This is a period of ebb tide among the opponents of President Batista of Cuba and especially among the followers of Fidel Castro.  The dust of recent flurries has settled and revealed only too clearly the strength of General Batista's position and the weakness of his opponents.  The weeks just gone by have seen Fidel Castro and his supporters, despite bravery and idealism,. make disastrous tactical mistakes while the President made none and, indeed, used his overwhelming strength with foresight, precision and ruthlessness.

When the history of this period is written certain facts will stand out.  It was a great tactical error on Fidel Castro's part to announce in March that he was going to start "total war" against the regime on April 1 and follow it with a general strike.  In the first place he was in no position to wage such a war and in the second he gave General Batista plenty of time to take drastic counter-measures that included arrests and killings among those who might have supported the rebels.

The general strike in Havana, called on April 9, did not work out even remotely according to plans and hopes.  It was a badly coordinated, feeble effort and the popular support that might have responded to a really determined well-led uprising did not and could not materialize.  President Batista had arrested many suspects in the trade unions; and all the union leaders, who were his appointees and supporters, opposed the strike.

Finally, and most important of all, the army and police stood by General Batista and used their American arms to good purpose.  That was enough to doom the uprising.

This record explains the present atmosphere of gloom and defeatism in Cuba.  However, to leave the picture like this would be like painting in only the black parts and leaving all the other colors out.  The fundamental conflict in Cuba continues.  It is a struggle for liberty against a harsh and corrupt military dictatorship.  there is no reason whatever to doubt that an overwhelming number of Cubans are against the Batista regime.  The hatreds, the bitterness, the frustrations, the despair of today are merely proof that the tensions and struggle must go on.  The extraordinary measures that the Government took yesterday show that President Batista has no illusions about having crushed the revolutionary resistance.

The opposition has lost a major battle and may well take months to recover, but Cuba is in the midst of a long civil war.  There is one fight the Cuban people will not and cannot lose, and that is the fight for freedom.