sending a message that any kind of opposition would not be tolerated at all. The Cuban economy under Batista's government brought little wealth to the Cuban people, 50% of who did not have electricity; 40% were illiterate and 95% of the children living in rural areas suffered from poverty-related diseases. * Before the 1953 uprising, Fidel Castro had written a pamphlet denouncing Batista as a tyrant and calling on young Cubans to be prepared to sacrifice their lives in a fight for freedom. Castro's friends distributed the pamphlet throughout Havana, and many of them within the Ortodoxo party began to conspire with him to overthrow Batista. Castro continued violently denouncing the Batista government and encouraging armed rebellion through articles in the underground newspaper, El Acusador (The Accuser), of which he was political editor. During the summe
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