SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - News of Fidel Castro’s death was greeted by cheers and celebrations of many. However, some celebrated for those who did not live to see this historic day.
Pepe Freixas Jr. visited his parents grave to lay down two Cuban flags, Saturday morning, to share with them a day they were not able to see, but looked for to for so long.
“I almost cried, and I let them know what happened last night,” he said. “They will be back to Cuba. They will be back to a free Cuba.”
Freixas Jr.’s parents are buried at the Caballero Woodlawn Cemetery, in the country they made their home after escaping the island nation.
“My father was decorated by the king of Spain, and my mother was president of the American Cancer Society in Miami,” Freixas Jr. said.
Elizabeth Fresnedo also came to remember her mother, a Cuban exile. “This means that my mother, up in heaven is ecstatic with joy,” Fresnedo said. “Hopefully this will make some kind of changes, you know? At least the people now know that the great buffoon is dead.”
Some exiles were able to survive long enough to see the Cuban dictator meet his end.
Judith Acosta surprised her parents Saturday with a cafe con leche and news of Fidel’s death.
“I said, ‘Mama have you heard? Castro passed away,’ and she says, ‘No,’ and then when he heard, my father heard the news, he was totally sleep. He wake up and say, ‘You sure? what are you saying?'” said Acosta. “‘I say, Yeah, yeah, there’s a party in Miami, there’s a part at La Carreta, there is a party all over Miami. It’s a big party daddy.'”
Judith Acosta’s parents, Julio and Olga, married in Cuba. However, they left in 1963 and never looked back.
“We will never get to return to Cuba, but I’m content to know that Cuba may soon be free,” Olga said through a translator. “Perhaps, one day, it will go back to the Cuba I once knew.”
Freixas Jr. hopes for a similar change for Cuba. “The culture of Cuba will be back Father and Mother,” Freixas Jr. said. “Castro’s the symbol. He’s dead. He’s gone. He’s past. This is a future for Cuba.”
Freixas Jr. promised his parents he would never return to Cuba while Fidel Castro was alive. Now that can finally change.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.