Editing History of Cuba (section)

====Political repression and human rights abuses ====
In 1952, while receiving military, financial, and logistical support from the United States,<ref>{{cite book|last=Guerra|first=Lillian|title=Beyond Paradox: A Century of Revolution|editor1-first=Greg|editor1-last=Grandin|editor2-first=Gilbert M.|editor2-last=Joseph|year=2010|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham, NC|pages=199–238|series=American Encounters/Global Interactions|isbn=978-0-8223-4737-8}}</ref><ref name="FidelUntold2">''[[Fidel: The Untold Story]]''. (2001). Directed by Estela Bravo. [[First Run Features]]. (91 min). [https://www.youtube.com/embed/NW1Yh8D-xCg Viewable clip]. "Batista's forces were trained by the United States, which also armed them with tanks, artillery, and aircraft."</ref> Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the [[right to strike]]. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans.<ref name="Dictionary1950">''Historical Dictionary of the 1950s'', by [[James S. Olson|James Stuart Olson]], Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, {{ISBN|0-313-30619-2}}, pp. 67–68.</ref> Eventually it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land.<ref name="FidelUntold1">''[[Fidel: The Untold Story]]''. (2001). Directed by Estela Bravo. [[First Run Features]]. (91 min). [https://www.youtube.com/embed/oPlnGiS488s Viewable clip].</ref> Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships with both the [[American Mafia]], who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in [[Havana]], and with large U.S.-based [[multinational corporation|multinational]] companies who were awarded lucrative contracts.<ref name="Dictionary1950" /><ref name="EnglishNocturne">''Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution'', by [[T. J. English]], William Morrow, 2008, {{ISBN|0-06-114771-0}}.</ref> To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—displayed through frequent [[student riot]]s and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his [[Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities]] [[secret police]] to carry out wide-scale violence, [[torture]] and [[public execution]]s. Estimates range from hundreds to about 20,000 people killed.<ref name="CIA, 1963 P. 1">CIA (1963). Political Murders in Cuba – Batista Era Compared with Castro Regime</ref><ref name="Wickham-Crowley, Timothy P. 1990 P. 63">Wickham-Crowley, Timothy P. (1990). Exploring Revolution: Essays on Latin American Insurgency and Revolutionary Theory. Armonk and London: M.E. Sharpe. P. 63 "Estimates of hundreds or perhaps about a thousand deaths due to Batista's terror are also supported by comments made by Fidel Castro and other Batista critics during the war itself."</ref><ref name="Guerra, Lillian 2012 p. 42">Guerra, Lillian (2012). Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolution, Redemption, and Resistance, 1959–1971. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 42 "The likely total was probably closer to three to four thousand."</ref><ref>''Conflict, Order, and Peace in the Americas'', by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, 1978, p. 121. "The US-supported Batista regime killed 20,000 Cubans"</ref>