New York Times
April 6, 1958, p. 3

Army Raids Rebel Center

By Homer Bigart
Special to The New York Times

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, April 5—Cuban Army forces tightened their hold on Santiago today by flushing a nest of rebels from the heart of the city.

Except for this early morning flurry, there was almost compete tranquility here on the first day following the expiration of a warning period proclaimed by Señor Castro. More people were on the streets than at any time this week. Shops were open to slightly improved business.

The beginning of a “total war” was proclaimed by the rebels April 1, with a warning period extending until April 5. The rebels said a general revolutionary strike would be called after the expiration of the warning period.

The general consensus is that the rebel underground will not open any significant action before Monday. The close of the Easter weekend is regarded as the logical time to start the threatened general strike aimed at overthrowing President Batista.

Meanwhile the army seems to hold the initiative.

At 6:30 A.M., soldiers and policemen raided a house occupied by fifteen members of the 26th of July Movement. Witnesses said all the rebels escaped by fleeing over rooftops after security forces had shot their way into the house. There were no casualties.

Food stocks in the markets continued to dwindle as farmers refused to risk using the highways to the city. Green tomatoes and unappetizing piles of spotted oranges were all the produce available at vegetable stalls. Most stores were sold out of canned milk.

Road Almost Deserted

A tour on the Central Highway this morning showed that this chief artery leading to Havana remained virtually deserted. In a fifteen-mile stretch between the Santiago city limits and El Cobre only two passenger cars and a bus convoyed by soldiers were observed.
 
Within Santiago, traffic moved normally.
 
Oddly, all cafes and gasoline stations along the road were open as usual. Owners said they had been ordered by the Army to stay open for business in defiance of any rebel strike call.

An offer of help by the outlawed Communist party has been rejected by the rebel leadership. A prominent Roman Catholic priest told this correspondent that similar offers had been made several times in the last two years and that the rebels had never even considered their acceptance.

“What the Communists do in Santiago will be strictly freelance,” the priest said. He asked that his name not be used.

The priest also decried reports, which he said had appeared in the United States press, suggesting that the rebels had been infiltrated by Communists.

“You could count the Communists on one had and still have four fingers left,” he said.

He said the Roman Catholic clergy in Cuba overwhelmingly supported the revolt.