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New Government. From Santiago, Castro proclaimed Judge Manuel Urrutia President of Cuba. Urrutia in turn named Castro head of the armed forces and appointed a Cabinet of rebel professors, doctors and lawyers, including one man called the Minister in Charge of Recovering Stolen Government Property. Castro will doubtless be the biggest voice in the land for some time to come, and he gave signs of capricious temper. On his orders, Havana was closed down until early this week by a pointless general strike that cut food supplies and kept nerves on edge.
This week bearded Fidel Castro was moving at the head of his irregulars toward Havana, getting tumultuous welcomes from every town. His movement would have to reorganize Cuba and try to run its government; he promised that the rebels would permit the harvesting of the vital sugar crop and restore constitutional rights. But he would not personally run the show, he said. "Power does not interest me, and I will not take it," he vowed. "From now on, the people are entirely free, and our people know how to comport themselves properly."