The New York Times
January 25, 1958. p. 3.
Insurgent Forces
of Castro Are Growing and Extending Sphere of Action--They Move Freely in
Certain Regions
Special to The New York
Times
HAVANA, Jan. 24—A thousand Government troops were moved yesterday into Manzanillo, a port on the south coast of Oriente Province, in anticipation of rebel attack, according to reports from that city.
For the last two weeks residents of Manzanillo, which is under the heights of the Sierra Maestra, the stronghold of the rebel forces of Fidel Castro, have feared an attack on the city by the rebels, who are growing in strength.
A group of rebels yesterday ambushed a Government patrol on the cattle ranch of Dr. Francisco Benitez near Manzanillo and killed and wounded several soldiers, a report from that district said. Several days ago rebels attacked the San Ramon sugar mill, also near Manzanillo, and killed three soldiers, according to residents. Army jet planes wer reported to have strafed the rebels later and killed three.
Underground warfare continues, as evidenced by bodies found in the Manzanillo district.
Señor Castro and his insurgents are steadily extending their sphere of action on the south coast of Oriente, according to a compilation of reports from there. It is apparent that from Chivirito, a port on the south coast not far from Santiago de Cuba, northward to Palma Soriano on the Central Highway, then westward, including the wild Sierra Maestra and the coast line to Manzanillo and northward to near Bayamo the rebels are moving at will. They are entering towns to make purchases, attacking army posts, destroying cane and rice plantations and in general carrying on an effective campaign.
It is the rebels who are attacking Government troops, according to residents of the district. No one travels at night on the highway from Manzanillo to Yara, since rebels are “everywhere,” the people say.
In a recent encounter at Veguita, the rebels were reported to be using bazookas for the first time. This attack by rebels on the small town on the road from Bayamo to Manzanillo was a cover for the receipt of a large truckload of arms and ammunition, according to reports current in Veguita.
The rebels are reported to have paid for all their supplies with one exception—cattle. About 1,000 head of cattle have been stolen and driven into the Sierra Maestra, according to reports. Part of these were said to have been slaughtered and others turned over to country men who had no cattle.
Reports of administrative functions assumed by Señor Castro in the Sierra Maestra are numerous. His courts are said to try criminals.
Several schools have been established by Señor Castro, according to the reports. No schools, churches or hospitals existed in the sierra previously. However, after the start of the Castro Rebellion the Government established several of these institutions in towns in the foothills.
One reason for the growing strength of the rebels and their increasing numbers is said to be the reprisal killings and the harsh treatment of the inhabitants of Oriente Province by Government troops, according to the people living there.
As an example, Rafael Castro, owner of a store in a village near Bayamo, field headquarters of the Government troops operating against Fidel Castro, joined the insurgents after soldiers had burned his store and destroyed all his property. Several of his neighbors went with him into the hills.
The ten sugar mills in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra are grinding cane, with the exception of Pilon, where both cane and equipment of the mill were destroyed by the rebels. All of the mills are reported having great difficulty and it is estimated that at least 50 per cent of the cane in the entire district has been burned.
Most of the rice crop in the district was harvested last November. However, it is estimated that with the destruction of machinery and equipment of the rice plantations by the rebels during the last four weeks this year’s rice crop will be at least 50 per cent below last year’s.