- Title: Music and celebrations in Little Havana, Miami
- Date: 26th November 2016
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAGGIE PEREZ, CUBAN-AMERICAN, SAYING: "I actually heard this morning, I woke up and I was like, 'is this true?' Because we have been hearing this rumor for years and years and then I said: 'We have to go celebrate! We have to open a bottle of champagne, we have to drink something.'" (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEORGE RODRIGUEZ, CUBAN-AMERICAN, SAYING: "Honestly my reaction was joy for my grandparents. They taught us about all the pain and struggles they had to go through in their lives, and how Fidel Castro symbolized all that pain. So his death in essence is a symbol of the death or an ending to that pain." VARIOUS OF PEDRO GUERRA, CUBAN AMERICAN HOLDING CUBAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) PEDRO GUERRA, CUBAN-AMERICAN, SAYING: "I am not here to celebrate a man's death, but I am here to celebrate the beginning of the crumbling down of a tyranny that has oppressed my people. I can't tell you how many people I know, that are adults now that are grown now that I was raised with that starved in Cuba. That suffered in Cuba, that saw people get killed in the military for running away because the conditions were terrible. It's horrible." VARIOUS OF CUBAN-AMERICANS PLAYING BOARD GAME IN PARK (SOUNDBITE) (English) FELIPE SAENZ, CUBAN-AMERICAN, SAYING: "Happy I guess, Castro, Fidel, he didn't do much anymore you know. I would be happy once the system goes down. No Castro, no anybody, when Cuba is free. That is when I am going to be happy." GISELLE SANTANA CUBAN AMERICAN SPEAKING WITH FRIEND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GISELLE SANTANA, CUBAN-AMERICAN, SAYING: "My reaction was mixed because we left that country when I was little for freedom. And I grew up with very little family because of it. And my mom didn't have any family, she didn't want to come here and it was a challenging time. I can't say if it's good or bad, because I do not know what is going to happen, but it is very emotional." VARIOUS OF CARS WITH DRIVERS HOLDING CUBAN FLAGS AMERICAN FLAG ZOOMING OUT TO LITTLE HAVANA
- Embargoed: 11th December 2016 19:16
- Keywords: Fidel American-Cubans celebrations death music interviews
- Location: LITTLE, HAVANA, MIAMI, UNITED STATES
- City: LITTLE, HAVANA, MIAMI, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0025A302MF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cuban-Americans celebrated the death of former leader Fidel Castro on Saturday (November 26) in the streets of Miami's Little Havana, waving flags, honking sirens and banging on pots to revel in his passing.
Among the cheering revelers celebrating Castro's death was Maggie Perez.
"I actually heard this morning, I woke up and I was like, 'is this true?' Because we have been hearing this rumor for years and years and then I said: 'We have to go celebrate! We have to open a bottle of champagne, we have to drink something,'" she told Reuters.
Miami's streets had often been filled in celebration before on false reports of Castro's death but Saturday morning was fueled by relief that the longtime leader was truly gone, revelers said.
"Honestly my reaction was joy for my grandparents. They taught us about all the pain and struggles they had to go through in their lives, and how Fidel Castro symbolized all that pain. So his death in essence is a symbol of the death or an ending to that pain," George Rodriguez said.
Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado said the partying among the area's more than 1 million Cuban-Americans would go on for days. The celebration would cross political party lines after a bitterly fought presidential election won by Republican Donald Trump, he said.
Felipe Saenz, who has lived in the US for the past 55 years, said that he will only be truly happy when the Castro family will no longer control Cuba.
"Fidel, he didn't do much anymore you know. I would be happy once the system goes down. No Castro, no anybody, when Cuba is free. That is when I am going to be happy," the Cuban-American, who came to the United States at the age of 16, said.
Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States and for five decades defied U.S. efforts to topple him, died on Friday. He was 90. A towering figure of the 20th century and Cold War icon, Castro stuck to his ideology beyond the collapse of Soviet communism and remained widely respected in parts of the world that struggled against colonial rule. Castro had been in poor health since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006. He formally ceded power to his younger brother, Raul, two years later. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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