Camilo was active in the underground activities against dictator Fulgencio Batista and had a large role in the Cuban Revolution. He was one of the revolution's four major figures, together with Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and Che Guevara. He participated with them in the 1953 attack on the Moncada barracks, and during the revolution led the so-called second column of the rebel forces together with Che Guevara. After the revolution's victory he served in the army's high command, fought counterrevolutionary uprisings, and had a large hand in instituting agrarian reforms. On October 28, 1959, his Cessna plane disappeared over the water on a nighttime flight from Camagüey to Havana, and he is presumed to have died in a crash. Anti-Castro groups have claimed it is likely Castro had him killed, but his death is generally considered to have been an accident.