Celebration, Sorrow Mingle After Death of Fidel Castro

(Associated Press) — While the departure of Cuban leader Fidel Castro prompted cheers from your nation’s exiles in Miami, the 90-year old innovative leader’s passing created expressions of admiration in the rest of the planet and quantified responses from authorities that viewed the faithful socialist as a risk.

U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned that while “discord and profound political disagreements” indicated the connection between the United States and Cuba for almost six decades, Americans were offering “a hand of friendship to the Cuban people” throughout their time of despair.

“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 declaration of Castro’s departure early Saturday introduced Cuban exiles to the streets to observe, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to discuss a notion that proved pithy even for the medium: “Fidel Castro is dead!”

Elsewhere in globe, Castro was mourned by several current and former leaders and honored.

In a telegram to Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel’s 85 -year old brother, Pope Francis provided “my sense of grief to your excellency and family.”

Francis broke from the standard practice of obtaining official condolences are sent by the secretary of state of the Vatican. In a symbol of the regard a year ago, the pope held for Castro, whom he met during a trip to Cuba, Francis signed the telegram himself.

Twitter: Enrique Pea Nieto on Twitter

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose state was Cuba’s major ally and backer throughout the Soviet period, called Castro “a sincere and reliable friend of Russia” who’d constructed “an inspiring example for many countries and nations.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping stated Castro “made immortal historical contributions to the development of socialism around the world.”

“With his death, the Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend,” Xi said in a telegram to Raul Castro, state broadcaster CCTV noted. “His glorious image and great achievements will be recorded in history forever.”

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he’d vivid recollections of assembly Castro in January 2014 and having “a lively discussion that covered developments around the world as well as sustainable development and climate change.”

“Under former President Castro, Cuba made advances in the fields of education, literacy and health,” Ban said. “I expect Cuba will continue to progress on a path of reform and better prosperity.

Castro’s passing was felt particularly keenly in Latin America, where leftist activists were inspired by his achievement in overthrowing a military program in other states.

Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the president of El Salvador, said he felt “deep sorrow … of my friend and eternal companion, Commander Fidel Castro Ruz.”

Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted that “Fidel Castro was a friend of Mexico, promoting bilateral relations based on respect, dialogue and solidarity.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro remembered Castro’s departure from several dozen supporters and Mexico about the yacht Granma with his brother Raul to begin their r-Evolution.

“Sixty years after the Granma sailed from Mexico, Fidel sails toward the immortality of all those who fight their whole lives,” Maduro tweeted. “Onward to victory, always!”

Rubn Berros Martnez, long-time leader of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, called Castro the “largest and most influential Latin American of the 20th century, whose verticality, vision and passion has always served as an inspiration for those who aspired to a more just, free and dignified Latin America.”

Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated on his Facebook page that Castro was his “friend and companion” and the “greatest of all Latin Americans.”

Silva mentioned Castro was like an “older brother-an irreplaceable company. Visions of independence supported. sovereignty and equality.”

A statement from the Spanish authorities hailed Castro as “a figure of enormous historical importance.”

“As a son of Spaniards, former president Castro always maintained close relations with Spain and showed great affection for his family and cultural ties,” the the federal government declaration stated.

Nevertheless, there were insults and cries in Madrid as a tiny bunch composed of equally professional- and anti-Castro supporters fulfilled facing the Cuban embassy.

Turkey’s international ministry commended the “legendary leader of the Cuban Revolution” for “instituting many deep reforms in his country from health care to education, art to science.”

“The struggle to which he dedicated his life echoed not just in Cuba but across the world, and has awakened respect even in other political camps,” the ministry mentioned. “His words ‘another world is possible’ reflect the shared longing of billions of people from Latin America to Asia, from the Middle East to Africa.”

“India mourns the loss of a great friend,” Indian Prime Minister Nerendra Modi mentioned on Twitter.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tweeted: “Goodbye, commandante. Until the individuals’ endless success.”

“Fidel Castro in the 20th century did everything possible to destroy the colonial system, to establish cooperative relations,” former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was quoted as telling the Interfax information company.

Ammar al-Moussawi, who’s in cost of worldwide relations for Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah team, lauded Castro as “a historic symbol whose life was a lighthouse to all revolutionaries around the world.”

Guyanese Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo stated his island’s sources were shared by Castro who have any country that dared request for assistance.

The Castro government sent a large number of nurses and physicians where local as well as other foreign medical staff had refused to go to perform in distant Caribbean regions, Nagamootoo mentioned.

“His and Cuba’s contribution to mankind and the Caribbean is un-matched by another state when it comes to brotherly and sisterly relations. He was a worldwide present to mankind,” he said.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, created to carry-on the task of the late antiapartheid leader who does continue to become the president of South Africa, re-counted the shut relationship Mandela invented with all the Cuban leader.

He was criticized by some in the West for his ties to Castro when Mandela became president in 1994. Mandela responded that anybody who objected could “jump in the pool.”

“The primary state we approached (for help in fighting apartheid) was the United States of America. We couldn’t even triumph to come near the authorities, and they refused to help us,” Mandela stated in a 1990 documentary to spell out his devotion to Castro. “But Cuba, the moment we appealed for assistance they were ready to do so and they did so.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the chorus of admirers, contacting Castro “a legendary revolutionary and orator” and a “remarkable leader.”

“While a questionable figure, equally Mr. Castro’s backers and detractors acknowledged his great commitment and love for the Cuban individuals who had a deep and enduring fondness for ‘el Comandante,”’said Trudeau, whose late father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, had a warm camaraderie with Castro.

Trudeau’s re-Action prompted powerful criticism on Twitter from two Republican U.S. senators, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, equally Cuban Americans.

“Is this an actual assertion or a parody? Because if this can be an actual statement in the PM of Canada it’s black (and) obstructing,” Rubio tweeted. Cruz wrote: “Disgraceful. Why are totalitarian tyrants idolized by socialists? Castro, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot — all evil, torturing murderers.”

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter mentioned he and his spouse Rosalynn “remember fondly our visits with him in Cuba and his love of his country.” The few visited with Cuba in 2002, long after Carter left workplace.

While the majority of the the state remembrances were a few highlighted less- views of the leader.

Trump elaborated on his first tweet after Saturday, calling Castro “a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades.”

Trump claims Castro left a heritage of “firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan, the most effective Republican in the United States Congress, mentioned any remembrances needs to be allowed “for the memory and sacrifices of all those who have suffered under the Castros.”

“Now that Fidel Castro is dead, the cruelty and oppression of his regime should die with him,” Ryan mentioned in a declaration.

Ed Royce, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, supplied a comparable evaluation, declaring “no one should rule anywhere near as long as Fidel Castro did.”

“His heritage is among repression in the home, and support for terrorism overseas. Unfortunately, Raul Castro is no better for Cubans who yearn for liberty,” Royce mentioned.

Republican officers in the United States of America weren’t the only kinds with nasty words for the lifeless groundbreaking.

“After decades under Fidel’s doctrine of oppression and antagonism, there is hope that a new path for Cuba is opening,” Nancy Pelosi, who heads the Democrats in the House of Representatives, mentioned.

“I hope his death can start a freedom revolution in Cuba,” Denmark’s Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen stated. “Any death is depressed. In this situation I consider that it could bring something great.”

Peter Hain, a former member of the British Cabinet and anti-apartheid tempered praise for Castro with criticism of some facets of his lengthy rule, campaigner.

“Although responsible for indefensible human rights and free speech abuses, Castro created a society of unparalleled access to free health, education and equal opportunity despite an economically throttling USA siege,” Hain mentioned. “His troops inflicted the first defeat on South Africa’s troops in Angola in 1988, a vital turning point in the struggle against apartheid.”

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-26/celebration-sorrow-mingle-after-death-of-fidel-castro