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27-728: In February 1960, a group of the newly formed DRE at the University of Havana , opposed to communism , publicly opposed the visit of Soviet diplomat Anastas Mikoyan , leading to their expulsion from the university. Later that year the group moved its headquarters to Miami . There the group developed connections with the Central Intelligence Agency . On August 24, 1962, the DRE carried out an attack in Cuba, with two speedboats firing approximately sixty 20-millimeter shells into

54-596: A co-founder of the Cuban Communist Party in the 1920s. The European revolutionary tradition of college-based political activism that was practiced in Cuba and in many other Latin American countries and the alleged corruption of Cuban political parties at the time turned the FEU, a stronghold of communist ideology, into the most influential of Cuban political organizations before 1959. It was a major participant in

81-463: A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize research and exchange opportunities for students and faculty. The MOU was re-signed in October 2016 with the addition of encompassing all of Rutgers , The State University of New Jersey. Throughout its history, the university has received multiple awards for its research work. In February 2022, thanks to its contributions in the fight against COVID-19,

108-475: A successful attempt by Oswald to attract attention as a left-wing activist; Gerald Posner , on the other hand, believes the DRE's harassment of Oswald helped provoke the assassination. Later the same month, Oswald took part in a local radio debate with DRE members. The day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy the DRE, defying orders from Joannides to await instructions, launched a public campaign asserting that Lee Harvey Oswald had been acting on behalf of

135-518: Is Calle 23, also known as "La Rampa". The northern edge of the district is the waterfront seawall known as the Malecón , a famous and popular place for social gatherings in the city. The area popularly referred to as 'Vedado' consists of the wards ( consejos populares ) of Vedado, Rampa, Vedado-Malecón and Carmelo, all in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución . Among the notable sites in Vedado are

162-604: The Americas . Originally a religious institution, today the university has 15 faculties (colleges) at its Havana campus and distance learning centers throughout Cuba. Founded in 1728 by Dominican friars belonging to the Order of Preachers ( la Orden de Predicadores ) as Real y Pontificia Universidad de San Gerónimo de la Habana ( Royal and Pontifical University of Saint Jerome of Havana ) with six original faculties: Art and Philosophy, Theology, Canons, Law, and Medicine. In 1842,

189-518: The CIA with its publishing and radio programs and by sending delegates to international student conferences. University of Havana The University of Havana ( UH ; Spanish : Universidad de La Habana ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana , the capital of Cuba . Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in

216-596: The Cuban government. Members communicated their claims to Paul Bethel, a former CIA employee active in Cuban exile politics, and Clare Boothe Luce . On 23 November published a seven-page brief on Oswald as well as a special edition of the DRE's monthly bulletin, a four-page broadsheet which ran the headline "The Presumed Assassins" above photographs of Oswald and Fidel Castro . The group held a press conference where pressed their case using accurate information about Oswald as well as

243-611: The Dean of the Business School. Juan Manuel Menocal was a professor at the law school when Fidel Castro was a student there in the 1940s. Maria Rosa Menocal , former Director of the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale, was the granddaughter of Chana and Juan Manuel Menocal. (See Alma Mater Witness of Time by Eduardo Heras León). The main library "Rubén Martínez Villena" was established later in 1936. After

270-525: The FEU, led by Jose Antonio Echeverria , attempted to kill Fulgencio Batista in an armed assault at the Cuban Presidential Palace on 13 March 1957. Batista managed to escape, and many student assailants died in the action, as did Echeverria himself. During the months that followed, the police executed many of the students that led the failed coup. President Batista ordered the university to be closed, and it remained so until Batista fled

297-664: The Havana suburb of Miramar , damaging a beachfront hotel, the Rosita Hornedo, which housed advisers sent to Cuba from the Soviet bloc. The attack had been planned by the CIA's JMWAVEstation in Miami , though the U.S. State Department maintained the attempt was independent of U.S. government knowledge or support. In mid-1962 the DRE passed on early reports of missiles being stationed in Cuba to its CIA connections, not long before

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324-519: The assault on the Moncada barracks by Fidel Castro , an attorney who graduated from Havana University School of Law, and who had contacts in the FEU, the FEU became an ally of Castro's new 26th of July Movement , though there were discrepancies between the leaders in the form that the forthcoming revolution should be carried out. While Fidel Castro was hiding in the Sierra Maestra mountains,

351-497: The chief of the psychological warfare branch JMWAVE station in Miami. The money went to Luis Fernandez Rocha, the DRE's leader in Miami, and supported the DRE's activities in a variety of cities, including New Orleans . Joannides also provided non-financial support, reviewing military plans and briefing the DRE leadership on managing press relations. Joannides worked with the group from December 1962 to April 1964; CIA monthly reports on

378-560: The city of Havana , Cuba . Bordered on the east by Calzada de Infanta and Central Havana , and on the west by the Alemendares River and Miramar / Playa district, Vedado is a more modern part of the city than the areas to the east, developed in the first half of the 20th century, during the Republic period. In 2016 it was described by one commentator as the city's "most affluent" section. The main street running east to west

405-525: The claim, never documented, that he had lived in the Moscow home of the Soviet foreign minister for two months. DRE members later said that the aim was to create public pressure for a U.S. attack on Cuba. The CIA began to cut back its support for the DRE at the end of 1962 and ended its support in December 1966 when it characterized the group as inactive. In the intervening years, the DRE members had supported

432-468: The country and Fidel Castro entered Havana in January 1959. The Castro administration re-opened the university in 1959. 23°8′3.49″N 82°22′55.32″W  /  23.1343028°N 82.3820333°W  / 23.1343028; -82.3820333 Vedado Vedado ( Spanish : El Vedado , Spanish pronunciation: [el βeˈðaðo] ) is a central business district and urban neighborhood in

459-483: The government was taken over by Fulgencio Batista in 1952, the university became a center of anti-government protests. Batista closed the university in 1956. From 1 January 1959, the date on which Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba, until 1 January 1962, the university went through a period of reformation to eliminate "anti-revolutionary ideas". In 2002, Rutgers University–Camden and the University of Havana signed

486-503: The group from 1960 to 1966 have been declassified, except for this period. In August 1963 the DRE had several significant contacts with Lee Harvey Oswald . Oswald had approached a member, Carlos Bringuier , and pretended to be sympathetic to the DRE's goals. When DRE members later saw him handing out pro-Castro leaflets, their confrontation became physical and resulted in Oswald's arrest. The Warren Commission interpreted these contacts as

513-573: The hotels: Hotel Nacional de Cuba (National Hotel), the Havana Libre (former Hilton), Melia Cohiba Hotel and Hotel Riviera . In addition: Nearby neighborhoods include: Aero Caribbean has its headquarters in Vedado. The Venezuelan airline Conviasa has an office in the IACC Building in Vedado. Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil de Cuba , Cuba's civil aviation authority, has its headquarters in Vedado. 23rd Street in Vedado

540-677: The institute received the Science and Innovation award from the Union of Latin American Universities, during the celebration of the International Congress on Higher Education. The University of Havana is made up of 16 faculties ( Spanish : facultades ) and 14 research centers in a variety of fields, including economics , sciences , social science and humanities . In total, up to 25 specialties are taught at

567-549: The overthrowing of the Cuban President Gerardo Machado . The FEU initiated the national general strike of 1933, resulting in the imprisonment of many of its members. Founder Julio Antonio Mella , himself had been killed at the hands of two assassins sent by Machado while exiled in Mexico in 1929. After the coup d'état by Fulgencio Batista in 1952, when free and democratic elections were suspended,

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594-451: The presence of missile was confirmed by U-2 photographs and the ensuing Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. Afterwards, the DRE claimed some missiles had been hidden in caves, a claim the CIA discredited. The group expressed disappointment that the missile crisis was resolved without the forceful ousting of Fidel Castro. In mid-1963 the CIA financed the DRE with $ 25,000 per month, under a CIA program named AMSPELL run by George Joannides ,

621-599: The university changed its status to become a secular, royal and literary institution. Its name became Real y Literaria Universidad de La Habana ( Royal and Literary University of Havana ) and later, when Cuba was a free republic, the name was changed to Universidad Nacional ( National University ). The university had first been established in San Juan de Letrán (located in Villa de San Cristóbal in Old Havana ) before it

648-517: The university. Now, it has about 60,000 degree students in regular classes. There are 16 faculties into which the university is divided: Before the Cuban Revolution of 1959, students joined different organizations, aligning themselves directly or indirectly with some political party. The strongest of all these organizations was the FEU (Federación Estudiantil Universitaria or University Students Federation) created by Julio Antonio Mella ,

675-404: The violent clashes between university students and Cuban police reached their extremes. Students known to be members of the FEU were violently tortured and killed in the streets of Havana, and the organization reacted with an irregular war in the city, aiming mainly to assassinate police officers of high rank, like the chief of the police in Havana, Blanco Rico, who was killed by 4 FEU members. After

702-584: Was created in 1919 by artist Mario Korbel , who based his design off of Alma Mater , the Daniel Chester French statue at Columbia University in New York City . The model for the statue's face was 16-year-old Feliciana "Chana" Villalón, the daughter of José Ramón Villalón y Sánchez, a professor of analytical mathematics at the university. Chana later married Juan Manuel Menocal (a distant relative of Armando Menocal), who went on to become

729-451: Was transferred on 1 May 1902, to a hill in the Vedado area of Havana . The interiors of the building were decorated by Armando Menocal y Menocal. The seven frescos represent Medicine , Science , Art , Thought , Liberal Arts , Literature , and Law . At the main university entrance (shown above) there is a bronze statue of Alma Mater (meaning the "Nourishing mother" in Latin ) that

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