Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Journey to Castro's Final Resting Place a Six-Day Caravan

by VOA News

   Cubans have been paying their respects to their late former autocratic
   leader, Fidel Castro, at Revolution Square in Havana.

   Beginning Wednesday, his ashes will be carried eastward across the
   country, in a three-day procession that follows in reverse the route
   taken by the young revolutionary and his rebel fighters as they
   advanced on Havana from the Sierra Maestra mountains before taking
   power in January 1959.

   This combo of three file photos shows Fidel Castro, from left; smoking
   a cigar in Havana, Cuba, April 29, 1961; speaking to the media while on
   a mission to collect Elian Gonzales in Washington, D.C., April 6, 2000;
   and at his Havana home on Feb. 13, 2016.

   "It's a kind of symbolic closure to his rule. '¦ The Castro era began
   with the triumph of the revolution and Fidel's march across the
   country. Now he's gone and they retrace that route, and the Cubans of
   this era have a chance to say goodbye," William LeoGrande, an American
   University professor of Latin American politics, told AP.

   Memorial services began Monday in the capital and in the eastern city
   of Santiago, where Castro started the Cuban revolution in 1953.

   Students file past a tribute to Cuba's late President Fidel Castro in
   Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Nov. 28, 2016.

   Pledging loyalty
   Since the official announcement of his death, the Cuban government has
   urged the population to sign condolence books pledging an oath of
   loyalty to Castro's May 1, 2000 socialist ideology.

   "I signed because he was a good man, we loved him a lot, and I wanted
   to reaffirm my loyalty to him and his ideas," Arcide Ge, a security
   guard, told Reuters.

   "He was good to everyone, he sent doctors abroad and helped the poor
   here," he added.

   Marian Martin (L) and her sister Chanel (R) kiss a portrait of Cuba's
   late President Fidel Castro after paying tribute to Castro along with
   their mother at the Jose Marti Memorial in Revolution Square in Havana,
   Nov. 29, 2016.

   Although many mourners visited tribute sites on their own, thousands
   were sent by the communist government that employees 80 percent of the
   Cuba population. Schools and government offices were closed Tuesday for
   the second day.

   The 90-year-old Castro died Friday after a long illness. A cause of
   death has not been announced.

   Castro was cremated Saturday and a nine-day period of mourning was
   declared.

   His ashes will be buried Sunday in Santiago de Cuba.

   Students wait in line in front of an image of Cuba's late President
   Fidel Castro before paying tribute to Castro in Santiago de Cuba, Nov.
   28, 2016.

   Castro, raised near Santiago de Cuba, launched his revolt against the
   rule of Fulgencio Batista in 1953 from the southeastern city, finally
   toppling the U.S.-backed leader and seizing power in 1959. He set up a
   one-party socialist government, which constantly defied Washington and
   allied itself with the former Soviet Union.

   Castro handed power to his brother Raul in 2006, although he still
   exercised some power behind the scenes until recent years.

   FILE - Cuba's President Raul Castro (r) next to his brother and former
   President Fidel Castro during the closing ceremony of the Cuban
   Communist Congress in Havana, April 19, 2011