Fidel Castro's ashes reach cemetery, to be laid to rest

SANTIAGO DE CUBA - The caravan carrying the ashes of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro Sunday reached the Santa Ifigenia cemetery for burial in a historic ceremony after touring Santiago de Cuba, the second largest city in southeastern Cuba.

The caravan passed through the "Patria" avenue before the ashes reaching the cemetery, where lies the hero of Cuba's national independence, Jose Marti.

Thousand of inhabitants of the Santiago de Cuba province and other provinces bade farewell to the man who built a socialist revolution in the Caribbean island.

"I am Fidel!" "Fidel come back!" and "Raul, friend, the people is with you!" chanted the people, mostly dressed in black as a mourning sign. They lined up along the street during the passage of the funeral cortege.

The final leg of Castro's funeral procession travelled the last 120 km between the city of Bayamo to Santiago de Cuba, the place known as the Heroic City for "its decisive contributions to the complete and definitive independence of the Cuban nation."

Castro died on Nov 25 at the age of 90 after a decade of retirement from his political positions due to a serious intestinal illness.