Fidel Castro handed the reins of power to his younger brother a decade before his death on Friday.
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In the statement, Trudeau said “it is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba’s longest serving President”.
The popular Twitter hashtag #trudeaueulogies started trending on Saturday afternoon as thousands applied the Prime Minister’s phrasing to other controversial characters – both real and imagined – ranging from Osama bin Laden to Darth Vader to Genghis Khan.
Raul Castro has overseen gradual economic reforms. His brother Raul took over from him.
Often portrayed as a pragmatist in recent years, he provided counterpoint to Fidel, who was usually characterized as more hard line. Although physically he died, the way he organised Cubans, his ideas will always remain in practice.
“The resistance of the Cuban leader has become legend and an inspiration for all the leaders and peoples of the world”, Assad reportedly said.
In his book, “The America We Deserve”, Trump said Castro should be arrested and tried.
Since late Saturday night, when news of Castro’s death began to spread, jubilant Cuban Americans poured onto the streets of the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami honking horns, banging pots, and chanting “Viva Cuba libre”.
Cubans will likely forever remember where they were when Fidel Castro’s death was announced.
China’s president says Castro’s “glorious image and great achievements will be recorded in history forever”.
The news of Castro’s death was long anticipated by the exiles that left after he took power.
Trump had threatened late in his White House campaign to reverse President Barack Obama’s moves to open relations with the Cold War adversary after more than a half-century’s estrangement due to his concerns about religious and political freedom in Cuba.
Arcos said Cubans were leaning toward Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over Trump mostly because of Clinton’s shared policies with Obama.
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.
“With Fidel’s death, the political and economic situation will probably open up”, said Michael Shifter, president of the United States research group Inter-American Dialogue. His contribution to the world went far beyond the confines of a tiny island just 150 km away from Florida, once a playground of rich Americans which he turned into an icon of anti-capitalism. For close to six decades, the Cuban people have lost.
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.
“It’s sad that one finds joy in the death of a person — but that person should never have been born”, said Pablo Arencibia, 67, a teacher who fled Cuba 20 years ago.
“I’m feeling this is the beginning of the end”, said Alex Pineiro, 32.
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A second USA official noted the advisers Trump has named thus far are not known to have any particular interest in Cuba. They banged pots with spoons, honked vehicle horns, waved Cuban and US flags in the air and whooped in jubilation on Calle Ocho – as Little Havana’s 8th Street is universally known.
