Revolutionary Directorate of 13 March Movement

Directorio Revolucionario 13 de Marzo was a Cuban activist group in the Cuban Revolution. They attempted an assassination on Batista, the dictator of Cuba at the time, in 1957.

Revolutionary Directorate of 13 March Movement
Directorio Revolucionario 13 de Marzo
Logo of the DR-13-M
Also known as	Revolutionary Directorate
Leader	José Antonio Echeverría, Faure Chomón, Rolando Cubela Secades
Foundation	1954
Dissolved	1959
Country	Cuba
Active regions	Havana
Ideology	Anti-Fascism Progressivism
Notable attacks	1957 Havana Presidential Palace attack
Allies	M-26-7 Second National Front of Escambray National Front of Escambray
Opponents	Cuba under Fulgencio Batista
Battles and wars	Cuban Revolution, Battle of Santa Clara
Flag

José Antonio Echeverría, Juan-Pedro Carbo, René Anillo, Luis Puig (2nd from right, last holding corner of flag) and others during a demonstration. University of Havana, Cuba.

History

The DR-13-M, at the time just called “Directorio Revolucionario” (DR), was founded in 1954 as a Catholic student group opposed to the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista,^[1] defining its principles as political liberty, economic independence, and social justice.^[2] For a student group, the DR-13-M made military contributions to the Cuban Revolution by focusing on targeted plans.^[3]

In 1957, the group coordinated an attack on Batista's Presidential Palace organised by DR-13-M leader José Antonio Echeverría, who died the same day in a related incident, and the opening of a second front in the Escambray Mountains, which was taken over by Che Guevara.

The death of Echeverría and other leaders led to the virtual collapse of the group, and its remaining membership largely joined the Escambray front under the leadership of the 26th of July Movement.^[2] After the death of Echevarría, the leadership passed to Faure Chomón and Rolando Cubela Secades in the urban underground and the Escambray Mountain insurrection, respectively.^[4]

The DR-13-M's "Escambray Manifesto" of 24 February 1958 envisaged simultaneous urban and rural guerrilla warfare against Batista. It called for the restoration of the Constitution of 1940, and for social revolution, while attacking "those who only a few years ago supported the Nazis in the conquered lands of Europe". As the manifesto circulated throughout the island, the Escambray guerrillas gained strength.^[5]

Gallery

• 
  Jose Antonio Echevarria. Dead on 13 March 1957.
• 
  Faure Chomón.
• 
  Rolando Cubela Secades.
• 
  Another flag used by the DR-13-M

References

1. Talbot, David (2008). Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years. Simon & Schuster. p. 154.
2. Pedraza, Silvia (2007). Political Disaffection in Cuba's Revolution and Exodus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 52–4.
3. Sweig, Julia (2002). Inside the Cuban Revolution. ISBN 0674016122.
4. Faria, Miguel A. (2002). Cuba in Revolution — Escape From a Lost Paradise (1st ed.). Macon, GA: Hacienda Publishing. pp. 38–72. ISBN 0-9641077-3-2.
5. "1958: DR Opens Escambray Second Front". 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2023-05-21.