How does a man like Castro maintain control for so long

I can't answer that question. As I dig into the past 50 years of events in Cuba, I cannot explain how a seemingly intelligent population allows such total control to be held by one man. The citizens are better off in many ways such as free education and free health care and no one dies homeless, hungry and sick on the streets which is a very big dependency to keep tight control.   Many events came together to create the revolution in the first place. The revolutionary leader was no George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln which was unfortunate for the citizens of Cuba. The whole story is way too tangled to go into here and I am not qualified to render an opinion and I am not sure I will be after visiting for a mere 8 days. What I hope to do is make a connection with the people, shake a hand see if I feel a sisterhood as I did with some ladies in Peru who were busy with handcrafts and needlework. I am a knitter and that plus a reasonable command of the Spanish language established a rapport I will always be grateful for. I hope to find the same ambiance in Cuba. It is all up to me.