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With reference to the Cuban Revolution (1953-1959), the noun barbudo (also with capital initial) designates a revolutionary soldier under the leadership of Fidel Castro [note 1]. Later, more generally, this noun came to designate:
– a member of the Cuban military;
– a member of the Castro regime.
A borrowing from Spanish barbudo (literally: a bearded one), this noun refers to the distinctive bushy beard worn by Fidel Castro, which was adopted by many of his followers and became a symbol of the Cuban Revolution.
This noun occurs, for example, in the following from 60 years on from Cuba, the nuclear threat is real, by Doug Marr, published in The Herald (Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland) of Monday 5th December 2022 [page 13, column 4]:
The 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis has revived interest in the stand-off that brought the world to the brink of nuclear conflict. […] Fidel Castro, “Che” Guevara [note 2] and their fellow barbudos were romantic figures to my adolescent, naive young self. They were revolutionary rock stars.
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the noun barbudo that I have found in texts written in English:
1-: From a correspondence dated Havana, Friday 9th January 1959, by William Kinmond, published in the Toronto Daily Star (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) of Friday 9th January 1959 [page 27, column 1]:
For Castro yesterday must have been one of those days when he longed for the comparative peace and quiet of the campaign which preceded the downfall of the Batista government New Year’s Day.
This past Tuesday when I interviewed the rebel chieftain at Santa Clara he said he had then been without sleep for six days. While patiently waiting four hours for him to appear in Havana yesterday, ensconced in the rear of a dump-truck as protection against the estimated 500,000 people jamming Havana’s Malecon waterfront drive, the story was that he still hadn’t had any sleep.
As we peered into the east awaiting Castro’s arrival, falsely alerted many times by the wailing of sirens, which turned out to be just some of his barbudos (bearded ones) kicking their heels, as it were, by roaring down the wide avenue, overhead we could hear the roar of planes in a series of growling aerial gymnastics.
2-: From a correspondence dated Havana, Friday 9th January 1959, by Leland Hawes, published in The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida, USA) of Saturday 10th January 1959 [page 4, column 3]:
The overpowering weight of Castro’s popularity with the people as a whole seems to have squelched the dissidents.
For the most part, all week long, order and quiet have distinguished the military control of Havana. The good-natured hillsmen, who are called “Barbudos” for their beards, have made a hit with the city folks.
3-: From a correspondence dated Havana, Saturday 10th January 1959, by Richard Dudman, published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri, USA) of Sunday 11th January 1959 [page 2A, columns 1 & 2]:
Fidel Castro and the shaggy, bearded men of his rebel army from eastern Cuba, now face their hardest task—governing the country they have conquered.
For the Barbudos (the bearded ones) are in undisputed charge of this country of 6,000,000 people. […]
[…]
Castro’s rebellion was a revolt of the provinces against the capital in some respects. It pitted he idealism and patriotism of eastern Cuba against the showy wealth, pleasure-seeking and corruption of the big city. […]
One of Castro’s men from Oriente province, discussing this underlying rivalry of east Cuba versus the big city, said, “I’m afraid the whole revolution will sink into Havana and never come out.” These thoughts have led some of the rebel leaders to consider a permanent shift of the capital from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, where Castro established a provisional capital when Batista fled.
Another possible device for retaining the idealistic vigor of the rebellion would be for the Barbudos to keep the full beards that they grew in the mountains, vowing not to shave until the dictator was ousted. One of the leading rebel commanders, Ernesto (Che) Guervara [sic], who led rebel forces in the battle for Santa Clara, has been quoted as saying he plans to trim his beard but not shave it off.
4-: From an interview of Raúl Castro [note 3], dated Santiago de Cuba, Monday 12th January 1959, by Richard Dudman, published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri, USA) of Monday 12th January 1959 [page 1C, column 4]:
Questioned about the beards, which became the trademark of the rebel movement, he said it had been decided that los barbudos, “the bearded ones,” should go on without shaves or haircuts “until we have consolidated the revolution.” He declined to say whether that might be a matter of days, weeks or months.
He said there would be no order to get rid of the whiskers and long hair. Each man would know in his heart when it was time for a shave and a haircut, he said. Some of the barbudos at his headquarters, however, said they were awaiting a definite order.
Notes:
1 Fidel Castro (1926-2016): Cuban revolutionary and statesman. He led the Communist overthrow of the Batista dictatorship in 1959; Prime Minister (1959-1976), President (1976-2008).
2 Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara (1928-1967): Argentinian-Cuban politician and soldier. He developed guerrilla warfare as a tool for revolution and was instrumental in Castro’s victory in Cuba, where he held government posts until 1965.
3 Raúl Castro (born 1931), Fidel Castro’s brother: Cuban revolutionary and statesman; President (2008-2018).
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