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Under cover of darkness, Batista slipped out the back door of the Palace, jumped in his grey and blue car and sped away to Camp Columbia, the Army headquarters. He called the officers together, ascertained that they were with him rather than with Commander in Chief Pedraza. Then things began to happen.
The President placed himself at the head of the Army, suspended constitutional guarantees for 15 days and commanded the Army to take over public utilities. The big guns of Camp Columbia were trained on La Punta fortress. Batista ordered the arrest of Colonel Pedraza and of Lieut. Colonels Gonzalez and Garcia, replaced them. Next morning all the rebels were in custody. To the Army and nation the President declared that it had been necessary to "repress" his Army and Navy chiefs because of their "attitude of sedition," but that "a deep crisis which endangered the stability of the Republic has been vanquished." Victorious, he motored back to the Palace, tired but smiling.
Then, for Cubans, came the most incredible part of the whole revolution. Constitutional guarantees were restored. With the President's permission and assistance, Culprits Pedraza, Garcia and other rebels with their families took a specially chartered Pan American Airways plane to Miami, where they were joined two days later by Culprit Gonzalez. Arriving in Florida, Gonzalez spoke like a defeated U. S. Presidential candidate. "1 bear President Batista only gratitude." he said, "and want to thank him for all the kindness he has shown me in the past and while I was getting ready to sail for the United States." Cuba had indeed progressed far since 1933, when a police chief who had lost favor was shot, hanged, burned and finally hacked to bits.
Joy and Flowers. In Cuba's ornate Presidential Palace all was joy and flowers. Not only had the President suppressed a revolt; he had also become the father of a daughter; name, Elisa. Army and Navy planes zoomed low over the Palace to drop bouquets of flowers. Happy Fulgencio Batista decreed that every child born on the same day (about 180 new Cubans arrive daily) should receive a brand-new ten-peso note, a five-peso savings account and a shinv medal.