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This Happened

This Happened—January 1: The Cuban Revolution Ends

On January 1, 1959, Cuba’s military dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country and the rebels, led by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, celebrated in Havana, ending the Cuban Revolution.

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Why did the Cuban Revolution take place?

The U.S. had been a major force in Cuba since the early 1900s. Much of the country’s business was owned by the U.S., including its main export, sugar. The Batista regime was unpopular with the Cuban people. However, he supported U.S. interests, so Washington in turn supported him.

Castro wanted to remove the chokehold the U.S. had over the Cuban economy and launch a Communist Revolution in the process.

How did the Cuban Revolution happen?

In November 1956, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara gathered 80 guerrilla fighters and sailed from Mexico on a small yacht. Batista learned of the attack and ambushed the group, but 20 men escaped, including Fidel and Raul Castro and Guevara. The group found refuge in the mountains, attracted new members, and started guerrilla warfare against Batista’s better-armed regime.

For the next two years, Cuba experienced civil war. In December 1958, Guevara’s forces defeated a larger army in the Battle of Santa Clara, where they captured a train full of arms and ammunition. By January 1, 1959, the rebels had reached the capital, Havana, and Batista fled.

What was the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution?

Batista lived in exile in Portugal until his death in 1973. Fidel Castro reached Havana on January 9 to take charge. Many Batista supporters were tried and executed. Although Castro had promised elections, he postponed them once he came to power.

The U.S. initially recognized the Castro government, but relations quickly broke down when Castro implemented a Communist regime. The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Havana in 1961. Tensions further increased in the following years, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Fidel Castro remained in power until 2008, when he chose his brother Raul as successor.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

The Ukraine War's First Environmental Survey: Damage Is Huge

Ukrainian authorities have applied a new methodology based on environmental inspection to tally a $54 billion price-tag from the Russian invasion. It’s a moment to add up the many costs of the first year of war.

Photo of a burnt forest in Kharkiv

Local men dismantle the remains of destroyed Russian military equipment for scrap metal in a burned forest in Kharkiv

Anna Akage

Ukraine has already suffered irreversible losses in the year since the Russian invasion began. Above all, of course, has been the loss of human life. On top of that, Ukrainian and international officials have estimated massive damage to property and infrastructure, as well as the loss of cultural patrimony.

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But now, for the first time, there is an estimate of the cost of the environmental damage of the war on Ukraine: $54 billion.

Ruslan Strilets, Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, explained that experts have applied a new methodology based on environmental inspection to tally the cost.

“This includes land, air, and water pollution, burned-down forests, and destroyed natural resources,” he said. “Our main goal is to show these figures to everyone so that they can be seen in Europe and the world so that everyone understands the price of this environmental damage and how to restore it to Ukraine.”

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