HAVANA: Cuba’s historic revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died on Friday aged 90, after defying the United States during a half century of rule and surviving the eclipse of global communism.

One of the world’s longest-serving rulers and modern history’s most singular characters, Castro defied 11 US administrations and hundreds of assassination attempts.

His younger brother, President Raul Castro, announced the news shortly after midnight (0500 GMT Saturday) but gave no details of the cause of death.

Fidel Castro is accused of crushing opposition at home from the moment he took power in 1959 to lead the communist Caribbean island through the Cold War. He stepped aside only in 2006 after intestinal surgery.

For defenders of the revolution, Castro was a hero who protected the ordinary people against capitalist domination.

For his opponents, including thousands of Cuban exiles living in the US, he was a tyrant.

Castro eventually lived to see the restoration of diplomatic ties with Washington last year.

President Raul Castro, who took power after his elder brother Fidel was hospitalised in 2006, announced the news on national television, “the commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening”. “In compliance with Comrade Fidel’s expressed will, his remains will be cremated early in the morning,” he said in a solemn voice.

The government on Saturday decreed nine days of mourning.

From Nov 26 to Dec 4, “public activities and shows will cease, the national flag will fly at half-mast on public buildings and military installations,” a statement from the state executive said.

Castro’s ashes will be buried in the southeastern city of Santiago on Dec 4 after a four-day procession through the country, it added.

“The name of this distinguished statesman is rightly considered the symbol of an era in modern world history,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In unsavoury remarks, US President-elect Donald Trump called Castro a “brutal dictator who oppressed his people for six decades”.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2016