Grieving Cubans have begun paying their respects at the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago after Fidel Castro's ashes were encased in a large granite boulder. Music stopped, entertainment halted... the Cuban people are heading into a revolutionary future without Fidel for the first time.
Whether during the day or at night, music has always been the heartbeat of the Cuban people. But the music stopped the night Fidel Castro died - a temporary mandate, as this island nation began to mourn.
"My son came and told me, "mama el commandante died." Just then I collapsed crying because I was so much affected by the news that I couldn't believe it and I told him "it cannot be, he will never die- he's eternal," said Mabettis Suarez Cabrera, Cuban Mourner.
Mabettis Suarez Cabrera makes a living performing traditional Cuban music around the town of Santiago. This week, - she didn't sing
Music and alcohol sales were halted, as the nation observed nine days of mourning.
Instead, Mabettis has turned her creative talents toward writing poems to honor the man called El Comandante.
Castro launched his revolution from the historic city of Santiago de Cuba. In the late 1950's, he garnered international fame - as he led his rebels into power.
It is here, in Santiago-where Castro will be laid to rest next to Cuban hero Jose Marti, - who fought for the country's independence from Spain in the late 1800's.
"I'm proud that he's next to Jose Marti. He deserves to be next to Marti and next to all the combatants- all his comrades from Moncada, from the Sierra, in any battle that any other comandante fell, any leader of the revolution," Cabrera said.
Cubans have been glued to the TV this week, as state television broadcast Castro coverage around the clock.
The private funeral was supposed to be carried live -but that didn't happen - as many waited for the first images of Castro being laid to rest.
"I have no words to describe the sentiments that are moving me, that are invading my body, my heart, my soul, because of Fidel's death and I do not think I will have enough courage to see the moment when they bury him because I would never want to see his ashes reach a cemetery," Cabrera said.
Vowing never to forget Castro's vision, Mabettis dedicated herself to hand-making arm bands embroidered with the date July 26 -recognizing the beginning of the revolution.
"I think that this is one of the best tributes I can render to my comandante and I intend to wear it for a month and I wish I could wear it all my life- but at least I will wear it for one month whenever I go out in the streets so people should know that here there is a Cuban, that here there is a revolutionary, that here there is a daughter- a fruit of the revolution," she said.
Mabettis is eager to reintroduce music into her life -the country's heartbeat goes on but for the first time in nearly 60 years facing a future without Fidel.
"I think we will go to work with more strength and will make the country march forwards in all the fields- culture, sports, economy... and I think we will do it much, much better," she said.
