Strongman's Headache

President Fulgencio Batista was a worried strongman last week. While he was awarding regatta prizes at Varadero Beach, a band of less than 200 uniformed men attacked the army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Local troops drove off the rebels, pursued them into the hills and captured a cache of weapons and uniforms near Siboney. As the mop-up continued, casualties mounted to 82 dead and 36 wounded; it was Latin America's bloodiest revolt since last year's uprising in Bolivia (TIME. April 28, 1952).

Batista suspended all constitutional rights for 90 days, slapped a censorship on press and radio, and started a round-up of oppositionists. He also alerted the air force and navy against a sea invasion. Next day, in a television show from Camp Columbia outside Havana, he announced that the revolt was over. But no one in Cuba doubted that others would follow.

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