Fidel Castro and Che Guevara attack Havana. The Presidential Palace in Havana, Cuba. A soldier keeps vigil from the roof. President Fulgencio Batista with the press and other dignitaries in the palace. Batista's soldiers atop and near tanks. A Batista's Chief of Staff General Francisco Tabernilla talks to the soldiers. The bazooka teams prepare to advance. Fidel Castro seen recording his broadcast for the rebel radio in the Sierra Maestra Mountains. Close up view of a reel to reel tape player running. 1958: Rebels prepare arms and ammunition. Close up views of Che Guevara. Heads of other major revolutionary fronts meet in Caracas. The rebels advance towards Havana. A rebel fires a rocket, an explosion on a hill. The rebels climb uphill and take cover. They jump over fallen trees and across the hills. Batista government Air Force planes drop bombs and fire at the rebels. Explosions due to the bombardments. A man fires a machine gun, while another fires at the aircraft. They fire in sitting and prone position. Castro revolutionary men attack houses on the outskirts of Santa Clara. Batista's men surrender. December 1958: The final assault. The rebels near a building. A large crowd gathered outside the National Guard Police Section. Guevara's men march in a single file on the streets. The Air Force planes continue bombardment. Soldiers in trucks. Townspeople flee to shelters. Explosion due to bombardment. Aircraft in flight. Cars on the road. Women and children take refuge. A doctor checks wounded civilians lying on beds. Women rebels with rifles. Women welcome and greet Che Guevara. Top rebel commander Camilo Cienfuegos among others. Rebels on a building roof. A man buries a relative. Fidel Castro talks to the rebels during a strategy meeting. Fidel Castro's brother, Raul Castro, drinks from a cup. Rebels and civilians in a Willys jeep. A large crowd gathered outside a building around same time that Batista flees Cuba.
Revolutionaries moving through the mountains during Cuban revolution. Buildings bombed and burned by Batista forces. Armed soldiers in defensive positions atop the Presidential Palace in Havana. President Fulgenci Batista with others. Cuban General Staff Chief, Francisco Tabernilla Dolz and a Lieutenant General discussing defense matters. Cuban soldiers on tanks. Castro addresses guerrillas. Che Guevera working with rebels in the mountains. They assemble and test rifle-launched grenades. Fire fights between revolutionaries and the Batista forces. The Cuban Army Air Force (FAEC--Fuerza Aérea Ejército de Cuba) attacks using P-47 aircraft, seen firing at revolutionaries on the ground. Rebels firing heavy machine guns, rifles, and rifle grenades. Castro's revolutionaries, under the leadership of Ernesto “Ché” Guevara, engage Federal troops at Santa Clara. They are seen taking prisoners and in the city itself. A building sign reads: "Seccion Policia Nacional Vigilante Hidalgo." An FAEC B-26 bomber is seen low overhead. Rebels fire at it with small arms from a truck moving along the street. FAEC B-26s engaged in nighttime support missions with Batista forces (commencing November 10, 1958). B-26s dropping bombs. P-47 aircraft are also seen. Bombs exploding. Civilian women and children seeking escape from the bombing. Wounded revolutionaries being treated in a hospital. Armed women revolutionaries. Rebel forces eating a meal. Che Guevara being greeted as he walks amongst civilians in the city. Revolutionaries stand atop a building waving their flag. A woman holds an injured child. A cross is erected in a cemetery. Fidel Castro with some of his followers talking to a captured Federal officer
The Cuban Revolution against Batista in years 1957-1958. A Cuban Revolutionary writes a note to be taken across by Fidel Castro's courier. A soldier watches as a courier gets onto a horse and rides away. Refuge area for the rebels in the Sierra Maestra Mountains. A professional Communist from Argentina, Ernesto Che Guevara, joins Fidel Castro's men. He rides a horse as he smokes a cigarette and talks to another man. Soldiers clean and prepare arms and ammunition, they make bombs. Castro's rebels bomb buses and railroad trains. Charred cars and trucks. Buildings on fire from rebel guerrilla strikes. Oil tanks and factories set on fire by them. Black smoke arises from fires as firefighters try to put out fires. Men on horses cross a stream as they bring supplies. Castro talks to new recruits and pro-communists. Celia Sanchez, who was part of the Moncada Barracks attack, talks to a rebel. Che Guevara smokes a cigar as he inspects rockets. Soldiers ready the rocket. Soldiers sit and talk, climb uphill on foot and on horses. Soldiers inside a dimly lit camp. The rebels attack and fire. A rebel doctor operates upon a soldier in a make shift operating room. The rebels attack and fight police and Cuban military forces loyal to Batista. Soldiers fire in standing and prone positions. Soldiers walk down a path in the jungle. They gather around a man seated on the ground as he takes notes. Women rebels take pictures of prisoners for publicity purposes. A rebel with a camera. 1958: Batista's men search for Castro. Soldiers walk uphill and cross a stream. A soldier in a deserted village. People near wrecked buildings and houses. A woman soldier speaks into a microphone for the rebel radio. A man adjusts the knob of a portable transistor radio.
Fidel Castro leads the Cuban revolution against Batista's regime. Fidel Castro along with his forces in the rugged mountains of Oriente province of Cuba during the revolution. He speaks to men and women. Men make arms and hand grenades. They work on mimeograph machines and radio sets to transmit messages. Castro with men as they look at a map and plan the strategy for the attack on Batista's Army. Castro's Army fires at National police and Batista's Army as they engage in jungle warfare. Fulgenico Batista with his children and wife appears before the press. Men click pictures of Batista with his family.