Miami – Thousands of Cuban and Cuban-American residents of Miami took to the streets in their cars and on foot Monday night to honk horns, wave flags and celebrate word from the island that Fidel Castro is very ill.
Some said the news that the aging leader, who turns 80 Aug. 13, suffered intestinal bleeding and was operated on signals the beginning of the end of his 47-year-old rule.
Fidel delegated power “provisionally” to his brother Raul, defense minister and No. 2 man in the government, because of the ailment.
Many along SW 8th St., the heart of Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, shouted “Viva Cuba Libre!” (Long Live Free Cuba) and waved the red, white and blue banner of their homeland.
U.S. Congressman Lincoln Díaz-Balart, a Cuban-American Republican from Miami, said the development in Havana means “the end of the tyranny is near.”
He opined that the fact that Fidel delegated power, an unprecedented move, means that the leader’s health is very precarious.
Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez called on Cubans in his city to remain calm. A police spokesman said the big contingency plan to be put into effect in the event of Castro’s death has not yet been activated.
