Tens of thousands of Cubans, some wrapped in red, white and blue national flags, have paid final respects in Havana to Fidel Castro, who led a leftist revolution, ruled for half a century and resisted the United States throughout the Cold War.
Castro died on Friday at the age of 90, a decade after stepping down due to poor health and ceding power to his brother Raul Castro.
Castro was admired by leftists and people of the developing world who saw him as a revolutionary champion of the poor, but he was vilified by many who viewed him as a dictator who oppressed Cubans and ruined the economy through socialism.
"Long live Fidel! We can hear him, we can feel him, he'll always be here," a crowd gathered near Havana's Revolution Square chanted, holding up a banner that read "We are Fidel".
The government invited people to the square for a two-day commemoration that started with a 21-gun salute heard throughout much of the capital.
Thousands queued in snaking lines to walk past a portrait of a young Fidel dressed in military fatigues, with a rifle and pack slung over his back. Raul Castro and his top lieutenants held a separate, private ceremony, where they signed a book in front of an identical portrait, and laid white flowers.
While some world leaders have sent admiring messages of condolence, Castro has been condemned by critics, including President-elect Donald Trump, who in a weekend statement called him "a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people."
Before Castro's death, Trump had threatened to reverse President Barack Obama's rapprochement with Cuba, which has included restoring diplomatic ties, increasing trade and pressing the U.S. Congress to end years of economic embargo.
The Republican Trump, who takes office on January 20, reiterated that on Monday, saying in a Twitter message he would end the US "deal" with Cuba if the government in Havana did not reciprocate with "a better deal for the Cuban people." He did not give details of what this might entail.
Castro was cremated on Saturday and the government has declared a nine-day period of mourning. His ashes will be carried in a cortege to a final resting place in Santiago de Cuba, the city in eastern Cuba where he launched the revolution.
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