Editing Fidel Castro (section)

====Repression====
The process of obtaining permanent power was dramatic, traumatic and bloody. From 1959 on, mass killings of dissidents were carried out as a matter of course by the infamous "''firing squads.''" Immediately after the Communist take-over, some 2,500 army officers were rounded up and shot dead. Che Guevara reportedly stayed up late into the night signing death warrants for defenseless "reactionaries." Tens of thousands were sent to [[Concentration Camp|concentration camps]]. Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers were clubbed with rifle butts as they pleaded for their family members to be spared. One of Castro's exiled opponents describes it this way:

''"The Castro regime came to power by deception and terror, resulting in what can only be described as a state of war against the Cuban people. Executions, labor camps, forced re-locations and exile, and the imposition of a repressive military police force to exercise control over civilian society."''

As prime minister, and then president from 1976, Castro ruled the country in line with Stalinist policies, seizing private property and eliminating free speech and free press. He was infamous for his overly long speeches, often rambling on for hours, which can be seen as an example of Liberal style. He was also virulently [[Homophobia|homophobic]] and heavily prosecuted homosexuals to the point where even his own advisers tried to reign in his homophobia, to no avail. However, he apologized for his homophobia later on in his life.