Frank País
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Pais (December 7, 1934 – July 30, 1957) was a Cuban revolutionary who campaigned for the overthrow of General Fulgencio Batista's government in Cuba. Pais was a key organizer within the urban underground movement during the Cuban revolution, collaborating with Fidel Castro's guerilla forces which were conducting activities in the Sierra Maestra mountains. Pais was killed in the streets of Santiago de Cuba by the Santiago police on July 30, 1957.[1][2]
[edit] Cuba's urban underground movements
Though the activity of Fidel Castro's guerrillas in the Sierra Maestra mountains came to pre-occupy the forces of General Fulgencio Batista, and also formed the cornerstone of subsequent accounts of the Cuban revolution, campaigns by rebel groups in the major cities and towns of Cuba also played a key role in bringing an end to Batista's reign. It is in these cities and towns, in both open and underground organizations, that plans were debated and actions implemented. These organizations included labor unions, where the Communists were organizing “fighting committees”, and university and high school groups, where the Revolutionary Directorate and the 26th of July Movement had influence. Groups were also forming in the professional and business organizations of the middle and upper classes.[3] The underground movement against Batista was everywhere, but nowhere was it stronger than in Santiago, the home of Frank País.
Shortly after Castro's attack on the Moncada barracks in Oriente Province in July of 1953, Frank País began talking with students and young working people, men and women he knew personally, drawing them around him in an informal revolutionary group that became known as the Revolutionary National Action. País asked each person to organize a cell by preparing a list of their friends and close associates, people they could trust, to be members. These cells were composed of both students and workers and the average age was seventeen.
Cell members prepared carefully, finding, repairing, and hiding weapons, participating in mass demonstrations against the Batista government, raising money, and collecting medical supplies. They published a little mimeographed bulletin which sold for ten cents, reporting news and criticizing the government, countering the censorship with which Batista periodically blanketed the island.[4]
[edit] July 26 Movement merge
In the summer of 1955, País’ organization merged with the July 26 Movement (M-26-7) of Fidel Castro. Pais became the leader of the new organization in Oriente province.
Up to this moment neither the police in Santiago nor the group members themselves knew the extent of the organization Pais had so painstakingly built. Then one day in early 1956 each cell was given the order to paint the name of the movement along with slogans against the tyranny on all the walls and buildings in their neighborhood. The next morning, the army, the police, and the people of Santiago awoke to the magnitude of the resistance. Every block in the city was covered with writing splashed in paint; “Down with Batista! M-26-7.” No one had been arrested.[5]
Toward the end of that year, the movement began to prepare for the armed uprising that would cover Castro’s landing in Cuba and entrance into the mountains.
[edit] References
- ^ Frank Pais. latinamericanstudies.org. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.
- ^ Bockman, Larry James (April 1 1984). The Spirit Of Moncada: Fidel Castro's Rise To Power, 1953 - 1959 CSC 1984. globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.
- ^ Cannon, Terrance (1981). Frank País and the Underground Movement in the cities. historyofcuba.com. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.
- ^ Who was Frank Pais? (English). historyofcuba.com (1981). Retrieved on May 21, 2006.
- ^ Cannon, Terrance (1981). Frank País and the Underground Movement in the cities. historyofcuba.com. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.
