PHOTOS: Miami’s Cubans Celebrate Death of Dictator Fidel Castro

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 26: Miami residents celebrate the death of Fidel Castro on November
Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images

On Friday night, Cuba’s Communist dictator Raúl Castro announced the death of elder brother and predecessor Fidel Castro at the age of 90. While the younger Castro has imposed a mandatory nine-day mourning period in Havana, the exile community 90 miles away wasted no time in celebrating.

The largest crowds in Miami appeared to congregate in front of the iconic Versailles restaurant and cafe, which has served for decades as a space for Cuban exiles to debate politics over their traditional coffees and pastries. Many celebrated by honking their car horns, banging pots and pans, and waving Cuban flags.

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 26: Miami residents celebrate the death of Fidel Castro on November 26, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Cuba's current President and younger brother of Fidel, Raul Castro, announced in a brief TV appearance that Fidel Castro had died at 22:29 hours on November 25 aged 90. (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images)

Cuban Americans celebrate upon hearing about the death of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida on November 26, 2016. Cuba's socialist icon and father of his country's revolution Fidel Castro died on November 25 aged 90, after defying the US during a half-century of ironclad rule and surviving the eclipse of global communism. / AFP / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)

Cuban Americans celebrate upon hearing about the death of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida on November 26, 2016. Cuba's socialist icon and father of his country's revolution Fidel Castro died on November 25 aged 90, after defying the US during a half-century of ironclad rule and surviving the eclipse of global communism. / AFP / RHONA WISE (Photo credit should read RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 26: Miami residents celebrate the death of Fidel Castro on November 26, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Cuba's current President and younger brother of Fidel, Raul Castro, announced in a brief TV appearance that Fidel Castro had died at 22:29 hours on November 25 aged 90. (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images)

Photos: AFP/Getty Images

Videos also show fireworks going off on Calle Ocho, in the center of Miami’s Little Havana, to celebrate that the Cuban people have survived a half-century-long attempt to destroy it by the Castro family, in order to replace it with a Marxist cult of personality.

Some of those congregating took the opportunity of celebrating Castro’s death to also celebrate new beginnings in America, holding up campaign signs for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and his soon-to-be vice president, Mike Pence. A group of Cuban-Americans in front of Versailles appeared to be carrying a life-sized doll of Donald Trump dressed in an Uncle Sam outfit.

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 26: People take to the streets to react to the news of the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro outside the restaurant Versailles November 26, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Many, mostly Cubans, gathered to wave flags and celebrate the news of the death of the Cuban revolutionary who died at 90. (Photo by Angel Valentin/Getty Images)

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 26: Miami residents celebrate the death of Fidel Castro on November 26, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Cuba's current President and younger brother of Fidel, Raul Castro, announced in a brief TV appearance that Fidel Castro had died at 22:29 hours on November 25 aged 90. (Photo by Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images)

Photos: Getty Images

Miami has also become a refuge for Venezuelan exiles seeking to flee the increasingly oppressive socialist government of Castro crony Nicolás Maduro. Venezuelans showed their solidarity with their new Cuban neighbors, waving their own flags in celebration of Castro’s death.

MIAMI, FL - NOVEMBER 26: People take to the streets to react to the news of the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro outside the restaurant Versailles November 26, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Many, mostly Cubans, gathered to wave flags and celebrate the news of the death of the Cuban revolutionary who died at 90. (Photo by Angel Valentin/Getty Images)

Photo: Angel Valentin/Getty Images

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