In an interview with NBC Miami, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen called it "an opportunity to begin a new chapter of freedom and democracy," noting that people in Cuba would not be allowed to openly show such emotion.
Cars lined the streets in nearby Hialeah, Florida, as people celebrated while waving Cuban flags, honking horns, and banging pots and pans.
Large groups of people raised champagne glasses to toast Castro's passing Others shouted chants of "libertad" - Spanish for "freedom."