Posted : Fri, 21 Sep 2007 07:16:07 GMT
Madrid, Sep 21 - Behind the ragtag band of guerrillas Fidel Castro led
into Havana at the end of 1958 to overthrow Cuban dictator Fulgencio
Batista was a little-known Spanish soldier who taught them everything he
knew about guerrilla warfare and whose story has now been rescued from
obscurity by writer Luis Diez.
In his book published by Editorial Debate, Diez reconstructs the path
that brought the veteran of Spain's bloody 1936-1939 internal conflict
to Cuba in the early 1950s, reports the Spanish news agency EFE.
Alberto Bayo 'was one of the defeated of the Spanish Civil War who in
the autumn of his life had the honour of confirming the validity of his
theories on guerrilla warfare, and felt the vain glory of seeing how his
pupils defeated Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista', Diez said this week
during the presentation of his book in Madrid.
Born in Cuba to a Spanish father and a Cuban mother, Bayo had to flee to
Spain after Madrid's defeat in the Spanish-American War and had to leave
Spain after General Francisco Franco succeeded in overthrowing the
Second Republic.
Alberto Bayo, who was living in exile in Mexico, was visited at his home
one day by a young Fidel Castro, who told him about his plans for a
revolution, his failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks and said:
'You are Cuban and have to help us.'
The Spanish soldier, according to Diez, sat on his sofa thinking about
the offer that came in the twilight of his life, reflected on his youth,
military training and experience in the Spanish Civil War, and finally
decided to help Castro.
Bayo then looked for a manual he had written in 1937 titled '150
preguntas a un guerrillero' (150 Questions for a Guerrilla) that covered
operational and training matters for guerrillas. The Spanish army had
rejected the manual and Bayo saw this as an opportunity to put its
teachings into practice.
'Bayo was sure that guerrillas were invincible with the support of the
people and the dream of (Cuban independence leader) Jose Marti would
come true in the person of Fidel,' the author said.
Diez details the rent paid for the Mexican ranch where the 83 rebels who
landed on the Granma trained, where their uniforms came from, Bayo's
relationship with Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, who was 'his favourite
student', and his adventures flying around Latin America in old planes.
Bayo 'is, before anything else, a soldier who understands his job
clearly and even wore his Spanish air force captain's uniform in Cuba',
Diez said.
The Spanish officer, Diez said, 'was not a great strategist but,
undoubtedly, he was a 20th-century Don Quixote'.
Bayo lived as a hero in Cuba after the revolution, and 'Castro put him
in charge of some things, he gave out trophies at sports events and
there is even a monument in his honour, while he is barely known in
Spain', the writer said.
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