we saw ariels of pretty impressive group of people, large crowds. do you get a sense that it is growing as people get the news or what is happening? reporter: i ve lost chris there. may be having audio issues. but what you can see is what i was talking about. 5:13 in miami, florida and take a look just outside the versailles restaurant, famous important restaurant there in little havana, a police where people come together to talk politics. on this day people are coming together to celebrate. in fact gans in tkct dance in t over the death of fidel castro. let s bring in rafael romo. he s also covered the geopolitics of latin america for many years. and you have news as well as far as what will happen in cuba. yes, a few minutes ago the
cuba. the bay of pigs invasion failed. now in about the soviets camp, castro in 1962 invited moscow to secretly place nuclear missiles on the island. discovery of the missiles led to a 13 day standoff between the u.s. and soviet union. nuclear war appeared imminent until the soviets agreed to remove the weapons. castro and the u.s. would remain engaged in proxy wars as the cuban leader tried to foment socialist revolutions around the world. for many, the failed soviet style economic policies made life intolerable. communism was the only ideology permitted on the island. critics of the government often faced lengthy jail sentences. this 1980, castro declared anyone who wanted to could leave on a boat it to the u.s. nearly 125,000 took him up on his offer. but castro resisted major free market reforms, or lifting
death has drawn mixed reaction. in miami, florida you see here where people came together despite the rain to celebrate the death of fidel castro. but in havana, it is a different scene. people have been quite quiet there. news of castro s death has likely not reached many cubans as it broke late at night. and it is important to point out as we heard from patrick oppmann that many learned from him. let s talk now about little havana in miami. it is the home to thousands of cuban immigrants and exiles. chris moody is following the reaction and he joins us live. you can describe the mood? and we re about 15 minutes before national mourning starts in havana. of course what you re witnessing is very different. reporter: that s right. celebration is in the air in miami, florida. and it has been this way for
unexpected, up announnanswered over live cuban tv late friday night, they just seemed to freeze and didn t know how to reacts. and i think when the sun comes up behind me in a few hour, it will shine on a somewhat different cuba, cuba for the first time in generations where cubans don t have the shadow of fidel castro over this island. this is a man who really dominated the political d discourse and tdestiny of this country. it would be a very different country if he had not taken power. but for many, they are just learning the details of the lengthy mourning process, about ten days. and very symbolic. they will transport his ashes in a reverse trip that took him to power in 1959 when he traveled
closely tied together over the decades. and it will be interesting, it will be telling to see he which world leaders are there at the final ceremony for fidel castro. very telling on a diplomatic level. cnn contributor jill dougherty live for us. jill, thank you very much. jill has a lot of experience in russia and we get a sense of the reaction there today. let s talk now about the little havana neighborhood in miami, florida. it s the home to thousands of cuban immigrants and exiles. and chris moodity ity is fo the reaction and he joins us live. chris, what are you hearing? it s the middle of night and this has been going on for hours. just 11 minutes past 5:00 in the morning florida time. what is it like? reporter: that s right. there is celebration in the air here in little havana, the home