INTERVIEW — MERCEDES SCHLAPP — Fox News Channel contributor and Washington Times Columnist

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MERCEDES SCHLAPP: Thousands of Cubans, my father included, paid heavy price during Castro’s rule

By Mercedes Schlapp Published November 26, 2016 FoxNews.com

I woke up my 81-year old dad with the news of Fidel Castro’s death. His eyes swelled with tears, and he smiled with a sense of relief that a dictator who destroyed his homeland, stole his homes and businesses, killed his friends, and divided our family was finally gone.

When Mr. Castro overthrew the Cuban government in 1959, some believed in his vision of a revolution, yet it quickly turned into a nightmare when he and his thugs transformed this peaceful and thriving island into a totalitarian communist regime where the Cuban people were denied their basic rights and freedoms.

Mr. Castro changed the course of history and sadly, thousands of Cubans paid a heavy price for his actions. Many who disagreed with the Castro regime including my father were imprisoned, tortured, or assassinated. My father knew the destructive path of Mr. Castro, and he became a freedom fighter – outspoken and critical of Mr. Castro. He was thrown into jail. On the first day of his imprisonment, he spoke to one his friends and had to tell him that he would be executed the next day by a firing squad. It is just one of many stories of the horrors of the Castro brothers who are both guilty of the countless executions of innocent men and women.

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