- Title: Little Havana barbershop ready for Fidel's funeral
- Date: 4th December 2016
- Summary: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 3, 2016) (REUTERS) PAN OF STREET IN LITTLE HAVANA WHERE BARBERSHOP IS SITUATED EXTERIOR OF BARBERSHOP CLOSE-UP OF BARBERSHOP SIGN "OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK" BARBER CUTTING YOUNG BOY'S HAIR BARBER CUTTING HAIR CLOSE UP OF YOUNG BOY HAVING HIS HAIR CUT BARBER CUTTING HAIR CLOSE UP OF BARBER CUTTING HAIR SCISSORS HAIR CUTTING SUPPLIES HAIR ON THE FLOOR CUBAN BARBER CUTTING HAIR CLOSE UP OF CUBAN BARBER WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN BARBER WHO WAS BORN IN CUBA AND SERVED IN CUBAN MILITARY, NOW AN EXILE, WHO DID NOT WISH TO IDENTIFY HIMSELF, SAYING: "When I found out that he died I was happy. Because, Fidel's responsible for so many Cubans who have died because of him. Many have died wanting to leave the country, trying to leave the country, they drown in the ocean. To me, Fidel is a guy who studies people so that the public does exactly what he wants. And that's got the Cuban people angry, because there's no information there. They don't know about the rest of the world. They're just closed in there; they only know what happens in Cuba." BARBERS AND CUSTOMERS IN BARBER SHOP VARIOUS OF MAN GETTING HAIR CUT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NICARAGUAN NORVIN TRUJILLO SAYING: "Nicaragua and Cuba are two very similar countries, because we in Nicaragua are going down that same path. We're on our way towards a dictatorship. Nicaragua chose unconstitutionally. There wasn't anyone to choose from. Months before the election, they got rid of opposition candidates, and they threw in the candidates they wanted. So we want to show solidarity with the Cuban people because even we Nicaraguans who live outside the country, we know what repression is." BARBER CUTTING HAIR BARBER BLOWING HAIR OFF YOUNG BOY (SOUNDBITE) (English) STORE OWNER DAVID SUAZO SAYING: "It's sad to be honest with you. You hear all these stories of, they don't have enough to eat. They have no medicine; they can't afford it. They come here, and you know, it's like a kid in a candy store. They have everything. You feel blessed being born in this country and having everything that you want. You know, you just go to the grocery store to just buy it. They don't have those privileges over there." OPEN SIGN BARBERSHOP EXTERIOR
- Embargoed: 19th December 2016 05:44
- Keywords: Fidel Castro barbershop Miami Little Havana
- Location: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- City: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA0015BGVCCN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The streets of Little Havana looked much different on Saturday (December 3) than they did just one week ago, when the world learned that Cuban leader Fidel Castro had died at the age of 90. Many Cuban exiles poured onto the streets of Calle Ocho to celebrate the passing of Fidel last week. One week later, after much of the dust had settled, residents were still processing their emotions, even if it wasn't on the streets.
At Suazo's Barbershop, a popular local with a young diverse Latin American clientele staffed by a number of Cuban barbers, emotions were still raw. The store plans to tune the TV to coverage of Fidel's funeral on Sunday (December 4), but it wouldn't be something worth mourning, said one Cuban exile and barber. The man, who declined to give his name out of fear that the Cuban government would take punitive action against his relatives still in Cuba, had harsh words about the late leader Cubans refer to as "el Comandante."
He told Reuters that he had been living in Cuba until the last few years and that he had been enlisted in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces against his will.
"When I found out that he died I was happy. Because, Fidel's responsible for so many Cubans who have died because of him. Many have died wanting to leave the country, trying to leave the country, they drown in the ocean. To me, Fidel is a guy who studies people so that the public does exactly what he wants. And that's got the Cuban people angry, because there's no information there. They don't know about the rest of the world. They're just closed in there, they only know what happens in Cuba," he said.
Others in Suazo's barber shop, like native Nicaraguan Norvin Trujillo, said the frustrations many Cuban Americans in Little Havana feel are shared by migrants from Central America who move to the U.S. in search of opportunity.
"Nicaragua and Cuba are two very similar countries, because we in Nicaragua are going down that same path. We're on our way towards a dictatorship. Nicaragua chose unconstitutionally. There wasn't anyone to choose from. Months before the election, they got rid of opposition candidates, and they threw in the candidates they wanted. So we want to show solidarity with the Cuban people because even we Nicaraguans who live outside the country, we know what repression is," he said.
Store owner David Suazo, who has Dominican roots and some Cuban ancestry says it's pained him to hear stories of suffering in Cuba.
"It's sad to be honest with you. You hear all these stories of, they don't have enough to eat. They have no medicine; they can't afford it. They come here, and you know, it's like a kid in a candy store. They have everything. You feel blessed being born in this country and having everything that you want. You know, you just go to the grocery store to just buy it. They don't have those privileges over there," Suazo said.
And while most of Miami wasn't visibly mourning the loss of Castro, the scene was much different in Cuba itself.
Tens of thousands of Cubans packed into a public square in Santiago de Cuba, joining dignitaries to bid farewell to revolutionary leader Fidel Castro in the city where his ashes will be entombed.
Cuba's current President Raul Castro was set to commemorate the legacy of his older brother, a man once feted by Nelson Mandela for helping to end apartheid, but who also helped take the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis.
The thundering comandante, who built a Soviet-sponsored Communist state 90 miles (145 km.) from the United States and survived a half century of U.S. attempts to topple or kill him, died on Nov. 25 at 90 years old. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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