Celebration, sorrow and slights greet news of Castro’s death
While the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro prompted cheers from the country’s exiles in Miami, the 90-year-old revolutionary leader’s passing produced expressions of respect in other parts of the world and measured responses from governments that saw the devoted socialist as a threat.
U.S. President Barack Obama noted that while “discord and profound political disagreements” marked the relationship between the United States and Cuba for nearly six decades, Americans were extending “a hand of friendship to the Cuban people” during their time of grief.
“History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him,” Obama said.
While spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, where the announcement of Castro’s death early Saturday brought Cuban exiles into the streets to celebrate, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to share a thought that proved pithy even for the medium: “Fidel Castro is dead!”