- Title: Fidel Castro's ashes arrives in Bayamo as corteges nears Santiago
- Date: 3rd December 2016
- Summary: BAYAMO, CUBA (DECEMBER 2, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF CROWD WAVING CUBAN FLAG, HOLDING CANDLES, CHANTING, "FIDEL, FRIEND, THE PEOPLE ARE WITH YOU" VARIOUS OF CORTEGE CARAVAN CARRYING FIDEL CASTRO'S ASHES PASSING BY AS ONLOOKERS TAKE PHOTOS ON SMART PHONES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ATTENDEE TO CORTEGE CARAVAN, SAYING: "Fidel is the revolution. It's the biggest thing to remember for Cubans. And being Cuban is being Fidel. And being a Fidel supporter is the largest point of pride for the Cuban nation." CORTEGE PASSING BY AS SPECTATORS CHANT, "I AM FIDEL" CLOCKTOWER IN BAYAMO MOON VARIOUS MORE OF CORTEGE PASSING BY
- Embargoed: 18th December 2016 02:53
- Keywords: Cuba Bayamo Fidel Castro cortege ashes
- Location: BAYAMO, CUBA
- City: BAYAMO, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Reuters ID: LVA0015B6ZBRB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Cubans lined the streets of the city of Bayamo on Friday (December 02) to honour the funeral cortege transporting Fidel Castro's ashes to their final resting place.
Castro died on Friday (November 25) at age 90, a decade after stepping down as president. He was defiant to the end toward the United States, the world power he tormented from just 90 miles (145 km) away.
The government declared nine days of mourning for the man who aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union and survived what his government claimed were more than 600 U.S. assassination attempts.
The cause of his death has not been made public, but Castro had been weak since an intestinal ailment believed to be diverticulitis forced him to relinquish power in 2006.
On Wednesday (November 30), his casket spent the night alongside the remains of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in the city of Santa Clara.
The procession was slowly making its way east, destined for the final resting place of his ashes in Santiago de Cuba, where Castro's rebels first launched an attack on the U.S.-backed forces of Fulgencio Batista in 1953.
"Fidel is the revolution. It's the biggest thing to remember for Cubans. And being Cuban is being Fidel. And being a Fidel supporter is the largest point of pride for the Cuban nation," said one spectator in Bayamo as the caravan passed by.
Batista was finally driven from Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959, and the cortege is retracing the trek Castro made from that day until he arrived in Havana a week later.
Castro would go on to build a healthcare system for the poor, he sent doctors around the world but also soldiers to Africa to help Namibia achieve independence and weaken apartheid in South Africa. Critics saw in him a stubborn bully who violated human rights, jailed his critics, banned opposition parties and wrecked Cuba's economy. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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