Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
U.S. Cubans celebrate end of era
Elation in Florida tempered by concerns
MIAMI — Wearing his “Bay of Pigs Veteran” shirt, 80-year-old Rafael Torre stood amid hundreds of Cuban-Americans celebrating the death of Fidel Castro and marveled that he had remained in power for so long.
Cuban exiles such as Torre tried several ways to dislodge Castro after he took power in 1959, including the failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion memorialized on his shirt. Now, like many others, Torre is hopeful for Cuba’s future with the bearded revolutionary leader finally gone.
“We tried for more than 50 years but couldn’t do it. Now he’s dead, and maybe things can change,” Torre said. “It might take three or four years. Maybe the revolution will be on the streets in three or four months.”
Thousands of people took to the streets of Miami and nearby cities Saturday shortly after the early-morning announcement of Castro’s death at age 90 and kept the party going all day. They banged pots with spoons, honked car horns, waved Cuban and U.S. flags in the air
and whooped in jubilation on Calle Ocho, as Little Havana’s 8th Street is universally known.
Police blocked off streets leading to Cafe Versailles, the Cuban-American hot spot where strong cafecitos, sweetened espresso, were as common as a harsh word about Castro, the nemesis of so many exiles for so long. Many said they recognize his death alone doesn’t mean immediate democracy or freedom for the communist island.
“We need for the people of Cuba to have the freedom we have in the U.S., but this changes nothing. There won’t be change until the people revolt,” said Juan Cobas, 50, who came to the U.S. from Cuba at age 13.
Others saw Fidel’s death as a sign that a generation that has ruled Cuba for decades is passing from the world stage, many noting that his brother, current President Raul Castro, is 85.
“I’m feeling this is the beginning of the end,” said Alex Pineiro, 32. “Fidel was the architect of what’s going on. It’s a mix of emotions. I’m happy he’s dead, but I’m celebrating hope.”
The 90-year-old revolutionary leader’s passing produced expressions of respect in other parts of the world and measured responses from governments that saw the devoted socialist as a threat.
President Barack Obama noted that while “discord and profound political disagreements” marked the relationship between the United States and Cuba for nearly six decades, Americans were extending “a hand of friendship to the Cuban people” during their time of grief.
“History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him,” Obama said.
While spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to share a thought that proved pithy even for the medium: “Fidel Castro is dead!”
House Speaker Paul Ryan said that with Fidel Castro’s death, “the cruelty and oppression of his regime should die with him.”
Ryan said that there is much left to do to bring freedom of the Cuban people and that the United States “must be fully committed to that work.”
Elsewhere in world, Castro was honored and mourned by many present and former national leaders.
In a telegram to Raul Castro, Pope Francis offered his “sense of grief to your excellency and family.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country was Cuba’s main ally and supporter during the Soviet era, called Castro “a sincere and reliable friend of Russia” who had built “an inspiring example for many countries and nations.”
In Havana, music fell silent, weddings
were canceled and people wept in the streets as Cubans faced their first day without the leader.
Across a hushed capital, dozens of Cubans said they felt pain at the death of Castro, whose words and image had filled schoolbooks, airwaves and front pages since before many were born.
And in private conversations, they expressed hope that Castro’s passing will allow Cuba to move faster toward a more open, prosperous future under his younger brother.
“Raul wants the country to advance, to do business with the whole world, even the United States,” said Belkis Bejarano, a 65-yearold homemaker in central Havana. “Raul wants to do business, that’s it. Fidel was still holed up in the Sierra Maestra,” a reference to the mountains where the Castro brothers emerged to lead a rebellion that created the communist government.