Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Fidel Castro’s ashes arrive in eastern city of Santiago

Castro's ashes

Natacha Pisarenko / AP

The caravan carrying the ashes of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro drives by the Moncada Fort in Santiago, Cuba, on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across the country through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, his remains will be interred in Santiago on Sunday.

SANTIAGO, Cuba — Fidel Castro's ashes have arrived in the eastern city of Santiago, ending a four-day journey across Cuba.

Thousands of people welcomed the leader's remains to shouts of "Fidel! I am Fidel!" The 90-year-old former president died Nov. 25. He will be remembered in a nationally televised service led by his brother, President Raul Castro, Saturday evening. His ashes will be interred Sunday morning, ending a nine-day mourning period.

Mourning for Castro has reached near-religious peaks of public adulation across Cuba since his death, particularly in rural eastern Cuba. Huge crowds have been shouting his name and lining the roads to salute the funeral procession carrying his ashes from Havana to Santiago.

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