Cuban-Americans poured onto the streets of Miami on Saturday to cries of “Cuba Libre” and “Freedom, freedom” as they celebrated the death of former Cuban president Fidel Castro.
Revelers — many who fled Havana’s communist regime — honked car horns, banged on pots and drums and danced, cried and waved Cuban flags in a crush of communal euphoria.
Castro died late on Friday, his brother Cuban President Raul Castro announced on national television at about midnight.
Photo: Reuters
In Miami — home to the largest concentration of Cuban-Americans in the US — the news spread quickly and with fervor.
“It’s sad that one finds joy in the death of a person — but that person should never have been born,” said Pablo Arencibia, 67, a teacher who fled Cuba 20 years ago.
Sensing the historic moment, younger revelers streamed the event on Facebook Live, posted pictures on Instagram and broadcast the celebrations on FaceTime and Skype to friends and relatives on the island.
Little Havana and Hialeah — areas where many Cuban exiles settled — saw people dance, hug and exchange comments like “it took so long,” and “now it’s Raul’s turn.”
“Cuba Libre” — Free Cuba — has been a rallying cry for exiles ever since the Castro brothers took over Cuba in 1959.
About 2 million Cubans live in the US, nearly 70 percent of them in Florida.
“It’s a major moment for the Cuban community and I’m with them,” said a retired Florida native named Debbie.
“I live in Little Havana and this is a big part of our lives. The community always comes together here,” she added.
Debbie and her friend, Cuban-American Aymara, celebrated outside the Cafe Versailles, where exiles met for decades to plot their return to the island and strategies to protest the Castro regime.
“He should have died a long time ago. He’s a criminal, a murderer and a wretched being,” said 78-year-old retiree Hugo Ribas. “The brother should have died too — in that family they’re all criminals.”
“It took too long,” said Cuban immigrant Analia Rodriguez, 23, who has lived in Miami for a decade.
By noon on Saturday, the party in Little Havana was still on, with young and old waving Cuban flags, cheered on by drivers honking horns.
Florida Governor Rick Scott said he was joining Cuban-Americans across the US “who are incredibly hopeful for the future of Cuba.”
“After decades of oppression, the Cuban people deserve freedom, peace and democracy,” the US Republican added in a statement.
He was joined by the Cuban-American Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who called Castro an “evil, murderous dictator who inflicted misery and suffering on his own people” and turned Cuba into an “impoverished island prison.”
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