Staff Reports
South Florida cities are erupting in celebration of the death of former longtime Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Sergio Bustos of POLITICO Florida reports that throughout Miami, a city of Cuban immigrants, can be heard shouts of: “Libertad! Libertad! Libertad!”
Cubans of all ages took to the streets in Miami Friday evening throughout Saturday morning party over the demise of the man they believe stole their homeland.
“Words really can’t express how I feel,” a Cuban man told NBC-6 in Miami. “My parents died waiting for this day. And I’m here I’m here to celebrate for them.”
Many celebrants were seen waving the Cuban flag.
Miami Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American and frequent critic of the Castro regime, tweeted in both English and Spanish about the news that Castro was finally gone.
“After so many decades of oppression the tyrant #Castro is dead and a new beginning can finally dawn on #Cuba and its people,” Ros-Lehtinen wrote.
“We must seize the moment and help write a new chapter in the history of Cuba,” she said in a statement Saturday morning. “That of a Cuba that is free, democratic and prosperous.”
“The passing of the dictator marks the end of a long, horrifying chapter in #Cuba‘s history,” tweeted Miami Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo. “The #Cuban people need our solidarity #Castro.”
The passing of the dictator marks the end of a long, horrifying chapter in #Cuba‘s history. The #Cuban people need our solidarity #Castro https://t.co/SBZsNqdeKl
— Rep. Carlos Curbelo (@RepCurbelo) November 26, 2016
Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Graham, who grew up in Miami told POLITICO how she saw “firsthand how Fidel Castro’s control of Cuba tore apart families and destroyed lives in both our countries.”
“He will forever be remembered as a failed tyrant who neglected human rights and brought more than 50 years of poverty to Cuba. Fidel and his followers are relics of the previous century, and I pray that with his passing, we double our nation’s resolve to see Cuba libre, a free nation and free people at last,” she said in a statement.
Graham, who currently represents North Florida’s 2nd Congressional District, also took to Twitter with comments.
Growing up in Miami, I saw firsthand how Fidel Castro’s control of Cuba tore apart families and destroyed lives in both our countries. (1/)
— Rep. Gwen Graham (@RepGwenGraham) November 26, 2016
Castro will forever be remembered as a failed tyrant who neglected human rights and brought more than 50 years of poverty to Cuba. (2/)
— Rep. Gwen Graham (@RepGwenGraham) November 26, 2016
Fidel and his followers are relics of the previous century. (3/)
— Rep. Gwen Graham (@RepGwenGraham) November 26, 2016
I pray that with Fidel Castro’s passing, we double our nation’s resolve to see Cuba libre, a free nation and free people at last. (4/4)
— Rep. Gwen Graham (@RepGwenGraham) November 26, 2016
Throughout Saturday morning, hundreds were seen celebrating in both Miami and Hialeah, which Bustos notes is a city of 250,000 people where six in 10 residents are Cuban.
“Now we are waiting for Raúl to die, too,” another Cuban man told NBC-6, speaking of Cuban President Raúl Castro, 85, who is Fidel Castro’s brother.
