and uncontrolled policy.

The country's own economy demands an immediate and radical change of government.

To those who claim that the revolution brings sorrow to Cuban families, we respond: it is hunger in the Cuban fields that brings sorrow, decimating families; it is corrupt politicians stealing from hospitals who bring sorrow; it is the henchmen who murdered Rubén Batista, the Santiago couple Oscar Medina Salomón and María Rodríguez, the Camagüey labor leader Mario Aróstegui, the authentic leader Mario Fortuny, the revolutionary soldier Gonzalo Miranda Oliva, the Navy commander Jorge Agostini, and 60 young prisoners in the Moncada barracks who bring sorrow. This is the blood of students, workers, professionals, honest soldiers, men and women from all parties and social classes; pure blood, honest blood, Cuban blood, the blood of combatants who could not defend themselves at the moment of their sacrifice.

The spokespeople of the dictatorship now emphasize civic strife and legal means as the path their opponents should follow more than ever. However, they didn't hold this view on March 10, when they committed the most unjustifiable crime against the nation. Back then, all civic and legal avenues for political struggle were open. Now, after closing all peaceful paths, they speak of peace; now, after everyone has been forced to adapt, they praise legality. After nearly four years in power, a power they have no right to wield, profiting openly, distributing benefits among friends, loyalists, and relatives, and using abuse and imposition to maintain their privileges, they proclaim that the only fair and decent way to oppose them is through politics. Politics, as Martí envisioned and as we understand it, is the art of preserving the homeland in peace and greatness, not the vile art of amassing wealth at its expense. "The homeland is not a tool to be manipulated at will; nor is the republic a means to provide a comfortable life for the lazy and arrogant, who, in their selfishness, consider themselves the natural rulers of an inferior people."

To those who sing their songs of piety in favor of peace, as if peace could exist without freedom, law, or justice, they have yet to find the right words to condemn the HUNDRED CRIMES committed since March 10. They remain silent on the daily abuses, midnight home invasions, arbitrary detentions, false accusations, and unjust convictions. What have they said about the young man from Guantanamo, a humble agent of the newspaper La Calle, who was horrifically tortured, with corrosive acid thrown on his strangled testicles by his executioners? Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

Stay vigilant, Cubans! Be wary of those who encourage you to cowardly submit to tyranny, regardless of the source, as they are paid by Batista for their hypocritical sermons.

The peace that Batista wants is the one that Spain wanted; the peace that we want, is the peace that Martí wanted.

To discuss peace under tyranny is to insult the memory of those who sacrificed their lives for Cuba's freedom and happiness. Even then, there were reformists and autonomists who, with cowardly malice, opposed the honorable stance of our liberators and accepted the electoral scraps offered by the rulers of that era.

The streets and parks of our cities and towns bear the names and proudly display the statues of Maceo, Martí, Máximo Gómez, Calixto García, Céspedes, Agramonte, Flor Crombet, Bartolomé Masó and other illustrious heroes who knew how to rebel; in school, we learn about our glorious history, which is celebrated with reverence on October 10 and February 24. These dates do not represent submission or cowardly acceptance of the dominant despotism; nor do they symbolize those who sought handouts from Spain to gain a position as a deputy in the Cortes or in the Senate of the metropolis.

All the regime's attempts will be in vain. On July 26, we will spread our revolutionary message to every corner of Cuba. Our manifestos, numbering in the tens of thousands, will be distributed clandestinely across the country, reaching factories, fields, and towns. Men and women, eager to support our cause, will reproduce them by hand or machine everywhere, aware that by doing so, they contribute to this heroic struggle of the nation against its oppressors. These manifestos will reach barracks, warships, police stations, and military camps.

We are not afraid to speak to the military, against whom we hold no hatred as honest Cubans; the military personnel who have been unjustly used as tools by political cliques to climb to power and enrich themselves; the military forced to act as relentless guards for the interests of a few unscrupulous individuals who face no danger; the military who are compelled to die without honor under a regime despised by the people; the military whom Batista deceitfully misleads, unable to justify the immense wealth of the high-ranking officials, the breaches of military hierarchy for the benefit of generals' relatives and friends, sidelining merit and ability, the presence of criminals in his government, or the frequent salary cuts while each unelected senator is paid five thousand pesos and Batista himself raises it to an astounding seventy thousand a month, seventy times more than the prime minister of England earns; the military who defended him when no one else did, who opposed him when he sided with tyranny, and whom we will welcome with open arms when they join the cause of freedom. We will speak truthfully to the military, Cuban to Cuban and man to man, without fear or flattery, and our revolutionary messages will reach the hands and hearts of many honest soldiers. The military must also be liberated from tyranny.

On July 26, he joined without harboring hatred towards anyone. This is not a political party but a revolutionary movement, welcoming all Cubans who genuinely wish to restore political democracy in Cuba and achieve social justice. Its leadership is collective and secret, composed of new individuals with strong resolve, untainted by past complicity. The movement's structure is functional, including combat groups, youth cadres, secret workers' cells, women's organizations, economic sections, and a network for distributing clandestine propaganda nationwide. People of all ages, genders, and backgrounds—workers, peasants, students, and professionals—can join, although there will never be enough weapons for everyone willing to sacrifice their lives for this cause. Participants can contribute according to their abilities, whether economically, by distributing proclamations, or by walking out of work in a show of solidarity and proletarian support when the revolution calls for action. This must be, above all, a people's revolution, fueled by the blood and sweat of the people. Its bold and courageous program can be summarized in the following key points:

1. Abolition of latifundia: distribution of land among peasant families; an immediate and non-negotiable transfer of property to all small tenants, settlers, sharecroppers, and current squatters; economic and technical support from the State; tax relief.

2. Restoration of all the victories taken from workers by the dictatorship; ensuring workers have the right to significant participation in the profits of all major industrial, commercial, and mining companies, which should be provided as a separate benefit from salary or wages at specific times of the year.

3. Immediate industrialization of the country through an extensive plan devised and supported by the state, which must decisively harness all the nation's human and economic resources in a supreme effort to liberate the country from its current state of moral and material decline. It is unimaginable that hunger exists in a nation so naturally blessed, where every pantry should be overflowing with goods and all hands diligently working.

4. A comprehensive reduction in all rents, benefiting the 2.2 million people currently spending a third of their income on housing; state construction of adequate housing to accommodate the 400,000 families living in overcrowded conditions such as barracks, plots, and squalid huts; extension of electricity services to the 2.8 million rural and suburban residents who currently lack access; and the launch of a policy enabling tenants to become homeowners of their rented apartments or houses through long-term amortization plans.

5. Nationalization of public services: telephones, electricity and gas.

6. Building ten children's cities to accommodate and educate two hundred thousand children of workers and peasants who are currently unable to provide them with food and clothing.

7. Expanding culture by reforming all teaching methods to reach the most remote areas of the country, ensuring that every Cuban has the opportunity to develop their mental and physical abilities in a dignified way of life.

8. Comprehensive reform of the tax system and the adoption of modern tax collection methods should be carried out to prevent leaks and mismanagement of funds. This ensures that the state can meet its needs, while the public is aware that their contributions are returned to the community for the benefit of everyone.

9. Reorganization of the public administration and the establishment of the administrative career path.

10.Enforcement of the strict military hierarchy and the permanence of armed forces members, ensuring they can only be dismissed from their roles for valid reasons presented to contentious-administrative courts. Elimination of the death penalty in the Military Penal Code for offenses committed during peacetime. The armed institutes are tasked with providing social benefits nationwide, conducting economic censuses, land registries, and demarcations, and constructing hygienic schools and decent housing through their corps of engineers. These projects offer special remuneration and are intended for peasants, workers, and the armed forces members themselves, who will retain ownership upon retirement.

11. Generous and dignified compensation to all public servants: teachers, employees and members of the armed forces, civilian and military retirees.

12. Implementation of appropriate measures in education and passing of legislation to put an end to all traces of discrimination on the basis of race or sex that unfortunately exist in our social and economic life.

13. Social and state unemployment insurance.

14. Restructuring of the judiciary and abolition of the Emergency Courts.

15. Seize all assets from embezzlers of any government, without exception, to allow the republic to reclaim the hundreds of millions taken unlawfully; this recovered wealth could then be invested in implementing some of the mentioned initiatives. Is there any doubt that this would have been achievable if the nation had been led by honest leaders?

These points will be extensively highlighted in a brochure that will be circulated nationwide.

The Cuban revolution will implement all reforms in line with the principles and practicality of our progressive 1940 Constitution, ensuring that no one is deprived of their legitimate possessions and compensating any affected interests, with the understanding that ultimately, the entire society will benefit.

The Cuban revolution will decisively punish any acts of violence against individuals occurring under tyranny, yet it will reject and suppress any displays of vindictive revenge driven by hatred or lowly passions.

The Cuban revolution does not pledge allegiance to any groups or individuals, nor does it promise civilian public jobs or positions in the armed forces to anyone. It values ability and merit wherever they exist and will never treat the state as the reward for a victorious faction.

A revolutionary movement that has already provided the nation with a legion of heroic martyrs, who never thrived at its expense and had no ambition other than to serve selflessly and tirelessly, can speak to the nation.

By embracing the principle of sacrifice once more, we assume responsibility for our actions in the eyes of history. In expressing our belief in a brighter future for the Cuban people, we echo Martí's sentiment that "the true man does not consider which side offers the best way to live, but rather which side fulfills duty." and that it is this practical man whose dreams today will shape the laws of tomorrow...

Fidel Castro Ruz

August 8, 1955

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