The Cuban General Strike of April 9, 1958: A defeat that led to victory

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By Katherin Hormigó Rubio, translated from the Spanish

"Attention, Cubans! This is the July 26th Movement calling for the Revolutionary General Strike! Today is the day of freedom... Workers, students, professionals, employers, join the revolutionary general strike from this moment on!" With these words, broadcast from Radio Rebelde and other clandestine stations at 11 am, it began.

April 9, 1958, marked one of the most intense days in the insurrection and fight against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Although the strike did not succeed in overthrowing the regime immediately, its legacy was decisive: It showed the strength of unity and taught the Cuban people how to turn a partial setback into the driving force that led to the victory of January 1, 1959.

The strike of April 9 was not improvised. It emerged at a key moment: the Rebel Army was consolidating positions in the Sierra Maestra after the victory of Pino del Agua and the creation of new fronts. In the cities, the leaders of the Llano network of the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7), along with the Revolutionary Directorate of March 13 and the Popular Socialist Party, recognized that conditions were right for a large-scale action. Although Fidel Castro and the guerrilla leaders had initial doubts, they ultimately chose to prioritize unity of action. Historical accounts note that, aiming for a united stand against tyranny and following the advice of underground movement leaders in the cities, they called for a general strike.

The country responded with courage. In Havana, young people stormed the armory on Mercaderes Street, sabotaged power plants, burned gas stations and vehicles, and tried to paralyze transportation. Marcelo Salado, a key leader of the M-26-7 movement, was shot in the back while organizing a transport sector strike.

In Sagua la Grande, Las Villas, a group of revolutionaries—mostly young workers armed with whatever they could find—managed to practically take over the city for 24 hours. In the East, the militias of Santiago de Cuba, led by René Ramos Latour ("Daniel"), attacked the Boniato barracks. Train derailments in Jovellanos, blockages on the Central Highway, and coordinated actions in Matanzas, Camagüey, and Santa Clara brought chaos. The former province of Oriente was completely shut down by the joint efforts of guerrilla fighters and clandestine operations.

Despite the heroism, the strike began to lose momentum around noon on April 10. Poor coordination, a shortage of weapons, and a complete halt in the capital’s transport system all played a part. The crackdown was ruthless: over 100 dead, dozens wounded, and a wave of terror stretching from Havana to the Sierra Maestra. Batista believed he had won, but he was mistaken.

The call made it clear that no worker should be excluded. Fidel stressed that the National Workers' Front was open to all, without sectarianism. Workers, students, and even parts of the national bourgeoisie joined in, regardless of their political affiliation militancy. That unity – Llano and Sierra, city and mountain – was the great achievement. Although the strike did not immediately overthrow Batista, it exposed the weakness of the regime and forged a collective consciousness. "They fought and died throughout Cuba," summarized the revolutionary press. The strike showed that the struggle was no longer only of the guerrillas: it was of the whole people.

From defeat to victory: the lesson of Altos de Mompié

On May 3, 1958, during the historic gathering at Altos de Mompié in the Sierra Maestra, the setback was critically analyzed. The national leadership of the M-26-7 was centralized under the sole command of Fidel Castro as political and military Commander in Chief. The errors were fixed, leading to better coordination, stronger worker involvement, and improved armed readiness. "The defeat of the strike was one of the most serious setbacks of the insurrectionary struggle," the leaders acknowledged, "but it led to revolutionary unity."

That “failure” ended up leading to the winning strategy. A few months later, Batista’s offensive against the Sierra was contained, and the better-organized general strike of January 1959 sealed the dictator’s fate. As Fidel noted on Radio Rebelde after April 9, no government could stand on “the pile of corpses with which the dictatorship drowns the strike in blood.” The repression didn’t weaken the Revolution; it made it “stronger, more necessary, more invincible.”

Today, 68 years later, the April 9 strike remains an example of Cuban resilience. It was not a defeat: it was the price necessary to forge the unity that led to the triumph. In the words of the official chronicles it was "a setback that sped up revolutionary unity and shaped the victory." The young people who lost their lives – Marcelo Salado, René Ramos Latour, and countless others whose names we do not know – did not die in vain. Their sacrifice taught the people that setbacks, when met with unity and a willingness to learn, lead to victory.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC