Funeral held for Cuban revolutionary Huber Matos

Funeral held for Cuban revolutionary Huber Matos
Author: Christina Vazquez, Reporter, cvazquez@wplg.com
Published On: Mar 03 2014 12:06:47 AM EST

MIAMI -
Saturday's viewing for Huber Matos, Cuban revolutionary turned Fidel
Castro foe, was held Sunday at the Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Funeral
Home in Miami. He was 95 years old when he died.

In attendance were several former Cuban political prisoners, many of
whom spent time behind bars with Matos.

"About 85 percent of the people in there were political prisoners in
Cuba," said Eugenio Zaldivar, with the group gathered inside the funeral
home.

Matos was one of Fidel Castro's top commanders but grew disillusioned
when he realized communism would supplant democracy. He resigned his
post and served 20 years in prison.

"Prison was really nasty and cruel," said Zaldivar, who spent 13 years
in a Cuban prison, "Then he came to this country and he kept on fighting."

The former political prisoners worry about whether the younger
generation will embrace their cause with as much passion.

"Somehow, they haven't received our legacy," said Carlos Ponce.

"The people behind us, are they going to sacrifice what we did?" asked
Zaldivar.

Those in attendance also spent much of the night reflecting about
whether, like Matos, they too won't live to see a free Cuba.

"We all dream to go back to Cuba, at least 10 minutes, you know, to
die," said Ponce, "We don't know if we have that."

"They wanted him to see the end of the communist dictatorship, the end
of the Castro regime and I understand that, but the important thing is
not that he sees it or that anybody sees it. The important thing is that
it happens," said Matos' son, Rogelio.

Rogelio Matos said his father requested to be buried in Costa Rica. That
is the country, he said, that secured him a visa to escape Cuba. His
father also asked the family to move his remains to Cuba once democracy
comes to the island.

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