 Radio Rebelde broadcast the first reports that Guevara 's column had taken Santa Clara on New Year 's Eve 1958 . This contradicted reports by the heavily controlled national news media , which had at one stage reported Guevara 's death during the fighting . At 3 am on January 1 , 1959 , upon learning that his generals were negotiating a separate peace with Guevara , Fulgencio Batista boarded a plane in Havana and fled for the Dominican Republic , along with an amassed " fortune of more than $ 300 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 through graft and payoffs " . The following day on January 2 , Guevara entered Havana to take final control of the capital . Fidel Castro took 6 more days to arrive , as he stopped to rally support in several large cities on his way to rolling victoriously into Havana on January 8 , 1959 . The final death toll from the two years of revolutionary fighting was 2 @,@ 000 people . 
