<P> In any given year, there were about 20,000 dissidents held and tortured under inhuman prison conditions . Homosexuals were imprisoned in internment camps in the 1960s, where they were subject to medical - political "reeducation". The Black Book of Communism estimates that 15--17,000 people were executed . The anti-Castro Archivo Cuba estimates that 4,000 people were executed . </P> <P> The establishment of a socialist system in Cuba led to the fleeing of many hundreds of thousands of upper - and middle - class Cubans to the United States and other countries since Castro's rise to power . By 1961, thousands of Cubans had fled Cuba for the United States . On 22 March of that year, an exile council was formed . The council planned to defeat the Communist regime and form a provisional government with José Miró Cardona, a noted leader in the civil opposition against Batista, to serve as temporary president until elections could be held . </P> <P> Between 1959 and 1993, some 1.2 million Cubans left the island for the United States, often by sea in small boats and fragile rafts . Between 30,000 and 80,000 Cubans are estimated to have died trying flee Cuba during this period . In the early years a number of those who could claim dual Spanish - Cuban citizenship left for Spain . Over the course of several decades, a number of Cuban Jews were allowed to emigrate to Israel after quiet negotiations; the majority of the 10,000 or so Jews who were in Cuba in 1959 eventually left the country . By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cubans were living in many different countries, some in member countries of the European Union . Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Canada have particularly large Cuban communities . </P> <P> On 6 November 1965, Cuba and the United States agreed to an airlift for Cubans who wanted to emigrate to the United States . The first of these so - called Freedom Flights left Cuba on 1 December 1965, and by 1971 over 250,000 Cubans had flown to the United States . In 1980 another 125,000 came to United States during a six - month period in the Mariel boatlift, including some criminals and people with psychiatric diagnoses . It was discovered that the Cuban government was using the event to rid Cuba of the unwanted segments of its society . In 2012, Cuba abolished its requirement for exit permits, allowing Cuban citizens to travel to other countries more easily . </P>

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