The Congress took place in Soledad de Mayari Arriba, in eastern Santiago de Cuba province, and was addressed by the then Commander Raul Castro who was based in that region and led the 2nd Frank Pais Garcia Eastern Front.

The meeting was aimed to outline the agrarian reform the Cuban countryside would need, once the insurgent movement took control of the nation.

It had to be a true transformation of the Cuban countryside that would make landowners disappear, return the lands to peasants, and end exploitation, abandonment, illiteracy, poverty, and oppression suffered by men and women of the mountainous regions.

The First Congress of Peasant in Arms has set goals beyond denunciations and demands. The first and most important was to overthrow Fulgencio Batista tyranny and thereby weaken the foundations of the capitalist system established in Cuba, with the support of the United States Government. Consequently, the delegates to the Congress decided to give unconditional support to the Rebel Army, with concrete measures such as contributing to the revolutionary cause, ten percent of harvests’ value and sale of animals and wood .

That logistical support, and the incorporation of lots of peasants in the battle fronts, helped the success of the insurgent Rebel Army in the hills and the final victory of the revolutionary movement.

jrr/iff/jha/lld