Miami Parties A Second Night Over Fidel Castro's Death

Neither rain nor fatigue drained the energy of Cuban-Americans in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood who spent a second night celebrating the death of their archenemy Fidel Castro.

The dancing and singing continued into early Sunday, well after crowds first spilled into the streets to celebrate as news of the 90-year-old revolutionary leader's death in Cuba was announced on Friday.

Some two million Cubans live in the United States, nearly 70 per cent of them in Florida. The vast majority of those live in Miami.

The revelry went on all day Saturday and continued into the night.

"I'm not tired of celebrating because I can't believe it, I never thought that this moment would arrive," said a woman named Delsy who celebrated with a large crowd outside the Cafe Versailles, where exiles met for decades to plot the overthrow of the Castro regime.

Among the cacophony of car horns, drums, loud music and singing, a chant rang out: "Fidel, you tyrant, take your brother too!"

Fidel Castro may be gone, but his younger brother Raul, 85, remains in power as Cuba's president.

Several blocks to the east, the popular Ball & Chain salsa nightclub offered discounts and a new drink: "Adios Fidel" (Farewell Fidel).

The place was bursting with people. The street, full of Cuban restaurants and bars, was packed with late-night pedestrians and customers, "much more than normal," one restaurant waitress said.

At a nearby corner, Cuban retirees sat outside, enjoying the warm and humid night as they discussed the island's future.

"Now we Cubans have hope that without Fidel, communism will fall, and if God allows it, we can return to our free country," said Vicente Abrez, 65.

However, Leticia Gallo, a 44-year-old therapist who arrived in Miami from Cuba seven years ago with a young son, doesn't believe Castro's death will immediately change much.

Still, "it's light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

Pray for Cuba

An especially large crowd gathered for mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of Cuba, where Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski led the Saturday service.

"Fidel Castro has died. Now he awaits the judgment of God, who is merciful but also just," Wenski said, urging the faithful to pray "for peace for Cuba and its people."

The Mass was solemn and the scene far from celebratory. Some women wiped away tears.

Elsewhere, many Cuban artists raised their voices. Emilio Estefan, husband of singing star Gloria Estefan, said Cuba now faces "a new dawn with a new sun full of hope."

The famed musicians Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D'Rivera and Jon Secada joined the Miami celebration.

Castro "separated our people and made us hate each other," the Cuban-born jazzman Sandoval said.

Politicians also lined up to mark the occasion.

Cuban-American Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado visited revelers Saturday afternoon, telling reporters that they "should not be criticized for celebrating" someone's death. "Understand what it means" to them, he said.

Florida Governor Rick Scott said he was joining Cuban-Americans across the country "who are incredibly hopeful for the future of Cuba."

"After decades of oppression, the Cuban people deserve freedom, peace and democracy," the Republican added in a statement.

Cuban-American Florida Senator Marco Rubio on Saturday called Castro an "evil, murderous dictator."

He said Sunday on CNN that it was "pathetic" that President Barack Obama, in a statement on Castro, had not mentioned the "thousands upon thousands of people who suffered brutally under the (Castro) regime" or who died trying to escape it.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, another Republican Cuban-American who represents the south Florida area where many Cuban exiles live, also hailed Castro's death.

"A tyrant is dead and a new beginning can dawn on the last remaining communist bastion of the Western hemisphere," she wrote on her website.