Nation bids farewell to Fidel Castro

Cubans were scheduled to begin massing on Havana’s Revolution Square from Monday for a weeklong commemoration of Fidel Castro, the guerrilla leader who led a revolution in 1959.

Castro died on Friday night at the age of 90, a decade after stepping down due to poor health and ceding power to his brother Raul Castro.

Castro was cremated on Saturday and his ashes will be carried in a cortege to a final resting place in Santiago de Cuba, the birthplace of the revolution, on Dec 4.

Along the way, admirers will mourn a man who stood up to US domination of Latin America and brought healthcare and education to the poor.

The government has invited people to Revolution Square for a two-day ceremony.

“There’s a genuine feeling of mourning, that’s not a formality, that’s not showy, that’s not outward-focused, but rather completely intimate,” former national assembly president Ricardo Alarcon said on Sunday.

Workers rushed to install speakers and light standards in the plaza, where a giant photograph of Castro was draped over the national library, occupying the same space where an enormous poster of Jesus Christ was hung for last year’s visit by Pope Francis.

“Who is not going to be affected by a man who did everything for us?” said Jose Luis Herrera, part of the 12-person crew to hang the giant image. “He is the one who guided me and my children. He is my god.”

If previous public memorials are any guide, Raul Castro and other government, Communist Party and military leaders will lay flowers near the monument to Cuban national hero Jose Marti, followed by a long line of ordinary Cubans.

The ceremony in the capital was scheduled to end on Tuesday night when foreign leaders were expected to pay their respects to the man who dedicated his life to fighting capitalist and colonial oppression.