Castro move sparks relief, suspicion in Miami

By Jim Loney

MIAMI (Reuters) - In the heartland of opposition to Fidel Castro, some Miami exiles expressed relief at the Cuban leader's resignation on Tuesday but others said they doubted it would end his overwhelming influence on their homeland.

The news that the 81-year-old Castro would not seek a new term as president after nearly a half century in power sparked no immediate celebrations in the streets of Little Havana, the neighborhood west of downtown Miami that is home to many of the area's 650,000-strong exile community.

"It's very good that Fidel resigns. But if Fidel dies, it's better," said physical therapist Juan Acosta, 58, as he stopped for a newspaper on Calle Ocho, Little Havana's main street.

"The system there is almost over. You are seeing the end," said Acosta, who left behind his mother and sister when he left the island in 1980. "The dictatorship is over."

A subtropical U.S. city just 200 miles north of the Caribbean island, Miami has been dominated by Cuban exiles for as long as Castro has held power.

Among the thousands who fled the island after Castro's 1959 revolution were Cubans whose property and businesses were nationalized, survivors of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and many who say they were jailed and tortured or lost loved ones to government executioners.

Miami became a hotbed of exile politics where virulently anti-communist militants plotted against Castro and those who failed to oppose him found themselves targeted by hate campaigns and, occasionally, car bombs or Molotov cocktails.

But as some of Castro's most ardent foes died and younger generations of Cuban-Americans, born in Florida, became the majority, the exile community mellowed.