CIUDAD TRUJILLO, Dominican Republic, Jan. 2, 1959 (UPI) -- Ousted Cuban President Fulgencio Batista blames his defeat on the fact his troops were not trained for guerrilla warfare. Batista flew here with high government leaders and members of his family early yesterday and checked into the luxurious Ambassador Hotel.
Asked how such a small group of rebels could have successfully fought the Cuban army, Batista put it this way:
"Their (the rebels) first opponents were soldiers of the rural guard who were not prepared for guerrilla warfare."
"When the rebels expanded their operations and met the army in open battle they were well armed and their weapons were superior to ours."
Batista said to have continued the civil war would have meant "great sacrifices and enormous losses of lives, and I chose to put an end to this situation, resigning the government."
Batista is the second former Latin American chief of state now in exile in the Dominican Republic. Former President Juan D. Peron of Argentina also is living here.
Batista arrived with 40 persons including Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Gonzalo Guell and President-elect Andres Rivero-Aguera who was to have taken office Feb. 8.
Most of Batista's family fled to the U.S. He and his wife have eight children, and they either fled or were taken to Miami and New York earlier in the week.
