For the first time since Fidel Castro took power 3½ years ago, discontent became mass civic defiance. In the port city of Cárdenas (pop. 53,000), lying 73 miles east of Havana, crowds surged through the streets shouting, "We are hungry! Down with Communism!" Castro's reaction was to send Russian T-34 tanks rumbling threateningly through Cárdenas' rebellious streets.
The revolt started one morning a fortnight ago, when restless crowds began calling for food and denouncing Castro. Before long, thousands of people jammed seven blocks of the business district. When a loudspeaker truck appeared, urging all to go home, promising that food would...
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