CUBA: To the Wall!

From the hoarse throats of 250,000 Cubans jammed before the presidential palace in Havana rose the chilling cry: "Pa-re-don! To the wall! To the firing squad!" By whipping up a frenzy of hatred, Fidel Castro last week got mob approval for a resumption of the drumhead justice that earlier put to death 551 Cubans accused as supporters of ex-Dictator Fulgencio Batista. Now the blood purge would be aimed at defectors in the band of barbudos (bearded ones) who lifted him to power, of whom hundreds are now in prison.

Castro's younger brother, Raul, was detailed to warm up the crowd...

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