Fidel Castro laid to rest in Cuba, ending nine days of mourning

Fidel Castro’s ashes were laid to rest on Sunday, capping nine days of official mourning when hundreds of thousands of Cubans said farewell with a combination of tears, Castro-like defiance and choruses of “I am Fidel!” ringing out across the island.

A private ceremony was held at Santiago’s Santa Ifigenia Cemetery, state media reported. Castro’s cremated remains were due to be placed a few steps from the mausoleum of independence hero Jose Marti, another towering figure of Cuban history who Castro long admired.

Castro died on November 25 aged 90. He had been out of power for a decade but never far from the centre of public life, writing a periodic column on world and local matters and receiving foreign dignitaries at his home on the outskirts of Havana.