The US imperialism had found docile servants in the reforming governments of the Cuban ¨autenticismo¨ headed by Ramón Grau San Martín (1944-1948) and Carlos Prío Socarrás (1948-1952), who took up to the highest ends the racketeering, the administrative corruption, the nepotism and is not known how many other evils generated by the neocolony.
In a parallel way in the same period was highlighted the figure of Eduardo Chibás, representative of the Party of the (Orthodox) Cuban People, who in the middle of an ardent polemic against the Ministry of Education of that time, Aureliano Sánchez Arango, for the theft of the public funds destined for the teaching material and for the school breakfast, committed suicide on August 16th, 1951, for not being able to present publicly the evidence of his accusations.
Nevertheless, for the general elections scheduled for July 1st 1952 the Orthodox Party had the victory assured, so the United States, and the most reactionary sectors of the domineering class, frightened, decided to prevent the victory.
Fulgencio Batista, valued by the US empire like the strong man, was chosen one to continue the chain of military coups that had happening in other Latin-American countries like Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Paraguay, Brazil...
In the Central Report to the First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba highlights that in the middle of the chaos, the discredit and the demoralization of the civil governorships, it turned out to be easy to Batista to penetrate the Camp of Columbia, speak with his soldiers and to turn again into owner of the country.
Prío was leaving the people without the minor resistance.
The initial reaction of the people was to concentrate spontaneously before the Provincial Government. The so-called "living classes" represented by senator Arturo Hernández Tellaeche, leader of the ¨autenticismo¨ here, Gerardo Alvarado, representative of the Orthodox Party and Francisco Botifoll of Acción Cívica Camagüeyana met with the unsteady colonel José Acosta de la Fuente, without defining an energetic opposition to the coup.
Here in the city of Camagüey the people assaulted and destroyed the place of the PAU, in Republica street was attacked a manifestation of young people headed by Jesus Suárez Gayol, it is known that a young man was hurt by bullets.
Also, the Popular Socialistic Party convened to a meeting of condemnation that was celebrated in the evening in the Agramonte park, which was impossible to celebrate due to the action of the police and the army, so the pronouncement of the PSP is realized on the 13th and it advocated for returning to the Constitution of the 40s, the respect to the Congress and its functions, to the working democracy.
On the 14th the provincial newspaper "Acción Libre" directed by Gustavo Tomeu Riverón published an article written by Dr. Raúl García Peláez, entitled "Golpe no, entrega sí" where there was analyzed the traitress position of the president Prío before that situation.
The newspaper "El Camagüeyano" of March 16th was publishing a list of persons accused of instigating the workers of Francisco sugar plant who were leaving the work distributing free sheets entitled: Enjuicia el Partido Socialista Popular el golpe de Estado... along with a few declarations of Lázaro Peña.
The Coup d'état of March 10th had a specified historical significance as the momentary frustration of the hopes of freedom of the people; the constitutional system was violated, the anti-communist and anti-worker repression was intensified, there remained beaten the little public freedoms that were remaining and was closed to the people all the legal possibilities of struggle for its rights.
Without proposing it, the enemy with this stage of reactionary terror in contrast to the boom of revolutionary struggle of the popular masses, created the conditions for the revolutionary situation that will end in the Assault to the Moncada Garrison.
The coup d'état of March 10th, 1952 marked the crisis of the bourgeois democracy and the end of the reforming illusions in our country, creating a social and political situation which only possible solution was the Revolution.
Translated by BA in English Language, Manuel Barrera Téllez
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