Description:

Castro Fidel

11-pg letter on notepaper of uneven sizes, with most measuring 4.25" x 5.75". Written on rectos with versos blank. Penned entirely in Castro's hand, with each page numbered at the top. Dated "Sierra Maestra / Sep. 23, '58", and signed [translated as] "A big hug / Fidel Castro". Staple marks to upper left corners, pages softened having perhaps gotten wet in the jungle and laid on lined paper to dry, with slight toning and slightly faded ink. Center folds. Last page a bit grubby. Overall near fine.

A profound and revealing letter, penned by Fidel Castro just months before his "Movement" of armed Cuban rebels ousted the authoritarian government of then President Batista. Writing while stationed deep within the Sierra Maestra, Castro writes to Pedro Luis his head of the Revolutionary Air Force, Pedro Luis, (aka Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz), one of his key collaborators personally responsible for smuggling weapons and ammunition from Costa Rica and Florida into Cuba. Castro not only provides details of a status update but also emphatically attempts to reassure Pedro Luis, reporting on what they need, and alleviating any concerns he may have in achieving their end goal. Excerpts of which are noted below:

"I understand that you’ll be worried right now, after receiving his last message … But don’t worry."

"We need more anti-tank bullets, and if possible, more anti-tank rifles. I need bullets for the Mauser rifles.

We need more .50-caliber machine guns, and of course, bullets. Bazookas with their respective projectiles: …"

"Money: you guys are going to have all you need, in amounts that maybe you’ve never imagined.

To put the importance of Pedro Luis in perspective, in 1959 Time magazine reported Luis as "One of the authentic heroes of the Castro rebellion (who) was a beardless, unostentatious young flyer named Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz. He flew weapons from the U.S. to Fidel Castro, took Manuel Urrutia, the man who later became Cuba's President, into the Sierra Maestra, and served after the rebellion as Castro's personal pilot."

This stunning letter is written during the short period just after Castro's imprisonment when he was pardoned by Batista's government in 1955 ( the bizarre outcome of being considered no longer a political threat to Batista--needless to say a poor choice on Batista's part), and up to the period leading to Castro's overthrow of the Bastista regime. This is during the period when Castro fled to the Sierra Maestra mountain range and built an army with his brother Raoul Castro and Juan "Almeida" Bosque to wage guerrilla warfare.

An outstanding letter, written in Spanish and is translated and shown in full below revealing the perils, difficulties and perseverance of the "Movement" in its final months. The Movement started in 1953 and lasted nearly 5 years. August 1958, after the defeat of Batista's Ofensiva, Castro went on the offense. By December 31, The city of Santa Clara fell and Batista fled.

Perhaps the most illuminating letter from the period we have handled.

"Sierra Maestra

Sep. 23, 58

"Pedro Luis,

I’ve had to go down, because around here the people waste a lot of time and don’t do anything. I had in mind to go as far as where you are, in order to talk to you and Lorié (if he comes) at length, but I think that it’s going to be impossible to arrive in time,

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and I likely have to stay a while.

I’m sending you ten thousand eight thousand pesos for you to take to Lorié.

I understand that you’ll be worried right now, after receiving his last message telling you to keep the navigational device

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constantly on. In your message to him, I included the last line, crossed out at first but that you ordered put in, in parentheses at the end.

But don’t worry. I passed him a message yesterday telling him that the navigational device couldn’t be counted on, but that everything else was

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in perfect condition. I believe that this remedies the problem that you explained to me in your letter about the device’s inexplicable roll. I’m going to get these people into line, you’ll see.

I’m sorry not to be able to see you. I’m going to talk to you about some things I need.

A lightweight set of

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radio equipment, shortwave, so that I can transport it on mules wherever I go and be in communication with the central installation. It has to be a good set, but simple, something that I can transport on two or three mules. Later on, obtain another one to install near the main landing

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strip.

We badly need M-1 bullets; since the ones they shot haven’t turned up yet, we don’t have any.

The .30-06 bullets that we have at the moment are in short supply, and they aren’t enough to meet the needs that the different units

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are going to have.

We need more anti-tank bullets, and if possible, more anti-tank rifles.

I need bullets for the Mauser rifles.

We need more .50-caliber machine guns, and of course, bullets.

Bazookas with their respective projectiles:

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it’s necessary to do everything possible to obtain them.

More guns and more bullets.

Money: you guys are going to have all you need, in amounts that maybe you’ve never imagined. I leave everything else in Lorié’s hands

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and yours. However many projects seem good to you, don’t hesitate to carry them out.

I’ve got the people working hard on ALPHA now, preparing everything the way you indicated.

I’ll return the generator that you guys obtained so that you can use it at your field,

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since we’ve solved the problem now, acquiring a generator that’s on its way via Providencia.

It’s necessary to think about installing anti-aircraft defenses. You have an open field.

Although I’ll make an effort no matter what, don’t count on being

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sure to see me before you go.

A big hug,

Fidel Castro

P.S. In the list of things I need, I missed including electric blasting caps. We need a box like the one you brought for ALPHA."

A shorter letter to the same recipient fetched over $10,000 at a recent auction. https://www.rrauction.com/PastAuctionItem/3374106

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