Crowds Gather for Miami Rally to Mark Fidel Castro’s Death

Ordinary people have largely been staying at home, off streets hushed by a prohibition on music and celebration during the nine days of official mourning for Castro.

Cuban President Raul Castro called his late brother and comrade-in-arms the leader of a revolution “for the humble and by the humble”. Even after ceding power to his brother, Raul, Castro always published articles on Granma, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, to criticise U.S. policy, Lv said.

Raul Castro, 85, expressed his gratitude for the “countless gestures of solidarity and affection from around the world” after his brother’s death.

On Wednesday, Castro’s ashes will begin a three-day procession east across Cuba, retracing the march of his bearded rebel army from the Sierra Maestra mountains to the capital.

Many other leaders also saw Castro as an iconic voice that propelled his country to social reforms.

The ashes of the 90-year-old former president did not appear to be on display inside the monument.

Pence’s comments may have netted some votes from Cuban exiles in Miami, but in the long range, continued engagement with Cuba like that started by Obama is more likely to bring better living conditions and more freedom to Cuba, as well as more trade opportunities for Nebraska.

If a developing country like Cuba can do this – it certainly seems possible to me that as the wealthiest country on earth we might be able to feed, house and educate our own population without driving students into debt and single-mothers into the street. “Everyone’s feeling it here”, said Orlando Alvarez, a 55-year-old jeweler. “I hope that we keep moving forward because we are truly a great, strong, intelligent people”.

Bovo was one of hundreds who attended a planned rally in Little Havana, a Cuban and immigrant enclave in Miami.

The one-time 2016 Republican presidential candidate also criticized Obama for offering “condolences to the Cuban people” and suggesting that “history will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure”.

Earlier on President Mugabe had described Cde Fidel Castro’s death as a loss not only to Cuba but the entire developing world as he chronicled his legacy of revolution and human resource development in Africa and South America. He negotiated a diplomatic opening with the United States two years ago not, as President Obama hoped, to accelerate reforms, but to collect for the state a new stream of hard-currency revenue from US tourists and companies.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s ashes began a four-day journey that will take them from the emblematic Revolution Square here to the city of Santiago de Cuba via caravan, where the revolutionary leader’s funeral service will take place on Sunday. Castro ruled from 1959 until an illness forced him to hand power to Raul in 2006.

Clubs have been closed and concerts have been cancelled across Havana. “Instead…a better approach for the incoming Trump administration would be to maintain President Obama’s policy of constructive engagement and work with the post-Castro leadership to protect US national interests in a more stable, independent, and open Cuba”.

“Fidel’s ideas are still valid”, said Edgardo Casals, a 32-year-old sculptor. US military and police officials have courted their Cuban counterparts, often overlooking their records of human rights abuses. “We have to look toward the future, which is ours, the younger generations'”.