- Title: Cubans cheer as Castro’s ashes arrive to Santa Clara
- Date: 1st December 2016
- Summary: SANTA CLARA, CUBA (DECEMBER 1, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** GENERAL OF PEOPLE WAITING FOR ARRIVAL OF FIDEL CASTRO'S ASHES AT THE MAUSOLEUM OF ERNESTO "CHE" GUEVARA PEOPLE TAKING PICTURES AT CHANTING "FIDEL" AS THE FUNERAL CORTEGE ARRIVES CORTEGE CARRYING CASTRO'S ASHES PASSING BY FLAG-DRAPED BOX IN A GLASS CASE WITH CASTRO'S ASHES ON A TRAILER PEOPLE TAKING PICTURES AS CORTEGE GOES BY CORTEGE ARRIVING AT MAUSOLEUM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SANTA CLARA RESIDENT, DIRET, SAYING: "Because everything we have today and everything we are, we owe it to him." DIRET'S HUSBAND, YAHIR, SAYING: "Since we were born, we were born with the Cuban revolution. We were born with Fidel, with Fidel in us, in our hearts and we will never forget this great man. We thank God for letting us know him." WOMAN CRYING STATUE OF ERNESTO "CHE" GUEVARA AT THE MAUSOLEUM VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CHANTING, "I AM FIDEL" OUTSIDE THE MAUSOLEUM
- Embargoed: 16th December 2016 06:58
- Keywords: Fidel Castro ashes Cuba Santa Clara
- Location: SANTA CLARA, CUBA
- City: SANTA CLARA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Reuters ID: LVA0015B1WBPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The ashes of Fidel Castro arrived to Santa Clara after midnight on Thursday (December 1) where they will rest for the night before continuing on an eastward journey through Cuba.
A funeral cortege carried the ashes from Havana on Wednesday (November 30) as part of a three-day journey to Castro's final resting place in the east of the island where he launched the Cuban Revolution six decades ago.
Throngs of cheering Cubans chanted "Fidel!" and waved small Cuban flags as they snapped pictures and video of the ashes as they went by inside a box draped with a Cuban flag and encased in glass, surrounded by white flowers.
The ashes were placed at the mausoleum of Ernesto "Che" Guevara where they will remain before continuing their journey later Thursday morning.
"Because everything we have today and everything we are, we owe it to him," one local resident, Diret, told Reuters with her husband Yahir by her side.
"Since we were born, we were born with the Cuban revolution. We were born with Fidel, with Fidel in us, in our hearts and we will never forget this great man. We thank God for letting us know him," Yahir added.
Castro died on Friday (November 25) at age 90, a decade after stepping down due to poor health and ceding power to his brother, current Cuban President Raul Castro, 85.
The ashes will be interred on Sunday (December 04) morning in Santiago de Cuba, where Castro first launched his revolutionary movement in 1953 with an assault on the Moncada barracks.
The eastward journey reverses the path taken by Castro's bearded rebels upon the overthrow of U.S.-backed strongman Fulgencio Batista, who fled Cuba on January 1, 1959.
Castro spent a week traversing the island on the way to Havana, building his popularity by stopping in towns along the way.
While an anti-imperialist hero to many, especially in Latin America and Africa, Castro was also hated by his enemies who say he ruined the economy with socialism and ruthlessly jailed or silenced his opponents with a Soviet-style dictatorship. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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