The ashes of late Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro have been laid to rest in the city of Santiago, nine days after his death at the age of 90.
Crowds lined the streets to see the cortege heading to the Santa Ifigenia cemetery for a private ceremony.
On December 3, Fidel Castro’s brother, Cuban President Raul Castro, promised “to defend the fatherland and socialism”.
In a family ceremony, Fidel Castro’s ashes were interred next to those of the 19th Century Cuban independence hero, Jose Marti.
The city of Santiago is known as the birthplace of the Cuban Revolution.
The funeral brings an end to nine days of national mourning across Cuba.
Fidel Castro’s remains arrived in December 3 in Santiago after a four-day journey from the capital, Havana.
He was part of the small group of revolutionaries who launched an attack on the Moncada barracks in Santiago on July 26, 1953.
The attacked failed, but it was considered the first act of the revolution that would depose the US-backed government of Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959.
Opinion on Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century, remains divided.
Raul Castro took over when his brother’s health deteriorated in 2006.
The Cuban president has announced that his government will ban naming any monuments or roads after Fidel Castro, at the request of the late leader who “strongly opposed any manifestation of cult of personality”.
The final tributes to late Cuban leader Fidel Castro have been led by his brother, President Raul Castro, at a ceremony in the city of Santiago.
Tens of thousands of Cubans attended the event, as well as world leaders.
The Cuban president vowed to honor the socialist principles and goals of the revolution led by Fidel Castro, who died on November 25 at the age of 90.
Photo Wikipedia
Raul Castro also announced that Cuba would ban naming any monuments or roads after Fidel Castro, at the request of the late leader.
“The leader of the revolution strongly opposed any manifestation of cult of personality,” said Raul Castro.
No statues or busts of Fidel Castro will be erected in Cuba, he said.
The urn with his ashes will be interred on December 4 in Santiago, known as the birthplace as the Cuban Revolution.
It arrived on December 3 in Santiago, after a four-day journey from the capital, Havana.
Large crowds shouting “Long live Fidel!” and “I am Fidel!” greeted his funeral cortege through the streets of Santiago.
The leaders of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia have attended the ceremony.
Fidel Castro was part of the small group of revolutionaries who launched an attack on the barracks on July 26, 1953.
The attacked failed, but it was considered the first act of the revolution that would depose the US-backed government of Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959.
Opinion on Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century, remains divided.
Supporters say Fidel Castro returned Cuba to the people and praise him for some of his social programs, such as public health and education.
However, critics call him a dictator, who led a government that did not tolerate opposition and dissent.
Raul Castro took over when his brother’s health deteriorated in 2006.
Fidel Castro’s ashes will be placed in the Ifigenia Cemetery, where Cuban independence hero Jose Marti is buried.
The late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has been honored with a mass rally in Havana’s Revolution Square.
The gathering began with the national anthem and ended with a tribute from Fidel Castro’s brother, President Raul Castro.
The rallywas attended by a number of world leaders – but some countries sent lower-level officials.
Fidel Castro, who came to power in 1959, died on November 25 at the age of 90. His ashes will be taken to the eastern city of Santiago on November 30.
Opinion on Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century, remains divided.
Supporters say Fidel Castro returned Cuba to the people and praise him for some of his social programs, such as public health and education.
However, critics call him a dictator, who led a government that did not tolerate opposition and dissent.
This division led to some countries, such as the US, sending lower-ranking emissaries. However, allies including left-wing Latin American leaders were among those attending the ceremony in Revolution Square, where Cubans once gathered to listen to Fidel Castro’s fiery speeches.
On November 29, the crowd chanted “long live the revolution!” and “Fidel! Fidel!” as the rally got under way.
President Raul Castro closed the rally, referring to his brother as the leader of a revolution “for the humble, and by the humble”.
Greece’s left-wing PM Alexis Tsipras was among those who addressed the crowd. The presidents of Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Panama, South Africa and Zimbabwe also attended.
In his speech, South African President Jacob Zuma praised Cuba’s record on health care and education and its support for African countries.
On November 29, the left-wing presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela, Evo Morales and Nicolas Maduro, were among those who signed a book of condolences at the Jose Marti memorial where a photograph flanked by an honor guard has been on display since November 28.
Another admirer of Fidel Castro, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, was joining the two presidents at the commemoration.
However, many Western leaders are not attending the event in person.
The White House announced that its nominee for the post of ambassador to Havana, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes would attend the commemorative event but that it was not sending an “official delegation” to Cuba.
Ben Rhodes was one of the US officials who negotiated the thaw between the United States and the Cuban government announced in December 2014.
On November 28, President-elect Donald Trump threatened to end the detente if Cuba did not offer a “better deal”.
On November 30, Fidel Castro’s ashes will be taken on a journey to Santiago, which is regarded as the Cuba’s 1959 revolution.
Fidel Castro’s ashes will be placed on December 4 in the Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago, where Cuban independence hero Jose Marti is buried.
Cuba’s dissident group The Ladies in White has called off its traditional protest for the first time in 13 years following Fidel Castro’s death.
The group says the decision is to avoid tensions.
The Ladies in White, formed by wives of jailed dissidents, has long defied a protest ban in Cuba with a weekly march.
Fidel Castro died on November 25 at the age of 90. Flags are flying at half mast as Cuba observes nine days of mourning.
From November 28, people will be able to pay their respects at memorials and rallies before Fidel Castro’s ashes are taken to Santiago de Cuba where he launched his bid for power.
A mass public ceremony is planned at Havana’s Revolutionary Square on November 29.
There have been further celebrations in Miami where many anti-Castro Cuban exiles and their families have settled.
Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 and ushered in a Communist revolution.
Supporters say Fidel Castro returned Cuba to the people, and praise him for some of his social programs, such as public health and education.
Critics call him a dictator, who led a government that did not tolerate opposition and dissent, accused of numerous alleged human rights abuses.
The regular Sunday march of the Ladies in White is a rare expression of dissent largely tolerated by the government.
The women march in silence through the streets of Havana following Mass at a Roman Catholic Church, asking for the release of political prisoners and for human rights to be respected.
“We’re not going to march today [Sunday] so that the government does not take it as a provocation and so that they can pay their tributes,” the group’s leader, Berta Soler, said.
“We respect the mourning of others and will not celebrate the death of any human being.”
In a tweet reacting to Fidel Castro’s death, the Ladies in White said: “Fidel Castro has died, may God forgive him, I WON’T.”
Cuban authorities say the Ladies in White are in the pay of the United States and form part of Washington’s “decades-old effort to undermine Cuba’s socialist revolution”.
The government says there are no political prisoners in Cuba.
President-elect Donald Trump has said Fidel Castro was a “brutal dictator”, hours after the former Cuban leader’s death was announced.
Donald Trump, who takes office in January 20, said he hoped Cubans could move towards a freer future.
Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 and ushered in a Communist revolution. He defied the US for decades, surviving many assassination plots.
His supporters said he returned Cuba to the people. Critics called him a dictator.
Raul Castro, who succeeded him as president, announced his death on state television on November 25.
In a statement, Donald Trump said that while Cuba remained “a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve”.
Image source Flickr
The US cut ties with Cuba in 1961 amid rising Cold War tensions and imposed a strict economic embargo which remains in place more than half a century on.
Under President Barack Obama, the relationship warmed and diplomatic ties were restored in 2015.
Donald Trump roundly criticized Barack Obama’s policy on the campaign trail but made no mention of his pledge to reverse it in his statement, saying his administration would do all it could to ensure Cubans could “begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty”.
Barack Obama, meanwhile, said history would “record and judge the enormous impact” of Fidel Castro. America was extending “a hand of friendship to the Cuban people” at this time, he added.
Fidel Castro was the longest serving non-royal leader of the 20th Century. He had been retired from political life for several years, after handing power to his brother in 2006 because of illness.
He will be cremated on November 26 at a private ceremony in Havana and a period of official mourning has been declared in Cuba until December 4, when his ashes will be laid to rest in the south-eastern city of Santiago.
In Miami, where there is a large Cuban community, there have been celebrations in some parts of the city, with people banging pots and cheering.
Cuba has declared nine days of national mourning following the death of former President and leader of communist revolution Fidel Castro on November 25.
Cubans will be given a chance to bid farewell to Fidel Castro in a mass gathering to be held in Revolution Square in Havana on November 29, Cuba’s Council of State has announced.
Fidel Castro’s ashes will then be taken along the “Caravan of Freedom”, the path he and his guerrilla fighters took during the Cuban Revolution.
His ashes will be laid to rest on December 4. A period of official mourning has been declared until that day.
Photo Wikipedia
During the official mourning period, radio and television will broadcast “informative, patriotic and historic” programs, Cuba’s Council of State announced.
Flags will fly at half mast and there will be no public events apart from those related to Fidel Castro’s death.
His ashes will be laid to rest in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.
A grandiose cemetery, Santa Ifigenia was built in 1868 for the victims of the War of Independence.
It is the resting place of Cuban independence hero Jose Marti.
Fidel Castro died on November 25 at the age of 90.His death was announced last night by his brother, President Raul Castro.
Pope Francis said the death of Fidel Castro was “sad news”, and that he was grieving and praying for his repose.
In a message in Spanish to Cuban President Raul Castro, Pope Francis said: “I express to you my sentiments of grief.”
Pope Francis met Fidel Castro during a visit to Cuba in September 2015.
Fidel Castro was a self-professed atheist but as a child he attended Catholic schools in Santiago before going on to the Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belen in Havana.
The former Cuban president and leader of communist revolution died on November 25 at the age of 90.
Fidel Castro’s death was announced last night by his brother, Raul.
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