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Former Cuban Leader Fidel Castro Dies at 90; Brother Raul Castro Continues as Cuban President. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired November 26, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): 5:01 on the U.S. East Coast. Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We're following the breaking news this hour, the death of the former leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro. I'm George Howell.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And I'm Cyril Vanier. Following breaking news, Fidel Castro has died in Havana, the former president and revolutionary leader was 90 years old. For years he had been out of the public eye. His brother, current president, Raul Castro, made the announcement on Cuban television.
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RAUL CASTRO, PRESIDENT OF CUBA (through translator): Dear people of Cuba, with profound pain I have to sadly inform you, to our friends from America and to the world, that, today, November 25th, 2016, at 10:29 in the evening, the commander and leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, died.
Following the explicit desires of leader Fidel, his remains will be cremated in the early hours of tomorrow, Saturday, 26th of November.
The Organizing Commission of the Funerals will give our people detailed in fn about the organization of the posthumous tribute that we will give you to the founder of the Cuban revolution. Until victory, always.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: CNN has a variety of correspondents, analysts, that are covering this breaking news story this hour. Let's first go to CNN's Patrick Oppmann, live in Havana, Cuba. He is the only U.S. television correspondent based in Cuba and brings us a great deal of insight.
Patrick, first of all, just talk to us about the reaction, sort of a silence there on the streets of Havana.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are still learning about it. News travels here much slower than the rest of the world. People don't have Internet in their homes. They don't have phones that receive news updates like in the U.S. So people will learn as the sun comes up from the radio, from their neighbors, perhaps from even their print newspaper when it's delivered.
And the reaction we've seen again and again is sort of a stunned silence. People knew this day would come. Fidel Castro has been ill for so many years. Many people didn't think it would be that impactful because, of course, he had been out of sight for so long, had not wielded the influence.
But everyone I talked to has been just stunned. They haven't known what to say. Some people have celebrated his life. Other people have said he brought disaster to this country but, by and large, people are taking in the news, wondering what it means for them, for their future, after so many years of asking, what will happen after Fidel Castro dies. Today we find out.
HOWELL: Patrick, I also want to get a sense, just as we know, the former leader will be cremated.
Is there sort of a plan in place over the days, the weeks ahead?
OPPMANN: Yes, very much so. This is something the Cuban government, while not telling us what the plan is, has been working on for years. So the first part we've heard about is that Raul Castro has said that his brother's wishes were to be cremated and that planning will begin for what we can expect to be a massive state funeral.
I've covered a lot of these types of events, never to this magnitude, because there just hasn't been one in Cuba and I can say that usually immediately after tragedy in Cuban, the order goes out that bars and restaurants must be closed, music can't be played, even children aren't allowed to sing in schools or at least they're told not to.
So there's a national sense of mourning whether people feel that or not. Then usually there's a place where Cubans can go and express their condolences. I was here when the legendary revolutionary Che Guevara --
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OPPMANN: -- was killed in fighting in Bolivia after taking a primary role in the Cuban revolution, when he was brought back here, and hundreds and thousands of Cubans walked by his casket. So those are the images I expect we will see in the weeks ahead.
Of course, there's never been a Cuban like Fidel Castro; he was loved or hated, left an enormous mark on this country for better or worse. Certainly the economy has been struggling ever since the Cuban revolution. Many families have been divided by the Cuban revolution, still quite a lot of hatred for the man.
But there is still a sense in Cuba of the revolution, the promise that it once had. And I think a lot of people here, while celebrating Fidel Castro and his life, are looking with a lot of concern towards the future. Now Raul Castro has a year left in power, 85 years old, he's not a
young man. And it's not entirely clear yet, although he has a designated successor, how Cuba, how the Cuban revolution will manage to outlast the death of its principal leader.
HOWELL: CNN correspondent, Patrick Oppmann, the only U.S. correspondent based in Havana, Cuba, and live with us this hour.
Patrick, thank you so much for the insight and context. We'll be back with you through the hour I'm sure.
VANIER: And over the coming hours we'll get your reactions from around the world. Let's go to Moscow now. CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, joins us from the Russian capital.
Has there been any reaction, any official reaction?
And if there hasn't been official reaction yet, what do you think that would likely be?
JILL DOUGHERTY, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY: George, there has been reaction now from the Kremlin, from President Vladimir Putin and, as we all know, they had -- Russia and Cuba -- such a long-lasting relationship, especially during the Cold War, a good 50 years or so of that relationship.
And you can hear that in the tone of the statement by President Putin. In fact, referring to Fidel Castro in expressing deepest condolences to the Cuban people as "your brother."
President Putin went on to call him a true and reliable friend of Russia, described him as a wise, strong person, who was confident in the future and then finally said the memory of him will remain forever in the hearts of Russians.
And, in fact, it will because, as I was saying, during the Cold War, really Cuba was reliant upon Russia for almost everything. Cuba sold its sugar to Russia. Russia gave it oil. It was extremely dependent.
Then when the Soviet Union fell apart, Cuba was pretty much on its own and yet, throughout, you would have to say that Fidel Castro remained a real revolutionary. And that still has a lot of meaning here in Russia, the memory of this man who described himself as a Marxist- Leninist.
So a lot of significance here -- George.
HOWELL: Jill, I want to ask you, because we're getting a lot of reaction from many different parts of world, again, this is a figure -- you can't say this enough -- some people appreciated him and some people hated him.
VANIER: And some people adored him. And we have to say, we've seen it, we've heard it, since the beginning of our coverage. HOWELL: So I would like to ask you, in Russia, for the average Russian on the street, this is a name that people learn in the history books.
What is the sense about Fidel Castro?
DOUGHERTY: Their sense that Fidel Castro?
HOWELL: Yes, what --
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DOUGHERTY: You know, it has changed...
HOWELL: Sorry, Jill. Go right ahead, please.
DOUGHERTY: We're having a little bit of trouble with the sound. But we were looking at pictures from Russian TV and they're showing, playing some music over the graphics of the years that Fidel Castro lived.
There also is a little makeshift shrine that's been put together over at the Cuban embassy. People considering him, Castro, a person, again, this revolutionary. The times have changed.
And now you had -- remember when Vladimir Putin came into power in roughly 2000, he decided as a sign to the United States that he would close the intelligence base that they had at Lourdes (ph) in Cuba, as a sign to the United States that they wanted to improve relations with the U.S.
But, more recently, after, of course, this problem with Ukraine, the Russians just very recently in October hinted or said that they might be rethinking opening or reopening that intelligence listening post. So it's been -- it's being used in a way --
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DAUGHERTY: -- as a political symbol as well. And I would have to say, as I've been watching Russian TV, much of it has been very straight ahead about the relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.
But there also has been that tone, referring to the many attempts by the CIA to murder or assassinate Fidel Castro, signs that the United States, that old Cold War power, remember what they did.
So it's being used on many different levels. But I would have to say for Russians it was a lot of close relationship. Russians worked in Cuba. Some married Cubans. So there was a very tight relationship.
And I think you'll probably see a number of people, maybe older generation, over at the Cuban embassy today, expressing their condolences.
HOWELL: These two nations have been closely tied together over the decades and it will be interesting -- it will be telling to see which world leaders are there at the final ceremony for Fidel Castro.
VANIER: Very interesting, yes, very telling on a diplomatic level.
HOWELL: CNN former Moscow bureau chief and CNN contributor, Jill Dougherty, live for us. Jill, thank you so much, again, Jill brings a great deal of depth and experience have been reporting in Russia and we get a sense of the reaction there today.
Let's talk now about the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami, Florida. It's the home to thousands of Cuban immigrants and exiles.
VANIER: And the mood there is one of celebration rather than mourning. Our Chris Moody is following the reaction. He joins us now live.
Chris, what are you hearing?
It's the middle of the night and this has been going on for hours. It's just 11 minutes past 5:00 in the morning Florida time.
What's it like?
CHRIS MOODY, CNN POLITICS SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There is celebration in the air here in Little Havana, the home base of the Cuban exile community.
Multiple generations of people are here on the streets banging drums, banging on pots and pans, celebrating the death of Fidel Castro. The police here have blocked off streets to get people a chance to express themselves and celebrate.
We've even seen people who have family members that are spread around across the world, they're on their phones, Facetiming the celebrations so people can see this moment. This is something that -- what happened tonight is something that many people here have been waiting a long time to see.
So these celebrations are something that people have talked about for a very long time, even in the restaurant just to my right, Versailles restaurant, which has been a home for a lot of exiles to come and talk about what it will be like after Fidel Castro passes away.
And that begins now. And it's starting with the sound of pots and pans and horns and celebration here in this community of exiles from Cuba.
HOWELL: This is George here on the line. I just wanted to ask you, you know, we've seen these crowds throughout the night and we saw aerials of a pretty impressive group of people that were coming together, large crowds.
Do you get a sense that it's growing as people get this news?
Or what's happening?
Might have lost Chris there. May be having audio issues. But what you see here is what I was talking about just a second ago,
5:13 in Miami, Florida, and take a look here, just outside the Versailles restaurant, I believe, there, famous, important restaurant there in Little Havana. It's a place where people come together to meet, to talk politics.
On this day, people are coming together to celebrate. In fact, dance in the streets as we've seen the death of Fidel Castro. Let's bring in CNN's Rafael Romo as well. Rafael has also covered the geopolitics of Latin America for many years.
And, Rafael, you have some news as well to break as far as what will happen in Cuba.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Yes, just a few minutes ago, the state council published what's going to happen in the next following days in terms of mourning in Cuba. And let me tell you, it's going to be nine days of national mourning in Cuba, starting today at 6:00 am local time and ending December 4th at noon, not this Sunday but the next Sunday.
And listen to everything that's going to happen. There will be no public events or shows. Flags will fly at half-staff throughout the country. Radio and TV can only play informative, patriotic and historical programming, every single TV station and radio station in Cuba.
On Monday, November 28th, there will be an opportunity for the common people to pay their respects. There will be an opportunity to sign a book expressing their admiration of Fidel Castro.
And then on Tuesday, there will be a massive, what they describe, as a massive rally at Revolution Square.
Now Wednesday is when a procession carrying the ashes of Fidel Castro --
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ROMO: -- begins in Havana, Cuba, on their way to Santiago, Cuba, and then the last day, December 4th, not this Sunday but the next one, the ashes will be placed at a church there. And that will conclude the nine-day mourning period.
But again, it is very long, very detailed, very specific about what the authorities want from people to hear and see from people in the entire country.
HOWELL: Very controlled and choreographed.
ROMO: That's right. That's right. And we were talking about this before. It's going to be very interesting to see what heads of state show up for the funeral and what accommodation, what sort of reception they get in Cuba, and what messages they'll say at the funeral itself.
VANIER: So Rafael, that's going to start in 45 minutes. Nine days of national mourning going to start in 45 minutes in Cuba.
What do you think is the opportunity to express any kind of dissent during that period?
Is there any?
ROMO: We were hearing some reaction earlier. And what you hear from people -- and, again, you have to qualify this by telling our viewers that people do not feel at freedom of expressing their true feelings for fear of losing their jobs or a member of the Communist community is two steps away and listening to what they have to say.
But all we've heard so far are phrases like "I'm sad about losing El Comandante, the commander," as Fidel Castro is known. "This is a terrible thing but we understood that he was getting old and we knew that this would happen."
You're not hearing any sort of celebration. You're not hearing the same things that you would hear in Miami, for example. People, again, are taking their precautions because they know whatever they say can get them in trouble.
HOWELL: You describe, again, the statement that you read, again, choreographed, controlled, will play out over the next several days. Stay with us because I want to go to the exact opposite of that, what we're seeing on the streets of Miami.
Let's bring back in CNN's Chris Moody, who is there on the ground.
And, Chris, what are you hearing?
What are you seeing from people?
Because, again, it seems that people are just taking to the streets, they're coming together to celebrate.
This is not a choreographed or a controlled reaction; in fact, it seems it's very organic and people had been waiting for this moment for many years, many of these families.
MOODY: That's right. People knew that they would be celebrating when this happened. They just never knew when it would. There's always been rumors year after year that he had passed away.
But now it has been confirmed that he has. So people have spilled out onto the streets spontaneously. This is not something that is controlled and it's something you will see over the weekend here in the Miami area and possibly other places throughout the United States.
But it has certainly started here in Little Havana, where people have come to the streets. Police have locked -- they're not locked down; they've closed down the streets to car traffic so people can come and celebrate after many years.
And I want to point out that this is multigenerational. There are people here that were alive before the revolution, people that came over as children, and people that were born here and are children of exiles. And so you're seeing people of all ages out here, celebrating in Miami.
VANIER: All right, Chris Moody, thank you very much, reporting live from the streets of Miami.
This partying, this celebration has been going on since, what, 1:00 in the morning?
HOWELL: Well, since we started covering this breaking news.
VANIER: And it's been non-stop. And it's been -- and we've seen this outpouring of emotions and people telling us -- and Rafael was noting this -- that what it means for them and their -- several generations back, what it means for their grandparents and what it means for their parents.
HOWELL: And it's interesting to see because with this particular story line, not a lot of gray here. It's either you're on this side or you're on that side and the reaction is mixed and the reaction is strong, coming in, as we continue to follow this breaking news.
Stay with us. We'll have more just after this.
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VANIER: I want to recap our breaking news for those of you who are just joining us right now. Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is dead at age 90. His brother, the current Cuban president, Raul Castro, announced his death on Cuban television. He said he died Friday night and will be cremated early Saturday.
HOWELL: This is a controversial leader. He survived numerous assassination attempts and his death has drawn mixed reactions around the world.
Here is the scene in Miami, Florida. It's the center of the Cuban exile community in the United States. And you see here people came together, despite the rain, to celebrate the death of this former Cuban leader.
But in Havana, a very different scene. Things have been quiet there. News of Castro's death has likely not reached many of the Cubans as it broke late night. In fact, we learned that many people were just learning the news, some of them from our own correspondent, who is there on the ground and covering the story.
VANIER: And people will continue to learn the news through the coming hours and into the morning there in Havana. It's 5:30 local time. People are going to start waking up soon and some of those people, yes, in for a very, very big shock, as our correspondent was telling us.
Joining us now for more on Fidel Castro's death is John Lee Anderson (ph). He's a staff writer for "The New Yorker" and he has profiled Castro.
Mr. Anderson (ph), I want to ask you, what is the one thing for someone like yourself, who has worked so much on Fidel Castro, what's the one thing that you're going to remember?
JOHN LEE ANDERSON (PH), "THE NEW YORKER": I think he became the prototype, the modern paradigm, for the outlaw political leader. That is to say, he conceived of himself as a revolutionary. He created the model by which dozens of other revolutionary figures sought to change their societies through guerilla warfare and revolution at the height of the Cold War, you know, truly iconic figure. I think only a status only shared on the equivalent level by perhaps Nelson Mandela amongst modern political figures.
HOWELL: At the same time, this is a former world leader who has been greatly criticized when it comes to the treatment of his own people, when it comes to the freedom of the press, the ability of the reporters there to do their jobs, when it comes to getting food and medicine and when it comes to doctors and, you know, that many are forced, as it's been stated, to do their -- you know, practice their services there.
How do you balance all of that into Castro's legacy?
ANDERSON (PH): Well, indeed, a very mixed legacy. You know, I don't know about equally hated or loved. But along those lines, a figure who divided his country, you know, hugely; you know, a million Cubans left the island after he seized power and chose to embark on a radical socialist course.
Again, it was the height of the Cold War. Nonetheless, outlasted then-American president and the collapse of the --
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ANDERSON (PH): -- Soviet Union. Despite his highly divisive policies for those Cubans who fled and certainly those who are celebrating today in Miami, still became a patriarchal father figure to many Cubans over the years, created a society that today, despite those aspects that you mentioned, is very possibly one of the most secure societies in the Americas.
HOWELL: John, just to point one thing out, you know, and just want to make sure, so 11 presidents, in fact, that the former leader has outlasted. So certainly he is a figure that is historic in Cuba.
And today we're hearing quite a mixed reaction from people now that the news is spreading of his death.
Thank you so much for being with us. We'll get back to you a little later in the hour, as we're speaking to many, many other guests about this breaking news. VANIER: Yes. Nine days of national mourning going to officially begin in Havana, Cuba, in 35 minutes. Stay tuned to CNN, as we continue our coverage of this breaking news.
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HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We continue following the breaking news this hour, the death of the former leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro. I'm George Howell.
VANIER: And I'm Cyril Vanier, following breaking news out of Havana, Fidel Castro has died, age 90, the former president and revolutionary leader.
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For years he had been out of the public eye. His brother, the current president, Raul Castro, made the announcement on Cuban television. His brother, the current president, Raul Castro, made the announcement on Cuban television.
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RAUL CASTRO, PRESIDENT OF CUBA (through translator): Dear people of Cuba, with profound pain I have to sadly inform you, to our friends from America and to the world, that, today, November 25th, 2016, at 10:29 in the evening, the commander and leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, died.
Following the explicit desires of leader Fidel, his remains will be cremated in the early hours of tomorrow, Saturday, 26th of November.
The Organizing Commission of the Funerals will give our people detailed in fn about the organization of the posthumous tribute that we will give you to the founder of the Cuban revolution. Until victory, always.
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HOWELL: CNN is live in Havana, Cuba, this hour. CNN correspondent Patrick Oppmann, the only U.S. correspondent in Cuba, joins us now live this hour.
Patrick, this is a leader who has survived many assassination attempts, it's a leader, you know, who there have been rumors about his death that have been disproven. But now we understand this news has been confirmed.
OPPMANN: That's right; Fidel Castro used to joke that, when he did finally die, nobody would believe it after all the false rumors over the years. Certainly tonight and last night -- excuse me, last night and this
morning, when I began to tell people right after the news broke, they just looked at me. They didn't quite believe it. Then when I said the news had come from Raul Castro, in this unexpected, unannounced message that he delivered via Cuban TV to the people here late on Friday night, they just seemed to freeze and didn't know how to react.
And I think when the sun comes up behind me in just a few hours, it will shine on a somewhat different Cuba, a Cuba, for the first time in generations, where Cubans don't have the shadow of Fidel Castro over this island.
This is a man who really dominated the political discourse and the destiny of this country for so many years. It would be a very different country if he had not taken power in the 1959 revolution.
But for many Cubans, they are just learning the details of what's going to be a very lengthy mourning process, over 10 days -- 10 days and very interesting, very symbolic, they will transport his ashes in a reverse trip that took him to power in 1959, where he traveled from one end of the island to the other end.
There will be massive rallies in Havana and in Santiago, Cuba, and then he will be buried on the other end of the island from where I am now, in the city of Santiago, Cuba, next to Jose Marti, Cuba's most famed revolutionary, who began the fight against the Spanish.
So very clearly the Cuban government is putting Fidel Castro in that category of a nationalist hero.
For many people, though, really, the question is not the past, the future and how their lives will improve, what happens now after the passing of Fidel Castro?
Will there be better relations with the U.S.?
Or will the economy here continue to really suffer?
Those are questions that nobody has the answer to, at least not right now.
VANIER: Patrick, give us a sense of how emotions are likely to play out as Cubans wake up and find out about the news. Of course, this is something that they've been thinking about for many, many years because Fidel Castro has been very ill; there's been a lot of speculation over the years about his death and about what would happen at that time.
And these are people whose lives have been marked, seared sometimes, by his political path and what he's done in this country.
So what are the emotions going to be like when they wake up?
OPPMANN: I think they will be very mixed. Just about every Cuban family has been divided by the revolution. People have been separated by their families. People have decided to leave. Some people who were supporters of the revolution stayed and never got to see their families again.
So there really is an incredible amount of mixed emotion, sadness and perhaps some cautious hope for the future.
But I think it will really be dominated now by the government trying to create this narrative of burying not an enemy of the United States, not a Communist leader, but a nationalist hero, somebody who tried to catapult Cuba onto the world stage, somebody who made -- as Cubans are told here from the first day in school, make Cuba independent, freed Cuba from the influence --
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OPPMANN: -- of the United States, of imperialism, that will be the narrative that the Cuban government is trying to project.
And we will see, I think, rallies and a state funeral. This island is very used to large rallies and mass demonstrations. It hasn't seen the kind that they haven't seen in years. I think after the pageantry is over, then the hard questions become of what next?
And will Raul Castro take greater changes, greater actions to improve life here?
Now that his brother isn't looking over his shoulder and, of course, these two men are very, very similar. But Fidel Castro over the years did criticize sometimes some of the decisions that Raul Castro took.
But I think we need to continue to keep in mind that anyone is expecting a great deal of change, (INAUDIBLE) Raul Castro opened the island somewhat more economically, has repaired relations with the United States. He said he has always done those things to preserve the Cuban revolution.
In fact, the last time that Fidel Castro really addressed the Cuban people, he called on them to, after he was gone, to continue to support this revolution that was his life's work.
And of course, will the revolution survive him for many, many years, as he hoped?
We'll just have to see. Lots of questions and not a lot of answers, at least not right now.
HOWELL: 5:36 in the morning, CNN's Patrick Oppmann, the only U.S. correspondent live in Havana, Cuba, for CNN.
Patrick, thank you for being with us. Stand by. We'll be back with you, I'm sure.
But let's now bring in CNN's Rafael Romo. And, again, we have a great deal of experience that we can count on this hour. Rafael has covered geopolitics of Latin America for many years.
And, first of all, you are getting some new reaction, yes? ROMO: That's right. That's right. And the information from Havana is coming -- it's a little bit of a trickle. A lot of patriotic articles that are being published through different media, social media.
There's an article that I was reading that caught my attention, describing Fidel, saying the life of the commander is a paradigm in the sense that, because of the way it's sorted out challenges, roadblocks and challenges, that surfaces during the different faces of the struggle from an unbreakable libertarian vocation that has its roots in Jose Marti -- of course, Jose Marti being Cuba's independence hero.
And we're about 23 minutes away from beginning nine days of national mourning in Cuba. It will start this Saturday, 6:00 am local time, and it will end Sunday, December 4th, meaning not this Sunday but the next Sunday at noon.
There will be, George and Cyril, no public events, no shows; flags will fly at half-staff; radio and TV have to carry only informative, patriotic and historical programming.
Then Monday, there will be an opportunity between 9:00 am and 10:00 pm for people to express their feelings about the passing of Fidel, pay their respects.
And on Tuesday, there will be what the Cuban government is describing as a massive rally at a very iconic place, Revolution Square.
And then Wednesday the ashes begin to be transported in a procession from Havana, Cuba, to Santiago, Cuba, another city in the provinces. And the ashes will finally be placed at a church in Santiago, Cuba, on Sunday, December 4th.
So it's a full schedule of activities being planned for Cubans so that they can pay their respects for the Cuban leader.
VANIER: Rafael, how do you think this is going to feed into the politics of Cuba?
Because anytime you have something this symbolic happening on this kind of scale, involving this kind of figure, you know, this becomes part of a nation building and how you write a country's history.
So how do you think this is going to play out in Cuba?
And what purpose is it going to serve for the current government?
ROMO: In the following days, paying respect to Fidel is going to be as important as the image that Cuba is going to present itself to the world. And by that I mean they're going to try to show a united front, to tell the world that his legacy, his political legacy, in the system he created, the regime, is alive and well.
There will be a show of unity. You'll see all the political figures paying their respects. You'll see the same patriotic messages, talking about the revolution, saying the same phrases that we've heard for 60 years. Patria o muerte, fatherland or death, all of those things that Fidel Castro came up with, you're going to hear --
VANIER: So all of this expressing continuity.
ROMO: That's right. That's right. To tell that the regime is alive and well. In fact, in spite of the fact that the historical leader of the revolution has passed.
HOWELL: It's important to point out, Fidel Castro lived to see Barack Obama at the same time -- 11 presidents but important to point out that Fidel Castro --
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HOWELL: Yes, that's a long list.
But important to point out that he outlasted 10 presidents. We technically can't count the President of the United States, Barack Obama, given that he is still the president.
ROMO: I was looking at the history and it's all semantics, of course, but starting with Eisenhower, look at the list of U.S. presidents who have had to deal with Fidel Castro: Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George Bush (father), Clinton, George Bush (the son) and Obama.
And, of course, we cannot say that he outlasted Obama because technically he is not done with his presidency yet. But we're talking about 10 presidents that he outlasted, 11 presidents that had had to deal with Fidel Castro.
HOWELL: He has had a long, long history and very formative to that nation.
Rafael, thank you so much for being with us and, of course, stand by as we continue following this breaking news this hour, the death of Fidel Castro. CNN will be right back after this break.
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VANIER: Hi, everyone, and welcome; if you're just joining us. Let me recap our breaking news, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is dead at age 90. His brother, the current Cuban president, Raul Castro, announced his death on Cuban television. He said he died Friday night and will be cremated early Saturday.
HOWELL: Castro has been a controversial leader, to say the least. He survived numerous assassination attempts and his death has drawn mixed reactions around the world. In Miami, Florida, which is the center of the Cuban exile community in
the United States, you see here where people came together, despite the rain, to celebrate the death of Fidel Castro.
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HOWELL: But in Havana, it's a different scene. People have been quite quiet there. News of Castro's death has likely not reached many Cubans as it broke late at night.
And it is important to point out, Cyril, we heard from our own correspondent that many people were learning from him, Patrick Oppmann, learning from him as --
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VANIER: It wasn't being broadcast on state and TV local media. They weren't getting any information.
HOWELL: Let's talk now about that neighborhood, Little Havana in Miami, Florida. It's the home to thousands of Cuban immigrants and exiles.
VANIER: Our Chris Moody is following the reaction. He joins us now live.
Chris, can you describe the mood at this hour?
And I should point out we're about 15 minutes before national mourning starts in Havana, so that's one thing.
Of course, what you're witnessing is very different.
MOODY: That's right. Celebration is in the air in Miami, Florida. And it has been this way for hours.
All through the night, people have poured into the Little Havana neighborhood here in Miami, banging pots and pans, throwing impromptu parades through the middle of the streets, which the police have blocked off for cars so people can come and celebrate here.
People are waving Cuban flags, American flags. And this is a moment that many of them have been waiting for for years, particularly exiles who left Cuba under Fidel Castro's leadership.
But this is a multigenerational celebration here in Miami. It's their children and their grandchildren, who have heard stories of Cuba and possibly even have visited as well.
We're also in front of Versailles restaurant. This has been really the home base for the Cuban exile community so people are waiting very excitedly for the doors to open later this morning so they can get a cup of cafe con leche and talk about what is to come.
HOWELL: Chris Moody, on the scene, there following this breaking news -- again, people celebrating in the streets of Little Havana, a multigenerational celebration as you point out.
Chris, thank you so much. Stand by. We'll keep coming to you through the day I'm sure.
This is CNN breaking news coverage of the death of the former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. Stay with us.
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HOWELL: The life and death of Fidel Castro, a divided reaction, mixed reaction around the world, as we're sharing this breaking news with our viewers.
Patrick Oppmann is our correspondent based in Cuba and he has a look back now at Castro's life and how he transformed Cuba over the decades.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mobbed by admirers, Fidel Castro rode into Havana in 1959, a conquering hero, astride a Jeep. Castro was just 32 when his revolution overthrew a corrupt and brutal dictatorship. He promised that Cuba would soon hold free democratic elections.
Instead, Castro ruled for the next 49 years, trying to remake Cuba into his vision of a socialist utopia and a player on the world stage.
Castro was born here in rural eastern Cuba. His father's status as a wealthy landowner ensured his place in Cuban high society, even if he didn't always feel he belonged there.
Castro's mother was an uneducated maid and she didn't marry his father until after he was born. Growing up, Castro's schoolmates teased him about being born out of wedlock.
Castro studied in Havana to be a lawyer. Already a notorious rabble rouser, he soon became involved in revolutionary plots. In 1953, he led a failed uprising against dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Many of his followers were killed and Castro was captured.
During his trial, Castro declared, "History will absolve me."
After two years in prison Castro and his fellow revolutionaries were released and went into exile in Mexico. They returned to Cuba by boat, again, seeking to overthrow the island's dictatorship. And once again most of Castro's soldiers were slaughtered by government troops. At first Castro was also reported as having been killed.
When it was revealed that he had escaped to the mountains, Castro's legend and followers grew.
Cuba in the 1950s had earned the reputation as a debauched mob-run playground for Americans seeking gambling, cheap rum and sex shows.
After Castro took power, many Cubans hoped he would clean up the island while still remaining friendly to the U.S., Cuba's largest trading partner.
As seen in the 1960 interview with CBS' Edward R. Murrow, a pajama- wearing Castro initially sought to ease Americans' concerns about which side of the Cold War he was on.
FIDEL CASTRO, CUBAN DICTATOR: Do not worry because there is no threat about communism here in Cuba.
OPPMANN (voice-over): But Castro's prosecution and execution of officials from the previous regime and the nationalization of Americans' property in Cuba caused the U.S. to sever diplomatic ties with Cuba.
Dozens of CIA plots to assassinate Castro failed as did a U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs. Now in the Soviets' camp, Castro in 1962 invited Moscow to secretly place nuclear missiles on the island. Discovery of the missiles led to its 13-day standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union. Nuclear war appeared imminent until the Soviets agreed to remove the weapons.
Castro and the U.S. would remain engaged in proxy wars as the Cuban leader tried to implement Socialist revolutions around the world. For many Cubans, the U.S. trade embargo and failed Soviet-style economic policies made life intolerable.
Communism was the only ideology permitted on the island. Critics of the government often faced lengthy jail sentences.
In 1980, Castro declared that anyone who wanted to could leave on a boat to the U.S. Nearly 125,000 Cubans took him up on his offer. The fall of the Soviet Union further crippled Cuba's sluggish economy.
But Castro resisted major free market reforms or lifting prohibitions on life in Cuba. As always, Castro claimed he knew best.
Known for his ever-present cigar, beard, fatigues --
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OPPMANN (voice-over): -- and marathon speeches, Fidel Castro would remain a thorn in the side for 10 U.S. presidents. It wasn't a CIA plot that forced Castro from power in 2006 but a botched stomach surgery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Spanish). OPPMANN (voice-over): Near death, he turned the reins over to his younger brother, Raul. Once an omnipresent force in Cuban life, a now weak and infirm Castro retreated from the public spotlight. In 2016, Castro made a rare public appearance to call on Communist Party officials to remain loyal to his revolution after his death.
"Soon I will be like all the rest," Castro told officials.
"Everyone's turn comes."
In Cuba there are few monuments to Fidel Castro. No streets are named after him. Unlike other strongmen, the Cuban leader avoided creating the appearance of a cult of personality.
But Cuban schoolchildren are required to memorize his speeches, revere him as a nationalist hero and, once a year, recreate Castro's triumphant arrival as a young revolutionary to Havana so that, after he is gone, Fidel Castro's influence will endure for generations to come -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.
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HOWELL: He was a leader that many described as immortal, described as immortal until proven otherwise.
VANIER: Yes, absolutely.
HOWELL: (INAUDIBLE) this news that Fidel Castro has died.
VANIER: And just before we prepare to wrap up this show, we want to show you a couple of things. This is the last official photo of Fidel Castro, released to the public. It was taken 10 days ago, November 15th, in Havana.
He was meeting with Vietnamese president, Tran Dai Quang. We now know this was the last picture of him -- official picture of him -- taken alive.
And that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. Christi Paul and Martin Savidge continue our breaking news coverage of the death of this former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro.
But first, we leave you with these images in Miami. You see the crowd that has gathered just outside in Calle Ocho. You see people coming together in Miami, the sentiment, many people celebrating the death of Fidel Castro. Stay with us.
