beard grew whiter. he still he outlived many critics. outlasted ten u.s. administrations. in the end, it was illness, not washington, that forced him to retire. passing cuba s leadership to his younger brother raul. in his last years, he appeared occasionally, mostly in photos looking frail. the times he tried to play the role of elder statesman but more and more he seems inconsequential. translator: the cuban government has slowly removed him from the scene. it would be one thing if he died july 31st 2006. instead his importance slowly faded. he insists that death was not something he feared. i have never been afraid of death. translator: i never been concerned about death. ifo owe not feel attached to
reporter: that s an important thing to note. while fidel castro has now died, he really wasn t in power since 2006. he passed over the authority in effect to his brother raul. his brother raul has indicated that two years from now he will step down from power. when he steps down from power, they have chosen who will step into his place. that person wasn t even alive when fidel castro began his revolution. there s change coming. but maybe not as quickly as people hoped for, especially cuban-american community here. the change, of course, is that under fidel castro, the ownership of everything was impossible. now in cuba, people can own cars, property. there is such incremental changes. what a difference a few hours make. you were suggesting people were sleeping off the celebrations from yesterday. they are out in force now.
know what to do. but already his brother raul, once he took power in 2008, started introducing market reforms and then, of course, the dramatic opening to the u.s. in 2014. that, of course, is now very much in question given donald trump and his opposition to many of the things that president obama has initiated. alex. all of which were done under executive order. thank you for that. let s bring in francis suarez. i know your father was miami s first cuban mayor. what did the news of fidel castro s death mean to you personally? as the son of a first cuban mayor, as the grandson of someone in prison by castro who in prison not only my grandfather but his two brothers, one of which died in jail in cuba, it was a very emotional time for us. my mother and i spoke and she cried about the trauma she felt in being dislocated from her
the revolution. still a towering figure in his nation s imagination, even after he succumbed to illness and gave up power to his brother raul. young people marched, one saying it is painful for our country. this is the president we all loved. no sign of the protesters against his family s human rights abuses. the so-called ladies in white, who marched silently every sunday. when i interviewed fidel castro in 2002, he was defiant against u.s. pressure, to introduce political reforms. telling me, it isn t logical for anyone to set conditions for anyone else. the u.s. has relations with other countries without setting conditions. in fact, he was always confident his cause would outlive him. defying 11 american presidents, writing a final column denouncing the u.s. election only two weeks ago. once telling me there will be no problem if i die tomorrow because we have lots of young people who are well trained, who
castro is dead. we must work for a cuba that is free, democratic and prosperous. and in cuba and the united states, with the u.s. opening of the embassy in havana. reporter: fidel castro s were dwindling. saying soon i will be like everyone else. after a fear fatal illness in 2008, castro turned the reins of power to his younger brother raul. as cuba s new president began taking tentative steps towards reform, the u.s. began to ease its restrictions. fidel castro was suspicious writing in january 2015, although he does not trust u.s. poles and have not exchanged a word with them, this does not mean however that i will would oppose a peaceful solution to conflicts or threats of war. in september of last year, fidel