The death of Fidel Castro triggered both celebrations and mourning, as supporters grieved over the revolutionary and others welcomed the death of the polarizing strongman who had loomed over Cuba for decades.
Castro died at the age of 90 as announced by the country’s state news Friday overnight.
His brother, Raul Castro in a televised statement announced his death. “Dear people of Cuba, with profound pain, I have to sadly inform you… that today, November 25, 2016, at 10:29 in the evening, the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz died.”
His brother also said that Castro would be cremated early Saturday, following his request.
Havana remained silent as CNN’s Patrick Oppman stood outside in the Cuban capital. The news of his death had not likely reached most Cubans yet, as it had broke late in the night.
Meanwhile, revelers spilled into the streets of Miami, Florida, the center of the Cuban exile community. They popped champagnes, clanged pots, cheered and waved the Cuban flag in jubilation.
Castro reigned in Havana for nearly five decades with an iron hand, defying a U.S. economic embargo intended to dislodge him.
Words of respect
Castro had many admirers, who saw him as a stalwart with his ubiquitous military fatigues and fiery oratory. Castro clung to a socialist economic model and one-party Communist rule, even after the Soviet Union disintegrated and most of the rest of the world concluded that state socialism was a bankrupt idea whose time had come and gone.
Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto called Castro a friend of Mexico, who had promoted bilateral relationships based on “respect, dialogue and solidarity.”
Pakistani politician, Imran Khan hailed Castro as “an iconic revolutionary leader” who stood against the US.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century. India mourns the loss of a great friend.”
Celebrations
But others viewed Castro as an enemy of human rights.
“I am shedding tears tonight, but they’re tears of joy,” said Armando Salguero, a Miami Herald columnist. “Hell has a special place for Fidel Castro and there’s one less vacancy in hell tonight.”
He said many Cubans were cheering, because they had been forced to come to the US because they couldn’t have the freedoms and ways to make a life in their homeland.
U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who represents South Florida, tweeted “Tyrant + thug Fidel Castro is dead,” and said his death was an opportunity to have a more free and democratic Cuba.
