Fidel Castro death: Cubans mourn ex-leader
Flags are flying at half mast as nine days of mourning are
observed.
From Monday, people will be able to pay respects before the
ashes of the 90-year-old are taken to Santiago de Cuba where he launched his
bid for power.
There were further celebrations in the US city of Miami,
however, where many anti-Castro Cuban exiles and their families have settled.
Some world leaders have been paying tribute to the 20th-Century
icon. But US President-elect Donald Trump said Castro had been a
"brutal dictator".
Castro came to power in 1959 and ushered in a Communist
revolution, defying the US for decades.
His supporters viewed him as a man who stood up to America
during the Cold War and returned Cuba to the people. His critics, however,
called him a dictator.
It is hard to overstate exactly how important Fidel
Castro was to Cubans. Whether he was their beloved revolutionary hero and
liberator or if they saw him as a despot and tyrant, the name Castro has been
an intrinsic part of their lives for decades. So adapting to the news that the
90-year-old Fidel Castro, latterly more likely to be seen in tracksuits than
olive-green fatigues, was gone has been difficult to digest for some.
A group of students appeared outside the law faculty he studied
in in the 1950s, carrying Cubans flags, pictures of Fidel and holding up
revolutionary slogans. Many were in tears, genuinely moved by the loss of a man
they consider to have freed their country from Washington's grasp. Elsewhere in
Havana, people were more muted, perhaps a little quieter and more reflective as
they sought out the state-run newspaper or paid for a little internet access.
The contrast with the picture across the Florida Straits
couldn't have been starker. For a second consecutive night, the atmosphere in
Miami was one of partying and celebrating the news of his death. The
anti-Castro Cuban American community has wanted Fidel out of their lives for
decades. They just didn't think they'd have to wait until he was 90 to get
their wish.
The US cut ties with Cuba in 1961 amid rising Cold War
tensions and imposed a strict economic embargo which largely remains in place
more than half a century on.
Under President Barack Obama, the relationship warmed and
diplomatic ties were restored in 2015.
Mr Obama said history would "record and judge the enormous
impact" of Castro. America was extending "a hand of friendship to the
Cuban people" at this time, he added.
A mourning period began on Saturday and will be
observed in Cuba until the urn with Castro's ashes is taken to the south-eastern
city of Santiago de Cuba to be laid to rest there on 4 December.
Before that, a series of memorials will be held in Havana and
Castro's ashes will travel along the route of the Caravan of Freedom that took
place in January 1959.
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 Raul in 2006 because of illness.
How Castro defied the US
Throughout the Cold War, Fidel Castro was a thorn in
Washington's side.
An accomplished tactician on the battlefield, he and his small
army of guerrillas overthrew the military leader Fulgencio Batista in 1959 to
widespread popular support.
Within two years of taking power, he declared the revolution to
be Marxist-Leninist in nature and allied Cuba firmly to the Soviet Union - a
move that led to the missile crisis in 1962, bringing the world to the brink of
nuclear war before the Soviet Union abandoned its plan to put missiles on Cuban
soil.
Despite the constant threat of a US invasion as well
as the long-standing economic embargo on the island, Castro managed to maintain
a communist revolution in a nation just 90 miles (145km) off the coast of
Florida.
Despised by his critics as much as he was revered by his
followers, he maintained his rule through 10 US presidents and survived scores
of attempts on his life by the CIA.
He established a one-party state, with hundreds of supporters of
the Batista government executed. Political opponents have been imprisoned, the
independent media suppressed. Thousands of Cubans have fled into exile.
Many world leaders have paid tribute to Castro.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described him as a "reliable and sincere
friend" of Russia, while Chinese President Xi Jinping said his people had
"lost a good and true comrade".
The Soviet Union's last leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, said:
"Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American
blockade, when there was colossal pressure on him."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under fire on social
media and from political opponents for describing Castro as a "remarkable leader", who despite being a "controversial
figure" made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of
Cubans.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged advances
in education, literary and health under Castro, but said he hoped Cuba would
"continue to advance on a path of reform, greater prosperity and human
rights".
Pope Francis, who met Castro, an atheist, when he visited Cuba
in 2015, called his death "sad news".
In Venezuela, Cuba's main regional ally, President Nicolas
Maduro said "revolutionaries of the world must follow his legacy".
Fidel Castro's key dates
§ 1926: Born in the south-eastern
Oriente Province of Cuba
§ 1953: Imprisoned after leading an
unsuccessful rising against Batista's regime
§ 1955: Released from prison under
an amnesty deal
§ 1956: With Che Guevara, begins a
guerrilla war against the government
§ 1959: Defeats Batista, sworn in
as prime minister of Cuba
§ 1961: Fights off CIA-sponsored
Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles
§ 1962: Sparks Cuban missile crisis
by agreeing that USSR can deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba
§ 1976: Elected president by Cuba's
National Assembly
§ 1992: Reaches an agreement with
US over Cuban refugees
§ 2006: Hands over reins to brother
Raul due to health issues, stands down as president two years later
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