History Will Absolve Me

"History Will Absolve Me" (Spanish:"La historia me absolverá") is the concluding sentence and subsequent title of a four-hour speech made by Fidel Castro on 16 October 1953. Castro made the speech in his own defense in court against the charges brought against him after leading an attack on the Moncada Barracks. Though no record of Castro's words was kept, he reconstructed them later for publication in what was to become the manifesto of his 26th of July Movement.

Though sentenced to terms of up to 15 years for their roles in the Moncada attack, all of the rebels were released after an amnesty granted by Fulgencio Batista in 1955. Castro relocated to Mexico, before returning to Cuba on the Granma yacht in December 1956.

Castro's first court appearance
Castro made his first court appearance on 21 September 1953 in Santiago, where he defended around 100 other defendants arrested after the Moncada attack. Castro, a qualified lawyer, took on their defense, basing his case on the illegality of the Batista regime and the inherent right of the citizen to rebel against what he perceived to be an illegal government. When asked who was responsible for the attack, Castro replied that "the intellectual author of this revolution is José Martí, the apostle of our independence".

Castro's defense was so successful that only 26 prisoners were found guilty and most were treated leniently. Castro's brother Raúl, a leader of the attack, was sentenced to 13 years on what was then called the Isle of Pines. While he was incarcerated awaiting trial, efforts were made to poison Fidel Castro to prevent him from appearing in court.

Castro's speech and sentence
Castro was brought before a different court on 16 October 1953 for sentencing. It was here that he reportedly made his four hour speech justifying his actions and outlining his plans for Cuba. During the trial, public outrage at the treatment of the prisoners was seriously diminishing Batista's standing among the population. A local judge telephoned Batista's staff to complain that Batista was reviving the brutal era of former president Gerardo Machado, while a Santiago bishop called upon the courts to spare Castro's life and sought support from Cuba's upper class Catholic contingent. Though Castro was sentenced to join his brother in prison for 15 years, the trial elevated him to semi-heroic status on the island.

Details of the speech
Castro's speech contained numerous evocations of the "father of Cuban independence" José Martí, whilst depicting Batista as a tyrant. According to Castro, Batista was a "monstrum horrendum ... without entrails" who had committed an act of treachery in 1933 when he initiated a coup to oust Cuban president Ramón Grau. Castro went on to speak of "700,000 Cubans without work", launching an attack on Cuba's extant healthcare and schooling, and asserting that 30% of Cuba's farm people couldn't even write their own names.

In Castro's published manifesto, based on his 1953 speech, he gave details of the "five revolutionary laws" he wished to see implemented on the island:-
 * 1) The reinstatement of the 1940 Cuban constitution.
 * 2) A reformation of land rights.
 * 3) The right of industrial workers to a 30% share of company profits.
 * 4) The right of sugar workers to receive 55% of company profits.
 * 5) The confiscation of holdings of those found guilty of fraud under previous administrative powers.