MIAMI — Celebration turned to somber reflection and church services Sunday as Cuban-Americans in Miami largely stayed off the streets following a raucous daylong party in which thousands marked the death of Fidel Castro.
One Cuban exile car dealer, however, sought to turn the revolutionary socialist’s death into a quintessential capitalist deal by offering $15,000 discounts on some models.
At St. Brendan Catholic Church in the Miami suburb of Westchester, a member of the chorus read a statement by Archbishop Thomas Wenski about Castro’s death before the service. There was no overt mention of Castro during the Sunday Mass. But during the reading of the Prayers of the Faithful, one of the two priests celebrating the Mass prayed for “an end to communism, especially in Cuba and Venezuela.”
“Lord, hear our prayers,” churchgoers responded.
Outside the church, Nelson Frau, a 32-year-old Cuban-American whose parents fled the island in 1962, said he wasn’t surprised that Castro was not mentioned. He said Wenski’s statement reflected the role of the Catholic Church in Miami as a mediator toward peace between the Cubans in Miami and those on the island.
“I think the church is trying to act as a mediator at this point, to try to move the Cuban people forward rather than backward, not only the exile community here, but also the Cuban people on the island,” said Frau, who works in customer service.
Frau said celebrations of Castro’s death on the streets of Miami were a “natural reaction.”
“Let’s not forget that this is an exile community that has suffered a lot, over 50 years,” Frau said. “He’s an image of pain to a lot of people. It’s a celebration not of his death, but a celebration of the end of this image of pain and suffering.”
The pot-banging, car horn-honking, flag-waving throngs were much thinner in Little Havana and other Cuban-American neighborhoods on Sunday. People quietly sipped their morning coffee outside the Versailles restaurant – which had put up signs in Spanish calling itself the “House of the Exiles” – where many of the demonstrations have been centered along Calle Ocho, or 8th Street.
Later Sunday afternoon, people gathered anew outside the restaurant, forcing police to close the street down again as a chanting group carried a large Cuban flag. One group of Cuban exiles held a news conference at the Bay of Pigs museum, which commemorates the failed CIA-backed invasion in 1961. They called for a large rally Wednesday afternoon in Little Havana.
Castro was still on the minds of many, however, including exile Arnaldo Bomnin of Bomnin Chevrolet. He was offering $15,000 off on Corvettes and several sports-utility vehicle models.
Bomnin said the idea for the discount sprang from a conversation with a marketing company about a press release discussing his Cuban heritage after Castro’s death.
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