Julia WeeksComment

In Cuba, a near-religious farewell to Castro

Julia WeeksComment
In Cuba, a near-religious farewell to Castro

In Havana's Plaza of the Revolution, hundreds of thousands paid tribute to images of Fidel Castro and signed oaths of loyalty to the socialist system he created. On the lonely roads of eastern Cuba, crowds waited for hours to salute the casket holding his ashes.

For four days, Associated Press photographers documented the mourning by Cubans as Castro's ashes were carried across the island to their final resting place. It was a near-religious farewell to the man who ruled the country for nearly 50 years.

President Raul Castro said Saturday that Cuba will bar statues of Castro and monuments bearing his name, in keeping with the former leader's desire to prevent the growth of a cult of personality. But for those watching state media, where Cubans endlessly described Castro in messianic, almost god-like terms, a cult of personality already seemed well underway.

Yet there was also a quieter, more contemplative mourning. A schoolgirl rested amid sugarcane stalks as her classmates waited for the passing of the caravan transporting Castro's ashes toward his interment site in the eastern city of Santiago. A group of decorated veterans stood quietly in an eastern town. A farmer sat on a horse as the convoy approached, a small Cuban flag stuck in his straw hat.

In this Nov. 28, 2016 photo, roses and medals serve as a base for a portrait of the late Fidel Castro at Revolution Plaza, the site of two days of tributes to the late leader, in Havana, Cuba. Cubans bid farewell to Castro, the man who ruled the island for nearly half a century. Cuba's declared nine days of national mourning following Castro's death Friday night at age 90. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this Nov. 28, 2016 photo, a woman holds an image of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as she waits in line to pay her final respects, in Havana, Cuba. Thousands of Cubans lined up early for the start of week-long services bidding farewell to the man who ruled the country for nearly half a century. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Nov. 28, 2016 photo, people wait in line to pay their final respects to the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in Havana, Cuba. Hundreds of thousands paid tribute to images of Fidel Castro and signed oaths of loyalty to the socialist system he created. Cuba's government declared nine days of national mourning following Castro's death at age 90. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Nov. 28, 2016 photo, a girl writes her name on a list to be added to a book of condolences for the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro at a municipal office in Havana, Cuba. In Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution, hundreds of thousands paid tribute to images of Fidel Castro and signed oaths of loyalty to the socialist system he created. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

In this Nov. 29, 2016 photo, a television showing grainy black and white footage of Fidel Castro delivering a speech, sits on a table at a memorial in his honor in Guanabacoa, on the outskirts in Havana, Cuba. President Raul Castro said Cuba would bar statues of Castro and monuments bearing his name in keeping with the former leader’s desire to prevent the growth of a cult of personality. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

In this Nov. 29, 2016 photo, a man holds a child as he waits in line to visit the memorial site for the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro at the Revolution Plaza in Havana, Cuba. Schools and government offices closed in homage to Fidel Castro, with the day ending in a rally on the wide plaza where the Cuban leader delivered fiery speeches to mammoth crowds in the years after he seized power. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this Nov. 29, 2016 photo, a woman arrives at a memorial in honor of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, holding a bouquet of flowers, in Guanabacoa on the outskirts in Havana, Cuba. President Raul Castro said Cuba would bar statues of Castro and monuments bearing his name in keeping with the former leader’s desire to prevent the growth of a cult of personality. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

In this Nov. 29, 2016 photo, a man holds a sign with a picture of Fidel Castro that reads in Spanish "Fidel among us'" during a rally honoring the late Cuban leader at Revolution Plaza in Havana, Cuba. Schools and government offices were closed in homage to Fidel Castro, with the day ending in a rally on the wide plaza where the Cuban leader delivered fiery speeches to mammoth crowds in the years after he seized power. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

In this Nov. 29, 2016 photo, state workers gather after clearing the sides of the road Fidel Castro's funeral procession will drive through in Santa Elena, Ciego de Avila province, Cuba. Castro's ashes retraced the journey he made from Santiago to Havana after his rebel force won power in 1959, in a solemn procession to his final resting spot. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Nov. 29, 2016 photo, a man peeks out of a bus window as he arrives to attend a massive rally honoring the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro at Revolution Plaza in Havana, Cuba. Schools and government offices were closed in homage to Fidel Castro, with the day ending in a rally on the wide plaza where the Cuban leader delivered fiery speeches to mammoth crowds in the years after he seized power. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

In this Nov. 30, 2016 photo, people wait for the arrival of the caravan carrying the ashes of Cuba's leader Fidel Castro during a funeral procession that retraces the path of Castro's triumphant march into Havana nearly six decades ago, in Cruces, Cuba. On the lonely roads of eastern Cuba, crowds waited for hours to salute the casket holding Castro's ashes. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this Nov. 30, 2016 photo, Michael Mendoza carries a portrait of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in his horse-drawn taxi carriage in Camaguey, Cuba. Castro's ashes retraced the journey he made from Santiago to Havana, passing trough Camaguey, after his rebel force won power in 1959, in a solemn procession to his final resting spot. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Nov. 30, 2016 photo, a man with a tattoo of Cuba's late leader Fidel Castro waits for the arrival of the caravan carrying his ashes during a funeral procession that retraces the path of Castro's triumphant march into Havana nearly six decades ago, in Cruces, Cuba. Castro's ashes completed in Santa Clara the first leg of a cross-country trip, a four-day journey across Cuba from Havana to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this Nov. 30, 2016 photo, a car covered with messages to Cuba's leader Fidel Castro is parked in La Esperanza, Cuba. Castro's ashes journeyed in a funeral procession that retraced the path of his triumphant march into Havana nearly six decades ago in a four-day journey across Cuba from the capital to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. President Raul Castro said Cuba would bar statues of Castro and monuments bearing his name in keeping with the former leader’s desire to prevent the growth of a cult of personality. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

In this Nov. 30, 2016 photo, people wait for the arrival of the caravan carrying the ashes of Cuba's late leader Fidel Castro, during a funeral procession that retraces the path of Castro's triumphant march into Havana nearly six decades ago, in Esperanza, Cuba. Castro's ashes travelled in a a four-day journey across Cuba from Havana to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. Castro died Nov. 25 at 90. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

In this Dec. 1, 2016 photo, Elisa Ricardo, reflected in the mirror at right, stands in her living room decorated with images of Cuba's President Raul Castro, right, his late brother Fidel Castro, center, and late revolutionary hero Camilo Cienfuegos, left, in Old Havana, Cuba. President Raul Castro said the country would bar statues of Fidel Castro and monuments bearing his name in keeping with the former leader's desire to prevent the growth of a cult of personality. (AP Photo/Enric Marti)

In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo, soldiers stand beside diesel tanks and a fire extinguisher to refill the vehicles of the funeral procession carrying the ashes of Cuba's late leader Fidel Castro, outside Las Tunas, Cuba. Castro's ashes journeyed across Cuba from Havana to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago. (AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

In this Dec. 1, 2016 photo, placed in a small coffin covered by a Cuban flag, the ashes of Cuba's late leader Fidel Castro are driven along the streets of Florida, Cuba. Castro's ashes journeyed across Cuba from Havana to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo, seniors who were part of Fidel Castro's rebel force during Cuba's revolution pose for a group portrait, before Castro's funeral procession passes through Bayamo, Cuba. Castro's ashes travelled in a four-day journey across Cuba through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo, a villager mounted on his horse waits for the ashes of Cuba's late leader Fidel Castro as they drive along the central road in Las Tunas, Cuba. On the lonely roads of eastern Cuba, people waited for hours to salute the casket holding Fidel Castro's ashes. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Dec. 2, 2016 photo, a man uses a picture of Fidel Castro to shade himself from the sun while waiting for the convoy carrying the ashes of Cuba's late leader, along the central road near Yarigua, Las Tunas, Cuba. Castro's ashes journeyed across Cuba from Havana to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this Dec. 3, 2016 photo, a former combatant of the Revolutionary Army, Paulina Ballard, 81, weeps after watching the funeral procession carrying the ashes of Cuba's late leader Fidel Castro arrive in Santiago, Cuba. After a four-day journey across the country through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, Castro's remains were interred in Santiago. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)