In Wake of Castro’s Death, Cuban Exiles Cheer in Miami While Havana Streets Stay Silent
As it did during the long and sprawling life of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, the world had a divided reaction to his death, hailing him as a liberator and cursing him as a dictator.
In Miami, the island’s exiles and their children and grandchildren took to the streets, banging pots and pans, waving American and Cuban flags, and celebrating in Spanish: “He’s dead! He’s dead!”
In the early-morning hours on Saturday in Havana, the streets remained quiet not long after Castro’s brother and successor, Raúl, announced that the former dictator at 10:29 p.m. Friday. He did not give a cause of death.
Fidel Castro will be cremated later Saturday. There will be eight days of mourning, including a mass rally to be staged in Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution. His ashes will be interred Dec. 4 in the southern city of Santiago, Cuban state media reported.
In Havana, the popular Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez tweeted, “the silence deepens, it is dawn, but fear is palpable in the air. Complicated days are coming . . .”
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