Tens of thousands in Santa Clara, Cuba, participate in a celebration commemorating the anniversary of the July 26, 1953, assault on two army garrisons in eastern Cuba led by Fidel Castro. The attack marked a turning point in the forging of a disciplined, revolutionary vanguard of the toilers that would lead Cuba’s working people to victory over the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista and open the door to the first socialist revolution in the Americas. In front row from left to right: Cuban president Raúl Castro, Venezuelan minister of energy and petroleum Rafael Ramírez, Commander of the Revolution and Vice President Ramiro Valdés, Commander of the Revolution Guillermo García, and Cuban vice president Esteban Lazo.

—DOUG NELSON