Bayamo, December 3 (RHC)-- The eastern Cuban city of Bayamo paid homage last night to the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro, as his ashes stopped overnight and received the emotional farewell of hundreds of thousands of residents.  Bayamo is the provincial capital of Granma and the territory in which the Cuban leader and his 81 accompanying heroes of the Granma yacht landed from Mexico sixty years ago on December 2, 1956, to begin the final liberation of Cuba.

A massive popular vigil and cultural program was presented at Bayamo's emblematic square, la Plaza de la Patria, in what became an expression of support to Fidel in the next to the last public rally in his honor.

A poem by the noted Uruguayan intellectual Mario Benedetti was sung by tens of thousands of persons to open the homage to Fidel Castro. Since early in the afternoon on Friday, the Plaza de la Patria had been, filled to capacity by residents of Bayamo and many other surrounding towns, who took the opportunity to render tribute to their leader.

Songs well known to the Cubans, such as “La Lupe,” written by the late Cuban revolutionary leader Juan Almeida, and “La Era,” by Silvio Rodriguez, deeply moved the huge crowd that filled the plaza.

As the artistic presentation came to an end, the huge crowd walked with the artists to the Ñico Lopez Park and Museum and accompanied the ashes of Fidel Castro until early this Saturday, when the caravan towards Santiago de Cuba was resumed.