I woke up this morning to my roommate in tears watching the television report that Fidel Castro has died.
MIAMI — A large number of people have gathered outside Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana as news of the death of Fidel Castro spreads, CBS Miami reports.
The crowd is cheering, dancing and waving Cuban flags. Cuban Americans in the street are hugging each other; it’s a day many people in the crowd have waited for for a very long time.
Southwest 8th Street is closed between 35th & 37th Avenues in both directions.
Motorists are being asked to avoid the area.
The announcement of Fidel Castro’s death came from his brother. With a shaking voice, President Raul Castro said on state television that his older brother died at 10:29 p.m. Friday. He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: “Towards victory, always!” – cbsnews.com
His brother Raul Castro announced his death in a televised statement."I say to the people of Cuba, with profound pain I come here to inform our people, our friends of America and the world, that today, 25 November, 2016, at 10:29 pm, died the chief commander of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz," he said.He was to be cremated early Saturday "following the explicit desires of leader Fidel," Raul Castro said.His funeral will be held December 4 in Santiago de Cuba following nine days of national mourning, according to Granma, the Cuban state news outlet. Cuba began an official mourning period at 6 a.m. Saturday. – cnn.com
Images and video of the reaction in Miami quickly popped up on social media.
Why was my roommate reacting so? His mother is Cuban and living here now and he has many friends that escaped the Castro regime. I am sure more emotions will come out as the days go on.
No statement has been made by the Obama administration.
There is a large Cuban population and influence in the United States
- When it comes to the number of people who self-identify as having Cuban ancestry, the New York City-Newark metropolitan area, with 145,336 Cuban-American residents, is second only to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.
- Miami remains by all measures as the cultural heart of Cubans in America with over 1 million Cuban-American residents.
- Half of the top 10 places for Cuban-Americans by population size are outside Florida, and include the metro areas in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
- Florida comes back into clear focus when ranking by percentage of population with Cuban ancestry, with only three places outside Florida cracking the top 20: Las Vegas, Nevada; Moultrie, Georgia; and Dodge City, Kansas. These places all have small, but relatively significant numbers of Cuban-American residents, according to census data. – nerdwallet.com
Percent of Population with Cuban Ancestry
| Rank | Place | Total population in 2013 | Cuban-American population in 2013 | Percent of total population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | 5,673,185 | 1,017,855 | 17.94% |
| 2 | Key West, FL | 74,213 | 9,120 | 12.29% |
| 3 | Clewiston, FL | 38,346 | 2,854 | 7.44% |
| 4 | Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, FL | 328,209 | 20,947 | 6.38% |
| 5 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL | 633,968 | 21,960 | 3.46% |
On the LGBT front, Fidel Castro was apologetic of how LGBT citizens were treated.
Fidel Castro has acknowledge discrimination against homosexuals during his rule in the 1960s and 70s, regretting that he did not pay enough attention to the “great injustice” suffered.
…
Like other Cubans, including some priests, considered “ideological deviants,” homosexuals in the 1960s were sent to labour camps for re-education and rehabilitation. Discrimination continued in the 1970s, with gays, in particular gay artists and writers, disgraced, marginalised, or in some cases driven into exile. – telegraph.co.uk (9/2010)
This year, Castro’s niece lead Cuba’s biggest ever Pride parade amid calls for LGBT reform.
Mariela Castro is a prominent supporter of LGBT rights, and has repeatedly pressed her father to introduce gay rights reforms in the country.
Ms Castro – who is the head of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education as well as an MP – yesterday led a march through the streets of Havana to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. – pinknews.co.uk
h/t: cbsnews.com, video from fortune.com , cnn.com