Tough Tactics

Out of the impenetrable Sierra Maestra, where they had hidden for 13 months, poured the men of Cuban Rebel Chief Fidel Castro last week. Twenty miles out from the foothills, they surrounded the bustling sugar port of Manzanillo (pop. 100,000), attacked and halted Havana-bound trains and buses, burned automobiles, rice and sugar installations, then vanished at nightfall.

Two days later, 15 miles to the east, in the farming village of Veguitas (pop. 8,000), some 200 rebels, reportedly led by Castro himself, overran the village army post, grabbed food, scooped up the money in the post office, then withdrew after laying an ambush that trapped government armored cars rolling to the rescue.

Never had Castro taken such chances, showed such strength. Yet this burst of force probably grew out of frustration and disappointment. Castro was tired of waiting for the people to rise up to drive out Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Last week's attacks may well signal that his rebellion has entered a new. tougher and riskier phase. From the hills Castro sent word: "Until now we have spared the cities. But now we realize we must carry the fight to the cities as well as the countryside."

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