*UPDATED* The news broke overnight that Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90 and the world is reacting. BBC News had very few details.
Fidel Castro, Cuba’s former president and leader of the Communist revolution, has died aged 90, state TV has announced.
It provided no further details.
Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century before handing over the powers to his brother Raul in 2008.
His supporters praised him as a man who had given Cuba back to the people. But his opponents accused him of brutally suppressing opposition.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that the initial reports have been confired, and Fidel Castro is indeed dead.
Castro sadly lived long enough to see relations with Cuba open up under President Obama. For fifty years, and against 10 American Presidents, he defied freedom and embraced the Soviet flavor of communist rule.
He died at 10:29 p.m. Friday night, November 25.
Celebrations have erupted in Little Havana in Miami, which is of course home to many thousands who escaped Castro’s brutal, dictatorial rule. Conversely, Vladimir Putin has issued a statement praising Castro as “the symbol of an era” and a “distinguished statesman” who was a reliable friend of Russia.
As usual, the news first spread on Twitter. Here are a few of the reports.
Cuba's Fidel Castro dies aged 90 https://t.co/JbU20r6Qxh
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 26, 2016
#BREAKING Cuba decrees nine days of mourning for Fidel Castro: official
— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 26, 2016
Cuba’s communist leader, who outlasted ten American presidents, has died at the age of 90https://t.co/bkzioLrJAs
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) November 26, 2016
Starting to be a real crowd outside Versailles in Little Havana, cars stopping to honk and cheer "Cuba Libre!" (And "el viejo murió!") pic.twitter.com/pzBvC4fdNV
— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) November 26, 2016
RedState will have more on this news as it develops.
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