Fidel Castro in the minds of Cuban people

For the majority of Cuban people, former President Fidel Castro is a respected and irreplaceable leader.

Havana, Cuba, is silent after the death of former president Fidel Castro. Photo: AP

Nightclubs in Havana, Cuba, were closed. Police officers and soldiers stepped up patrols as crowds of young people poured into the streets at night. Some people had heard about the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro from relatives. Many had just received the news, and shock was evident on their faces, according to the New York Times.

The next morning, November 26, flags were flown at half-mast in government offices and some homes. Here and there, people were still gathered in small groups, but instead of laughing and chatting as usual, they were silent or only exchanging whispers.

"He's the only leader I know," said Graciela Martinez, 51, as she mopped the floor of a cafe near the US Embassy.

"Imagine how Cubans feel. The most precious thing we ever had is gone," said Concepcion Garcia, 55, as she stood watching a crowd of young people in Salon Rojo, one of Havana's most popular nightspots.

She took off her glasses and pointed to her eyes. “I have the revolution and Fidel to thank for this cataract surgery,” Garcia said, adding that she would never have been able to afford it without Cuba’s social health care system.

“He put Cuba on the world map,” she stressed. “And the world got to know him.”

"The whole world will remember this man... He achieved things that not everyone can do," said Duncy Fajardo, a Havana resident.

Many world leaders have expressed their grief and sent condolences to the country and people of Cuba upon the passing of Fidel Castro. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised former President Fidel Castro as a "symbol of the times".

Chinese President Xi Jinping affirmed that Fidel Castro will live forever. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Fidel Castro a "legendary revolutionary and orator".

Venezuela's president called on "all revolutionaries in the world to continue to inherit the legacy and banner of independence and socialism" of former president Fidel Castro.

According to a Cuban newspaper, many Cubans initially believed that the news of former President Fidel Castro's death was a hoax. Mr. Castro also joked many times that on the day he died, "no one would believe what was happening."

In Biran, a small town in northeastern Cuba, Fidel Castro's hometown, when the news first appeared, people here did not believe it and tried every way to verify it.

"They kept knocking on the door and asking if it was true," Angel Daniel Castro, Fidel Castro's nephew, told CNN.

"I'm very sad," said Sariel Valdespino, a student. "He was a man respected and loved by the whole world."

"He was a guide, a leader for our people," said Mariela Alonso. "There will never be another Fidel Castro."

According to VNE