The Granma Memorial, located behind the Museo de la Revolucion, preserves the memory of the vessel which brought Fidel and his small band
of fighters from exile in Mexico back to Cuba in 1956. After a disasterous crossing, the boat ran aground in a mangrove swamp off the south
coast of the island. The rebel group was attacked and only 12 of the original 80 men were able to make it to the mountains of the Sierra Maestra.
However, after two years of determined fighting and building on support from the people of the island, the rebel fighters were evenutally able
to defeat the powerful army of the dictator Batista.