Hundreds of thousands of Cubans turn out for Fidel Castro commemoration Tuesday Nov 29,2016

 

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans rallied for late communist leader Fidel Castro with Latin American and African leaders in Havana on Tuesday night Nov 29,2016 before his ashes are taken across the country.

They chanted "long live the revolution!" and "Fidel! Fidel!" at a packed Revolution Square, the vast esplanade where he gave so many of his legendary, marathon speeches.

A giant picture of a young, bearded Fidel Castro in his guerrilla uniform and rifle hung on the National Library as his brother and successor, Raul Castro, waved at the crowd.

Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa praised Castro's ideology, telling the crowd: "We will keep fighting for these ideas. We swear!"

South African President Jacob Zuma hailed Castro as "one of the great heroes of the 20th century," citing his opposition to apartheid and his deployment of Cuban troops to back Angola's government against rebels in 1975.

Leftist presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua -- spiritual sons of Castro's revolution -- were among the most notable foreign dignitaries to pay tribute to Castro

After Tuesday's ceremony, the urn holding Castro's ashes will be taken on a "caravan of freedom" across the country, retracing the route his guerrilla movement took to celebrate the toppling of dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.

The commemorations end Sunday, when the urn is laid to rest in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, where 19th century independence hero Marti is buried.

Note

Named one of the 100 most influential personalities of all time by Time Magazine in 2012, Fidel Castro ruled Cuba for fifty years - as Prime Minister and later, as President - before officially handing over power to his brother Raul Castro in 2008.