Escambray rebellion

Escambray rebellion
Part of the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution
Date 1959–1965 Location Escambray Mountains, Cuba Result Cuban government victory
Belligerents
Insurgents: Anti-communists Batista loyalists Supported by: CIA (1959–1961)  Dominican Republic (1959–1961)[1] Partido Auténtico[2]	Government of Cuba Supported by:  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Osvaldo Ramírez † William A. Morgan  Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo (POW) Sinesio Walsh (POW)[3]	Fidel Castro Francisco Ciutat de Miguel Lizardo Proenza Raúl Menéndez Tomassevich Manuel Fajardo †[4]
Units involved
c. 177 outlawed groups[5] Former DRE guerrillas Remnants of the Second National Front of Escambray	Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces National Revolutionary Militia Department of State Security[6]
Strength
2,000[5]–3,995[7] combatants 6,000+ collaborators[5]	250,000 (armed forces and militia)[7]
Casualties and losses
2,000–3,000 killed 5,000 captured	Armed Forces: 500 soldiers killed 1,000+ soldiers wounded Militia: 3,500 killed
1,000–7,000 total deaths[8]

The Escambray rebellion was an armed conflict from 1959 to 1965 in the Escambray Mountains during which several insurgent groups fought against the Cuban government led by Fidel Castro. The military operation against the rebellion was called the Struggle Against Bandits (Spanish: Lucha contra Bandidos, or LCB) by the Cuban government.^[9]

The rebels were a mix of former Batista soldiers, local farmers, and ex-guerrillas who had fought alongside Castro against Batista during the Cuban Revolution. The end result was the elimination of all insurgents by Cuban government forces in 1965.