Raùl Castro

 
 
Not as famous abroad as his brother Fidél, was always at his side, since the attack to the Moncada army barrack. He had the same responsibilities in the preparation of the Granma expedition and during the revolution, his battallion covered the Oriente Region and Santiago de Cuba. He's currently commander in chief of the Cuban Army and seems to be the political heir of Fidél.
  
 
     
  Fulgencio Batista  
 
Born in the Oriente province, Batista climbed all the ranks in the army. His first coup dates back to 1933, when he overturned the government of the premier Machado, who was making social reforms not appreciated by the US. He put in power a series of fake Presidents, and, with the help of the US administration, tied his businesses to the ones of the big Mafia Bosses, especially with Lansky. In 1940 he appointed himself Cuban president, but in 1944 was defeated by Grau San Martin at the presidential elections; so he retired in Miami, planning his return on the island.
 
 
 

It happened, in 1952, with a second coup, 3 months prior to the presidential elections of 1952; this time he suspended the constitution and many opposition parties were declared outlaw. He was also able to defeat a first revolutionary attempt, led by the Castro brothers; in the following years injustice on Cubans, corruption and alliances with Mafia monster grew with the green-light from american president Roosvelt. Cuba became the "brothel of America" or the "Latin Las Vegas". In January 1959, being under-pressure from the guerriglia (that he was unable to defeat without the help of the US), flew to Miami with the money made from corruption, gambling nd drugs. He died in Spain in 1973.

 
 

 

  
 
The names of Cuban streets and squares are dedicated to people who played an essential role in the struggles that led to Cuba independence from Spain.
  
     
 

Carlos Manuel de Cespedes

  
 
Carlos Manuèl de Cespedes was a land-owner, first to abolish slavery in his properties in 1839, giving birth to an anti-Spanish movement; one of his documents, known as the Grito de Yara, gave way to armed insurrections against the Spanish and ended in the War of 10 years. This is the reason why he's considered to be the father of Cuba as a nation.
 
 
     
 

Antonio Maceo

  
 
Maceo was maybe the most valuable of the Generals that led the rebellion against the Spanish, to which he participated alongside with his father and brothers. He fought for the War of Independence and the War of 10 years, being an example for the Generals of that time. He was killed in an ambush in 1896, while trying to reach the troops guided by Maximo Gomez.
 
 
     
 

Maximo Gomez

  
 
Born in S.to Domingo, at the age of 20 moved to Spain and joined the army, quickly climbing to top ranks. In 1865 was sent to Cuba has commander of a group of soldiers; he was struck by the poor life conditions imposed by the Spanish and by the slavery, and decided to jump to the other side of the fence. He joined the Cuban insurgents as commander during the War of Independence against the Spanish.
 
 
     
 

Josè Martì

  
 
Spanish born Jose Martì, at the young age of 16 was exiled for his political ideas; during this period he visited many former Spanish colonies that had gained independence from Spain. His second exile in 1879 brought him to the US, where he wrote the Versos Libres (Free Verses) and the Versos Sencillos (Simple Verses), considered to be the manifesto of Modernism. In 1892 he founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party and went back to Cuba to fight the Spanish, but was killed during a battle only one month later. Today he's considered a National Hero and some of his Versos Sencillos are part of one of Cuba's most famous songs: Guajira Guentanmera.