NEWS

'A symbol has died': Cubans in SWFL react to Castro's death

MELISSA MONTOYA
MMONTOYA@NEWS-PRESS.COM
FILE - In this April 19, 2016 file photo, Fidel Castro attends the last day of the 7th Cuban Communist Party Congress in Havana, Cuba. Fidel Castro formally stepped down in 2008 after suffering gastrointestinal ailments and public appearances have been increasingly unusual in recent years. Cuban President Raul Castro has announced the death of his brother Fidel Castro at age 90 on Cuban state media on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. (Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate via AP, File)

In Miami, they beat pots and pans, yelling into the night.

In Southwest Florida, the celebrations surrounding Fidel Castro’s death were subdued. They came in the form of text messages and conversations over restaurant counters. Some argued over the Cuban dictator’s legacy while others wondered what comes next for the island 90 miles from South Florida.

"What else is going to happen," Madelin Sanchez said in Spanish as she served a café con leche at Azúcar, a Lehigh Acres Cuban eatery. "It's going to be the same because his brother is in power."

Castro, 90 at his death Friday night, handed his dictatorial reign to his brother Raúl Castro eight years ago. Raúl Castro has served as president since then.

"Believe me, I can't talk much about politics because I don't know much about that, but nothing will happen,” the 28-year-old said. “God forgive us for laughing about the dead.”

Sanchez, who came to Florida as an 11-year-old, said her Cuban brethren celebrating in Miami would ruin it for others who would like to return to the island. She called it a joke, but a number of recent Cuban arrivals declined to provide their names after joking about Castro’s death to a reporter.

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Many said they fear retribution if their names are linked to anti-regime talk.

“I still have family in Cuba,” said one woman outside a Lehigh Acres corner store that caters to the Cuban community. “I can’t tell you my name.”

That’s not the case for Tomas Castellón.

Tomas Castellón speaks about his experience as a Cuban exile in Lehigh Acres. He fled the island about 54 years ago.

Castellón, a Lehigh Acres resident, stops by the corner store, Rincón Matanzero, every day to chat up his friends. The store is located in a small shopping plaza near Williams Road and Lee Boulevard. It's home to shops that proclaim their Cuban heritage with the colors of their flag, the familiar red, white and blue.

Castellón, who at age 76 has spent 54 years in the United States, is vociferous in his disapproval of Castro's 50-plus year regime.

"They didn't let me go to school," Castellón said in Spanish. "They said my ideas were different from theirs."

A devout Catholic, Castellón wasn't allowed to pray to his God, he said.

"They eliminated religion completely," he said. "You had to be atheist to live there."

That’s when he fled as a 22-year-old and arrived in Miami, where he spent the majority of his life. He’s been in Southwest Florida for eight years since his retirement, he said.

“I wouldn’t wish death on anyone,” he said, “but a symbol has died.

“I wanted to see this happen, but I didn’t know if it would.”

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Castellón said he is hopeful that without Castro’s guidance, Raúl Castro will change the government.

Noel Sosa, 46, crossed the 90 miles of sea and arrived in South Florida in 1994.

“Happy,” he spoke in Spanish as he broke into a grin when asked how he felt about Castro’s death. “Happy.”

Patrols enjoy a drink at Rincon Cubano, a Cuban restaurant in Cape Coral.

As he waited for his order of roast pork and tamales from Cape Coral’s Rincon Cubano, Sosa told the story of his dad, who opened his own bodega on the island when he was 18 only to watch Castro’s government seize his livelihood.

“He took everything away,” Sosa said. “So I feel happy.”

While the symbolism of Castro’s death looms large, Sosa said nothing will change in his beloved country.

“That symbolism is like a knife,” Sosa said. “And when you take out the knife, the wound is left behind. The knife is no longer there, but the wound remains.”

When news of the death came, many Cubans thought of those who didn’t live to see the day.

Jay Rodriguez, a Fort Myers police officer, thought about his father, who was thrown into jail as a political prisoner for supporting Fulgencio Batista, who was overthrown by Castro revolutionaries.

“I wish my dad lived to see this day,” he said. “He would be thrilled.”

One of his family members was executed for his politics, Rodriguez said. When his father was released from jail, he flew to New York to live in exile, eventually making his way to Florida where he worked at Winn-Dixie for 33 years, claiming the United States as his own.

“That’s why people come to this great country,” Rodriguez said. “He was a symbol of oppression. There’s no freedom of expression there.”

The freedom of expression was loud and clear at El Tinajon in Cape Coral, a restaurant that specializes in Cuban pizzas.

Florida political leaders react to Castro's death

Navivi Castillo, from behind the counter, and Jose Acosta, argued back and forth about Castro’s death and his legacy. Acosta, a Cuban who settled in the U.S. in the 1990s, was the only person interviewed who lamented Castro’s death.

“He is a leader and the greatest man in the 20th century,” Acosta said in Spanish. “He is the only one in the world who told the United States that if you mess around, we mess around.”

But for Castillo, that doesn’t matter. “Are you here to celebrate Castro’s death,” she said as restaurant patrons walked in.

“There is no evil that lasts 100 years,” Castillo said. “And he lasted for 90. The head of the government died, but there’s still millions after him.”