Eyewitnessing Fidel Castro’s Farewell

People gather for a memorial in honor of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro at Antonio Maceo plaza in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. 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 arrived Saturday to Santiago where they will be buried the following day.
People gather for a memorial in honor of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro at Antonio Maceo plaza in Santiago, Cuba on Saturday. 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 buried on Sunday. Natacha Pisarenko / AP Photo
People gather for a memorial in honor of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro at Antonio Maceo plaza in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. 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 arrived Saturday to Santiago where they will be buried the following day.
People gather for a memorial in honor of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro at Antonio Maceo plaza in Santiago, Cuba on Saturday. 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 buried on Sunday. Natacha Pisarenko / AP Photo

Eyewitnessing Fidel Castro’s Farewell

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

Thousands in Cuba flooded the streets on Sunday to say farewell to the motorcade carrying the ashes of the country’s former leader, Fidel Castro.

The procession ended nine days of official mourning for the revolutionary leader who ruled Cuba for nearly a half-century.

We talk with independent journalist, Jean Friedman-Rudovsky, who was in Cuba to report on Castro’s farewell. Friedman-Rudovsky is contributing editor for Vice magazine and is based in Philadelphia.

Her current report in the Miami New Times is titled Cubans React to Fidel Castro’s Funeral: Everything Has Changed, but Nothing Has Changed.