fire in the streets, maybe the army would divide against itself, there would be pro an-liberalization people, there would be years and years of pent-up frustrated ambitions on the part of less senior cuban officials that would certainly break into the open. and now that it has happened? reporter: well, what happened was we really had kind of a slow motion transition that nobody recognized as a transition for a while. in 2006 fidel castro became ill. there was a sort of two-year twilight zone there, and then one day we woke up and he was no longer the leader. meanwhile, his brother raoul, who it must be said for a long time was not a well-known figure and thought to be mostly a non-entity in cuba was actually in control.
up the live images if we still have them in miami, we are seeing people celebrating in the streets. we re seeing history happen right now. many people in miami who are relieved, who are thrilled to hear this news, to see this headline that the former cuban leader is dead at 90 years old, rafael. i can t stop thinking about i have many friends who are cuban american, who were born in this country but their parents had to flee cuba because of the castro regime. i cannot stop thinking about those people, people who came to the united states in the late 60s, in the early 70s, and they thought they would be here for just a few years. they said castro cannot stay in power forever. after that happens, we re going to go back and we re going to raise our children back in cuba. that never happened, and all of those people who died waiting, that s what happened in reality, and who now have children who are americans and who are seeing this and trying to understand
miami specifically, who are not happy with the fact that relations have improved. but i must emphasize to you that miami is a very distorted lens. this is a small group, people who obviously left cuba with all due respect, i have to push back if you use miami to judge cuba, of course you re going to get a negative i do have to gently push back against the idea it is a small group because, again, when we see the live images in miami you do see many, many people on the streets who have a different take. it is important also to bring in your take as well. i want to ask you, sir, as we see this happening in miami, as we see people starting to get the news in cuba, what are your thoughts moving forward now that a new u.s. president will be coming in and will be dealing with raoul castro without the shadow of fidel castro? well, i think it is very important to carry on the policy of engagement that president obama has started. i think that s a very wise
this. 11 u.s. presidents had to deal with fidel castro. if you put the numbers together, that s almost a quarter of all of the chief executives in u.s. history. that s a lot of presidents with the same problem. it is amazing. it is interesting, the last guest, the former singapore ambassador to the u.n., i did have to push back on his suggestion that what we re seeing in miami is a small, distorted reaction because, n, it is important. it is important to point out millions of people fled cuba, fled cuba to get to the united states. many people in miami, if we can take a look at these images, many people are reacting. they are celebrating in the streets this hour, at 3:55 in the morning on the u.s. east coast, gathered there just outside the versailles restaurant. the very famous restaurant for cuban americans to gather to talk politics, and on this day to mark history, the death of fidel castro at 90 years old. cnn will continue to follow the
loved him because he forced a hated dig traitor out. but over years many people lost hope and faith, and for many of the cubans i did speak with on the phone or i ve seen the post on social media now, there s sort of not ambivalence, but exhaustion and they want to know how this improves their future and if this will lead to something better because cuba has suffered through so much. there s still u.s. economic sanctions on the island. the economy is in very poor shape, and many people want to hear new ideas, new solutions to problems that have now existed for many decades of fidel castro s revolution. but at this hour and several hours after learning this news on the streets of havana, a sense of quiet as people start to understand this very important fact that has happened, that the former leader of cuba has died at 90 years old. patrick oppmann, cnn s dedicated correspondent in havana live with us. patrick will be with us