Panorama

'Panorama' reports from Cuba on the celebrations held to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of when Castro first rose up against the Batista dictatorship. In the process, reporter James Mossman reviews the current way of life for the Cuban people in and around Havana and asks whether Castro remains as popular as when he first took up arms on 26 July 1953.

Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 26 July uprising of 1953. On his early release he continued to lead the resistance against President Fulgencio Batista, whose regime had denied him the chance to run in democratic elections. In command of a small guerrilla force called the 26 July Army, he eventually defeated the government and took power on New Year's Day 1959. Among the original members of the small force that landed on the shores of Cuba to start a revolution was Che Guevara.