your case, your grandfather was a prisoner there. he wanted free elections and he was lucky to escape with his life. tell us what this means to you and people like your family down there now in florida. but cuba in their heart. absolutely, chris. as you said, my grandfather fought to bring democratic elections to cuba many years ago in the cuban revolution. once that ended and fidel took power and my grandfather being a staunch anticommunist began organizing against him, castro didn t like that. my grandfather was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for essentially speaking his mind. he considered himself lucky because he wasn t put like many of his friends were in front of firing squads. more than 1,000 cubans were put in front of firing squads and executed without even going to trial. as you see people celebrating here on the street, many people that i spoke to said they weren t celebrating the death of a person, they were celebrating the death of a monster. this is something
his narrative. here are acts of revenge and atrocities that fidel castro is known for. the death of 10,000 people. but the real death toll is predicted to be far more grim. tens of thousands perished trying to escape his rule. children slain by firing squads and in one instance a pregnant woman kicked in the stomach and left to die. in the early days fidel castro s regime launched a revolt and the new york times reports that more than 500 bautista era officials were brought before a court-martial and convicted and shot to death. the grainy black and white images of the executions broadcast on american television horrified viewers.
praised fidel castro while human rights organizations noted his imprisonment of political enemies. president-elect donald trump first tweeted after hearing the news, fidel castro is dead. later issueed a longer statement saying in part fidel castro s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, one imaginable suffering, poverty and denial of fundamental rights. and he said our administration will do all it can to ensure cuban people can begin their journey towards prosperity and liberty. trump criticized green party leader jill stein filing for a recount in the wisconsin election results. she s fundraising to finance an effort in other states where it s still legally possible. yesterday the clinton campaign said they would join the effort despite finding no evidence of voter hacking and last night president-elect trump tweeted saying the green party s scam to fill up their coffers for asking impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated and demoralized democrats.
trump has acknowledged and is going to be looking at very closely. but there also is something to be said about supporting human rights within 90 miles of u.s. shores and all that implies. it s not like we re doing business with the cuban people. the united states is doing business with the cuban military regime that has supported firing squads and quite frankly in the last few years that we ve had diplomatic relations has increased repression on the island, has increased the number of political detainees, even attacks women going to church such as the ladies in white, closing down more churches than ever before. so you see the repression increasing while the military gets richer. so what we need to do is provide a platform where we can have negotiatio negotiations, better deal making as president-elect trump has been very clear on, where the cuban government doesn t just receive all the benefits from
news, fidel castro is dead. he then later issued a longer statement saying, in part, fidel castro s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, one imageable suffering, poverty and denial of fundamental rights. and he said our administration will do all it can to ensure cuban people can begin their journey towards prosperity and liberty. trump criticized green party leader jill stein filing for a recount in the wisconsin election results. she s fundraising to finance an effort in other states where it s still legally possible. yesterday the clinton campaign said they would join the effort despite finding no evidence of voter hacking and last night president-elect trump tweeted saying the green party s scam to fill up their coffers for asking impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated and demoralized democrats. he is right? joining me to talk about all of this is former presidential candidate bernie sanders and author of the new book our