Presidio Modelo

[1] The five circular blocks, with cells constructed in tiers around central observation posts, were built with the capacity to house up to 5,000 prisoners.

Thirty of the survivors of the rebel attacks on Moncada Barracks in July 1953‍— including Fidel Castro and his brother, Raúl Castro‍— were imprisoned there until 1955.

At that time, the four circular buildings were packed with 6,000 men, every floor was filled with trash, there was no running water, food rations were meager, and the government supplied only the bare necessities of life.

[citation needed] The dictator Fulgencio Batista had made the mistake of placing all the conspirators together in the hospital wing, and they proceeded to treat it as a revolutionary boot camp, congregating for daily lessons on politics and conducting secret communications with supporters around Cuba.

[4] Prominent Cuban political prisoners such as Armando Valladares,[citation needed] Roberto Martín Pérez,[5] and Pedro Luis Boitel[6] were held there at one point or another during their respective incarcerations.