MIAMI: Miami's Cuban exiles expressed relief at news of Fidel Castro's resignation today, but many said they doubted the action marked an end to the overwhelming influence of the longtime leader of their homeland. The news that Castro would not seek a new term as president sparked no immediate celebrations in the streets of Little Havana, the neighborhood west of downtown Miami that is home to many of the area s 650,000-strong exile community and the heartland of opposition to Castro.

It's very good that Fidel resigns. But if Fidel dies, it s better, said Juan Acosta, who left the Caribbean island in 1980, as he stopped for a newspaper on Calle Ocho, Little Havana s main street. The system there is almost over. You are seeing the end, said Acosta, who like many Miami Cubans has family in Cuba, in this case his mother and sister.

The dictatorship is over. Motorists honked horns and a small group of demonstrators waving red, white and blue Cuban flags gathered outside the Versailles restaurant, where exiles chatted about the news over their morning coffee. I d be more relieved to see him tortured and killed. He won't be out of the way, said Alfredo Hidalgo-Gato, the US-born son of Cuban parents who fled Cuba in 1959. It s just a political move.

He won't be out of the way until the day he dies. It s to put somebody in place before he dies. It s a smart move, he said. Whatever he does, it s for his benefit, not ours. Not for the liberty of Cuba, not for the exiles and not for his people. It's for his government.

 

Source : UNI