Cuba Libre

On this day in 1958, Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement staged one of its most widely publicized acts of terrorism against the Batista government, kidnapping Argentina's great Formula One racer, Juan Manuel Fangio.

The larger-than-life Fangio was in Havana to participate in the Batista-sponsored Cuban Grand Prix. The 1950's was the first decade of Formula One, and Fangio dominated it, winning 24 Grand Prix races and five World Championships, a record which lasted nearly a half-century until Michael Schumacher won his sixth in 2003.

On the evening of the 23rd, Fangio left his room at the Hotel Lincoln in Havana and went downstairs, where he was seized in the lobby by Cuban rebels. The kidnapping was immediately front-page news around the world, bringing Castro's cause more publicity than it had yet achieved in two years of guerilla warfare. Two days later the race went off without Fangio, and turned quickly into a tragic boondoggle as a Cuban driver, Armando Garcia Cifuentes, lost control of his car less than 15 minutes into the race and ploughed into the throng of spectators lining the Malecon. Forty were injured and seven killed. In a fit of rage after the disaster, Batista ordered Cifuentes arrested and charged with manslaughter.

Fangio was released unharmed that night at midnight. He claimed to have been treated with great care and civility by the rebels and to bear them no ill will. Likewise, they announced that the Argentinian driver was a man of immense charm and dignity who they found to be a natural ally in their cause.