Fidel Castro´s ashes to arrive in Santiago de Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 3 (ACN) The ashes of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz will arrive today in the city of Santiago de Cuba, the last point of a long journey that began last November 30 in Havana, witnessed by millions of Cubans along the entire way.

After spending the night in Bayamo, capital of the province of Granma, the funeral procession resumed the march at seven in the morning of this Saturday.

The glorious remains awaited the new day at the Ñico López museum, which occupies the site of the old barracks Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, attacked on July 26, 1953 by young people of the Generation of the Centennial, simultaneously with the Moncada garrison in Santiago de Cuba.

The route will continue along the Central Highway, in areas of the municipalities Granma of Bayamo and Jiguaní, to reach the town of Contramaestre.

The funeral cortege entered the eastern province of Granma yesterday in the municipality of Cauto Cristo and thousands of people escorted its passage, among tears, flags, banners, martial greetings and shuddering shouts of I am Fidel!

Especially impressive was the reception in the historic center of the National Monument City, where the ashes of the Hero of the Sierra Maestra walked through scenarios of the initial demonstrations of Cuban identity.

Children, youth, women and men expressed respect, love and commitment to Fidel, very close to the spaces where the National Anthem was premiered, and where heroes like Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Perucho Figueredo and Francisco Vicente Aguilera were born.

A multitudinous concentration was the vigil performed in the Plaza de la Patria, with songs, poems, dramatizations, videos and other expressions of affection and pain.

In the end, the legendary Municipal Band of Bayamo, created in 1868 with the premiere of the National Anthem, offered the vibrant march, sung by those present.

After the vigil, thousands of Granma people from the 13 municipalities walked from Plaza de la Patria to near the old barracks Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, to spend a good part of the night next to the ashes of Fidel.