Coup Atlas Research Database
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04003131957AttemptedDissident coup

Cuba, 1957 — dissident coup attempt

Cuba (CUB)Caribbean, AmericasMarch 13, 1957

Event Summary

On 13 March 1957 the student opposition group Directorio Revolucionario 13 de Marzo, joined by members of the Autentico party under Menelao Mora, stormed the Presidential Palace in Havana in a bold attempt to assassinate President Fulgencio Batista and topple his government by the strategy of the direct blow, the golpe arriba. About 42 to 50 attackers reached the third floor but failed to locate Batista, who was in a private study the raiders did not know existed. Simultaneously, a group led by student leader Jose Antonio Echeverria seized the Radio Reloj station to broadcast news of Batista's supposed death and call a general strike, but the transmission was cut and Echeverria was shot dead by police near the university.

The attack failed utterly, provoking a fierce wave of repression that killed dozens and decapitated the Directorio's urban leadership; Batista survived and ruled until fleeing Cuba on 1 January 1959.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Fulgencio Batista survived the palace attack unharmed and ruled until fleeing on 1 January 1959
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Fulgencio Batista (president of Cuba, target)
Jose Antonio Echeverria (Directorio leader, killed at Radio Reloj)
Menelao Mora (Autentico leader in the palace assault)
Faure Chomon (Directorio organizer and survivor)

Sources

The 1957 Havana Presidential Palace attack was a failed assassination attempt on the life of President Fulgencio Batista, beginning around 3:30 pm on March 13, 1957, carried out by Menelao Mora, members of the Partido Autentico, and the student group Directorio Revolucionario 13 de Marzo following the golpe arriba strategy.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Havana Presidential Palace attack (1957) open source ↗
Although the attackers reached the third floor of the palace, they did not locate or harm Batista, and a simultaneous attack at Radio Reloj was led by Jose Antonio Echeverria, who read a statement announcing Batista's death before the transmission was cut.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Havana Presidential Palace attack (1957) open source ↗
The operation failed because Batista was never killed, and Jose Antonio Echeverria was shot and killed by police on his way back to the university, after which the failed attack provoked one of the worst waves of repression Havana had experienced.
SOURCE REVIEWED Military Wiki, Havana Presidential Palace attack (1957) open source ↗
The death of Echeverria and other leaders led to the virtual collapse of the Directorio, whose remaining membership largely joined the Escambray front, while Batista ruled until the revolution's triumph on 1 January 1959.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Revolutionary Directorate of 13 March Movement open source ↗

Editorial Note

Exact date match, extensively documented. Part of the Cuba arc alongside the Moncada attack enriched in batch 59 and the September 1957 Cienfuegos revolt in this batch, all leading to Batista's fall on 1 January 1959.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
04003131957

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Fulgencio Batista survived the palace attack unharmed and ruled until fleeing on 1 January 1959.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista

New York Times

“CASTRO DEPLORES COMMUNIST RIFT He Will Have No Quarreling Among Cuban Reds, He Says,” by Paul Hofmann, March 14, 1965
“Cuba Suppresses Youths’ Uprising; 40 are killed,” by R. Hart Phillips, March 14, 1957

Newsday

“Cuba Crushes Attack on Batista; 40 Die,” March 14, 1957

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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Related Records

Cuba — Dissident coup, 19531953-07-26AttemptedCaribbeanCuba — Dissident coup, 19611961-04-17AttemptedCaribbeanCuba — Dissident coup, 19471947-09-21ConspiracyCaribbean