HAVANA (AP) – Thousands of Cubans lined the streets of Havana Wednesday morning, some sleeping on sidewalks overnight, to bid goodbye to Fidel Castro as his ashes began a four-day journey across the country he ruled for nearly 50 years.
A caravan carrying the ashes was scheduled to leave the capital’s Plaza of the Revolution after 7 a.m. for a journey from Havana to the eastern city of Santiago. On Tuesday night, tens of thousands of Cubans jammed the plaza as the presidents of Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and South Africa, along with leaders of a host of smaller nations, offered speeches paying tribute to Castro, who died Friday night at 90.
The crowds at the rally and along Wednesday’s procession route were a mix of people attending on their own and groups of Cubans organized by their government workplaces in group trips that are not strictly obligatory but create strong pressure to attend. Some groups of government workers slept on the streets because all public transport had been commandeered to move people to Castro-related activities.
“We love the commandante and I think it’s our obligation to be here and see him out,” said Mercedes Antunez, 59, who was bused in by the state athletics organization from her home in east Havana along with fellow employees.
Cuban state media reported that the urn containing Fidel Castro’s ashes was being kept in a room at the Defense Ministry where President Raul Castro, Castro’s younger brother and successor, and top Communist Party officials paid tribute.