On March 13, 1957, during the evening, Cuba was shaken by a news. José Antonio Echeverría led a group of young people who had the mission of attacking the radio station Radio Reloj, the event spread over the Island like gunpowder, given the immediacy of the media.  

The University of Havana had a group of students willing to give their lives for full freedom. The preparation of the action was in charge of members of the Revolutionary Directorate.

The mission was to execute the tyrant Fulgencio Batista and to involve the citizens in the call for a general strike. The armed action failed as it was impossible to kill the dictator and the police repression was immediate.

The fighting inside the Palace was violent; the resistance of the guards became stronger, many young people died, and others ran out of ammunition. It is decided to back down, to request reinforcements and to continue the attack later, but the support operation did not work.

During the confrontations, the leader of the University Student Federation, José Antonio Echeverría, was killed.

Fidel Castro described the assault on the Presidential Palace on March 13, 1957 as "a well-organized operation, an act of extraordinary audaciousness and courage, in which there were also failures and imponderables."

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