cuba - Road to revolution - In 1953 Fidel Castro took up arms against the dictatorship of President Fulgencio Batista. The regime had become a byword for repression and corruption. Aiming to spark a popular revolt, on 26 July Mr Castro led more than 100 followers in a failed attack on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Fidel Castro and his brother Raul survived, but were imprisoned. Amnestied after two years, Mr Castro continued to campaign against the Batista regime while in exile in Mexico, and established a guerrilla force known as the 26 July Movement. His revolutionary ideals attracted support in Cuba and in 1959 his forces overthrew Batista. Within weeks he became head of government. More than four decades later he remains in power as the world's longest-serving leader.