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Donald Trump calls Fidel Castro 'brutal dictator' | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro was a "brutal dictator", US President-elect Donald Trump has said, hours after the 90-year-old's death was announced. | |
Mr Trump, who takes office in January, said he hoped Cubans could move towards a freer future. | |
Castro came to power in 1959 and ushered in a Communist revolution. He defied the US for decades, surviving many assassination plots. | |
Supporters said he returned Cuba to the people. Critics called him a dictator. | |
His brother Raul, who succeeded him as president, announced his death on state television on Friday night. | |
"While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve," Mr Trump said in a statement. | |
Barack Obama, under whom the US restored diplomatic ties with Havana after decades of tension, said history would "record and judge the enormous impact" of Castro. | |
The US had "worked hard to put the past behind us" and was extending "a hand of friendship to the Cuban people" at this time, he said. |