Former first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Council of State, Fidel Castro died of natural causes in his sleep at 22:29 (CST) on the evening of 25 November 2016, at the age of 90.

"[5] Castro's body was cremated and his ashes were interred in Santiago de Cuba on 4 December 2016, and hundreds of thousands of Cubans commemorated the event.

The Miami Herald created a "Cuba plan" more than 20 years before Castro's death; as much as 60 pages in length, it included multiple newspaper extras and reporters joining the United States Coast Guard as it handled the expected large number of refugees fleeing the island.

Its journalists prepared to enter Cuba surreptitiously; employees knew that Castro's death would interrupt any vacation or weekend.

The casket carrying his ashes then lay in state for Cubans to pay homage to Castro at the José Martí Memorial in Havana on 28 and 29 November.

[11] A memorial rally then took place at the Plaza de la Revolución[12] at 19:00 on 29 November[11] in which President Raúl Castro, as well as various world leaders who were allies of Castro paid tribute, including the presidents of Panama,[13] Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and South Africa, along with the prime minister of Greece and leaders of a host of smaller countries in Africa.

[17] On 3 December at 19:00, another mass gathering took place at Plaza Antonio Maceo in Santiago de Cuba, with Raúl and other foreign leaders and dignitaries.

[19] The next day, 4 December at 7:00, the interment of Castro's ashes occurred in a private ceremony in Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, where Cuban national hero José Martí is also buried.

Final events occurred as a 21-gun salute was fired and the ashes, in a coffin wrapped in Cuban flag, disappeared from public view as television cameras and journalists were not allowed inside, save for cameramen from the Sistema Informativo de la Televisión, which provided the live coverage for television channels islandwide.

INC MPCPI (M) General-SecretaryCPI SecretaryBJD MPSamajwadi Party MP UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn was scheduled to attend as part of his country's delegation.

[78] In Venezuela, a ceremony was held at Mountain Barrack, where President Nicolas Maduro told a crowd on 27 November: "Men and women of this great Latin American and Caribbean homeland!

[citation needed] President Raúl Castro somberly announced on national television: "The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution had passed away peacefully at 22:29 (CST) this evening.

"[20][80] This included the postponement of the grand military parade to mark the 60th anniversary of the landing of the yacht Granma and Armed Forces Day in Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion by a month from 2 December to 2 January 2017.

Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve.Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.

I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign, including the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association that endorsed me, with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba.

There is a reason many defected to USA;"[212] and Gloria Estefan, who stated that the event marks "the symbolic death of the destructive ideologies that he espoused that, I believe, is filling the Cuban exile community with renewed hope and a relief that has been long in coming.

"[82] Former Argentine footballer Diego Maradona stated that Castro was a "great" man and that, while he was away for the 2016 Davis Cup in Croatia: "[t]hey called me from Buenos Aires and it was a shock.

Amnesty International's Americas Director Erika Guevara-Rosas issued a statement that described Castro as a "progressive but deeply flawed leader."