Huber Matos affair
The Huber Matos affair was a political scandal in Cuba when on October 20, 1959, army commander Huber Matos resigned and accused Fidel Castro of "burying the revolution". Fifteen of Matos' officers resigned with him. Immediately after the resignation, Castro critiqued Matos and accused him of disloyalty, then sent Camilo Cienfuegos to arrest Matos and his accompanying officers. Matos and the officers were taken to Havana and imprisoned in La Cabaña. Cuban communists later claimed Matos was helping plan a counter-revolution organized by the American Central Intelligence Agency and other Castro opponents, an operation that became the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
| Huber Matos affair | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution | |||
Matos in a prison transport bus shortly after his arrest. | |||
| Date | October 19–21, 1959 | ||
| Location | |||
| Caused by |
| ||
| Goals | Public acknowledgement of "communist threat" | ||
| Methods | Mutiny/Resignation | ||
| Resulted in | Arrest of Matos and 14 mutineer officers | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Lead figures | |||
| Casualties | |||
| Arrested | 15 | ||
The scandal is noted for its occurrence alongside a greater trend of removals of Castro's former collaborators in the revolution. It marked a turning point where Castro was beginning to exert more personal control over the new government in Cuba. Matos' arresting officer and former collaborator of Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, would soon die in a mysterious plane crash shortly after the incident.