'Good riddance Fidel Castro!': Hundreds of Cuban-Americans take to the streets of Miami to celebrate the death of the dictator they fled
- Thousands of Miamians took to streets to celebrate Fidel Castro's death
- In Miami tradition, people hit pots and pans together on Saturday morning
- Car horns filled the air as locals danced and cheered at the news
- Miami is the home to thousands of Cuban-Americans, many of whom fled or have relatives that fled from Castro's rule beginning in the late 1950s
Cuban-Americans in Miami celebrated the death of communist dictator Fidel Castro early Saturday morning with a Little Havana and Hialeah tradition: Banging pots and pans.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in jubilance after it was announced that Castro had died Friday aged 90.
As people banged the kitchenware rhythmically in Little Havana, others danced in the streets and held their cellphones in the air to record the historic moment.
Miami's population is 70 percent Hispanic and Latino and more than half of that population is of Cuban descent.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Miami in jubilance after it was announced that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro had died at age 90
As people banged the kitchenware rhythmically in Little Havana, others danced in the streets and held their cellphones in the air to record the historic moment
Fidel Castro is dead and the people gathered here in Little Havana in Miami are celebrating. #WEBN pic.twitter.com/aveuyMjtw7
— Javier Rodriguez (@WEBNtvRodriguez) November 26, 2016
Of those Cuban-Americans, many have or are relatives of those who fled from Castro's rule of the island nation.
As the crowd grew in Miami, car horns filed the air as people continued to cheer and sing in Spanish.
Cuban flags waves as more people arrived to celebrate and share the moment together.
Miami has been a haven for thousands of Cubans who fled Castro's rule for America.
Castro was quick to silence his critics, closing independent newspapers and ordering the deaths of at least 582 members of the old government over the course of two years.
Homosexuals in the country were herded into camps for 're-education' and HIV-positive citizens were quarantined.
In 1964, Castro acknowledged holding 15,000 political prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled, including Castro's daughter Alina Fernandez Revuelta and his younger sister Juana.
The big migration of Cubans to the United States began when Castro-led revolutionaries took over in the the late 1950s and early 1960s, according to MigrationPolicy.com.
In the 15 years after the revolution began, more than half a million Cubans would immigrate Miami, according to the Economist.
Miami's population is 70 percent Hispanic and Latino and more than half of that population is of Cuban descent
Cuban flags waves as the crowd grew and people celebrated the end of Castro's life
Cuban-Americans in the United States doubled from 71,000 to 163,000 from 1950 to 1960 and since the 1960s, most Cubans who have reached America have been permitted into the country via the 'Wet Feet, Dry Feet' policy.
The 'Wet Feet, Dry Feet' policy, which was the name given to the 1965 provision entitled the Cuban Adjustment Act, stated that anyone who reached the United States from Cuba could stay in the country and would be able to pursue citizenship.
If they were caught in the body of water between the United States and Cuba, they would be sent to a different country.
There were also 'Freedom Flights' in which about 300,000 Cubans were able to come to Miami between 1965 and 1973.
Still thousands would seek asylum in the United States using tiny rafts and unsafe vessels to cross the 330 miles of ocean between Cuba and Miami for the promise of a safer, better life.
Miami has been a haven for thousands of Cubans who fled Castro's rule for America
As the crowd grew in Miami, car horns filed the air as people continued to cheer and sing in Spanish
In 2013, census information reported that there were 1.1million Cubans in the United States.
On social media, Fidel Castro began trending after the news of his death with many seeming happy and relieved.
'Good riddance Fidel Castro!' one person wrote on Twitter.
On social media, Fidel Castro began trending after the news of his death with many seeming happy and relieved
Another wrote: 'Wow! Fidel Castro died! Cuba will be free! People celebrating on the streets of Miami the end of the tyranny!'
Another exclaimed: '(LIBERATED)! Fidel Castro, Miami is partying. The rain doesn't stop the party.'
Many also toasted Cuba Libres - meaning 'Free Cuba' in Spanish - while others smoked Cuban cigars to the fall of Castro.
'My Cuba Libre made with Havana Club Rum saluting all my loved ones who I wish had lived to see this day arrive,' one person tweeted.
Many also toasted Cuba Libres - meaning 'Free Cuba' in Spanish - to the fall of Castro
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