Thousands bid farewell to Cuba's Fidel Castro

President Raul Castro has led tens of thousands of Cubans in a pledge to defend the socialist legacy of his brother Fidel Castro, who died last week aged 90 and will be interred in the city where the Cuban Revolution was launched.

"This is the unconquered Fidel who calls us with his example," the president, dressed in his four-star general's uniform, told a crowd that had burst into chants of "I am Fidel" on Saturday night.


"Yes, we will overcome any obstacle, turmoil or threat in the building of socialism in Cuba," Raul Castro, 85, said in a speech before Santiago's packed central plaza.

Castro's ashes will be entombed near the remains of Cuba's independence hero Jose Marti in a private ceremony beginning on Sunday at 7am (12:00 GMT), concluding nine days of national mourning.