Cape Town - South Africa’s bigwigs joined global leaders in tributes to Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the doorstep of the US and for five decades defied American efforts to topple him.
He was a towering figure of the 20th century and Cold War era.
He died on Friday at the age of 90.
Wearing a green military uniform, a sombre Raul Castro, 85, appeared on state television on Friday night to announce Fidel’s death, 60 years to the day since the two brothers and a few supporters left Mexico on a boat to bring revolution to Cuba.
“At 10.29 at night, the chief commander of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, died,” he said, without giving a cause of death.
“Ever onward to victory,” he said, using the slogan of the Cuban revolution.
Cuba’s ambassador to South Africa, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, paid tribute to the leader, saying: “He lives and dies undefeated.” Under the leadership of Fidel and his brother, Cuba withstood 56 years of a punishing US economic embargo.
President Jacob Zuma expressed his condolences, saying: “Castro led the Cuban revolution and dedicated his entire life, not only to the freedom of the Cuban people and the right of the Cuban state to sovereignty and self-determination, but also the freedom of other oppressed people around the world.”
At the ANC’s national executive committee meeting on Saturday, members were emotional about the death of one of the ANC’s staunchest allies, agreeing it was Castro who had taught the world the essence of what it means to be human.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told Independent Media Castro could be put in the same category as Mandela and that Cuba had lost their own Mandela.
“Fidel’s death is a great loss. I met him in 1999 and his energy was amazing.
“His passing is a great loss for progressive formations and the ANC alliance. We will forever be grateful for his selfless support to revolutions around the world,” Ramaphosa said.
Mandela had regarded Castro as one of his closest friends and comrades.
Madiba, freed from prison in 1990, repeatedly thanked Castro for his efforts in helping to weaken apartheid.
Celebrated human rights advocate Father Michael Lapsley described the leader as a “political and moral giant”. He was the leading example of solidarity and the most consistent anti-imperialist.
Lapsley, who was associated with Cuba during the liberation struggle, said Castro cannot be disassociated from the people whom he led to liberation.
“Fidel is the Cuban revolution and the Cuban revolution is Fidel, because he embodied the best of the Cuban people and was its greatest servant in the quest to bring dignity to the oppressed.”
Sally O’brien, executive producer of Cuba In Focus, thanked Castro “for your love of the people - demonstrated in word and deed”.
“Your legacy will be carried forever in the hearts and minds of all who hold high the banner of liberty and love.”
Castro stuck to his ideology beyond the collapse of Soviet communism and remained widely respected in parts of the world that struggled against colonial rule.
Castro had been in poor health since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006. He formally ceded power to his younger brother, Raul, two years later.
Tributes came in from around the world.
“History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him,” US president Barack Obama said, extending “a hand of friendship” to Cuba.
Venezuela’s leftist president Nicolas Maduro urged “revolutionaries of the world” to follow Castro’s legacy, while Pope Francis said he was grieving and praying for the repose of the professed atheist, whom he met in Cuba last year.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said “the Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend”.
US president-elect Donald Trump said on Twitter: “Fidel Castro is dead!” without elaborating.
Raul Castro has changed Cuba since taking over by introducing market-style economic reforms and agreeing with the US in December 2014 to re-establish diplomatic ties and end decades of hostility.
It remained unclear whether Trump would continue efforts to normalise relations with Cuba or fulfil a campaign promise to close the US embassy in Havana once again.
Fidel Castro himself offered only lukewarm support for the 2014 deal with Washington, raising questions about whether he approved of ending hostilities with his longtime enemy.
He did not meet Obama when he visited Havana earlier this year, the first time an American president had stepped foot on Cuban soil since 1928.
Days later, Castro wrote a scathing newspaper column condemning Obama’s “honey-coated” words and reminding Cubans of the US efforts to overthrow and weaken the Cuban government.
News of Castro’s death spread slowly among Friday night revellers on the streets of Havana. One famous club that was still open when word came in quickly closed.
Some residents reacted with sadness to the news.
“I’m very upset. Whatever you want to say, he is a public figure that the whole world respected and loved,” said Havana student Sariel Valdespino.
But in Miami, where many exiles from Castro’s government live, a large crowd waving Cuban flags cheered, danced and banged on pots and pans.
Castro’s body will be cremated, according to his wishes.
Cuba declared nine days of mourning, during which time his ashes will be taken to different parts of the country. A burial ceremony will be held on December 4.
In April, in a rare public appearance at the Communist Party conference, Fidel Castro shocked party apparatchiks by referring to his own imminent mortality.
“Soon I will be like all the rest. Our turn comes to all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban communists will remain,” he said.
Castro was last seen by ordinary Cubans in photos showing him talking to Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang this month.
Transforming Cuba from a playground for rich Americans into a symbol of resistance to Washington, Castro crossed swords with 10 US presidents while in power, and outlasted nine of them.
He fended off a CIA-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 as well as countless assassination attempts.
His alliance with Moscow helped trigger the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, a 13-day showdown with the US that brought the world the closest it has been to nuclear war.
Wearing green military fatigues and chomping on cigars for many of his years in power, Castro was famous for long, fist-pounding speeches filled with blistering rhetoric, often aimed at the US.
At home, he swept away capitalism and won support for bringing schools and hospitals to the poor. But he also created legions of enemies and critics, concentrated among the exiles in Miami who saw him as a ruthless tyrant.
“With Castro’s passing, some of the heat may go out of the antagonism between Cuba and the United States, and between Cuba and Miami, which would be good for everyone,” said William M LeoGrande, co-author of a book on US-Cuba relations.
Castro’s death, which would once have thrown a question mark over Cuba’s future, seems unlikely to trigger a crisis as Raul Castro is firmly ensconced in power.
Fidel Castro latterly no longer held leadership posts.
He wrote newspaper commentaries on world affairs and occasionally met foreign leaders, but lived in semi-seclusion.
Still, the passing of the man known to most Cubans as “El Comandante”, the commander, or simply “Fidel”, leaves a huge void in the country he dominated for so long. It also underlines the generational change in Cuba’s communist leadership.
Plagued by chronic economic problems, Cuba’s population of 11 million has endured years of hardship, although not the deep poverty, violent crime and government neglect of many other developing countries.
Cubans earn on average the equivalent of $20 (about R300) a month and struggle to make ends meet even in an economy where education and health care are free and many basic goods and services are heavily subsidised.
For most Cubans, Castro has been the ubiquitous figure in their lives. Many love him and share his faith in communism, and even some who abandoned their political belief still respect him.
“For everyone in Cuba and outside his death is very sad,” said Havana resident Luis Martinez. “It is very painful news.”
Weekend Argus