People wait for the start of a memorial honoring the late Fidel Castro at Plaza Antonio Maceo in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across the country through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, Castro's remains arrived to Santiago for burial. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
The Associated Press
SANTIAGO, Cuba (AP) - After a week of national mourning that reached near-religious peaks of adulation, Cuban President Raul Castro announced Saturday that his government would prohibit the naming of streets and monuments after his brother Fidel and bar the construction of statues of him in keeping with the former leader's desire to avoid a cult of personality.
The younger Castro told a massive crowd gathered to pay homage to Fidel Castro in the eastern city of Santiago that the country's National Assembly would vote in its next session on a law fulfilling the wishes of his brother, who died last week at 90 but remains a revolutionary icon.
"The leader of the revolution rejected any manifestation of a cult of personality and was consistent in that through the last hours of his life, insisting that, once dead, his name and likeness would never be used on institutions, streets, parks or other public sites, and that busts, statutes or other forms of tribute would never be erected," Raul Castro said.
The National Assembly generally holds a meeting in December and under Cuba's single-party system, parliament unanimously or near-unanimously approves every government proposal.
Fidel Castro, who stepped down in 2006 after falling ill, kept his name off public sites during his near half-century in power because he said he wanted to avoid the development of a personality cult. In contrast, the images of his fellow revolutionary fighters Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto "Che" Guevara became common across Cuba in the decades since their deaths.
Mourning for Castro has been fervent and intense across the country since his death, particularly in rural eastern Cuba, where huge crowds have been shouting Castro's name and lining the roads to salute the funeral procession carrying his ashes.
"All of us would like to put Fidel's name on everything but in the end, Fidel is all of Cuba," said Juan Antonio Gonzalez, a 70-year-old retired economist. "It was a decision of Fidel's, not Raul's, and I think he has to be respected."
Raul Castro, 85, spoke at the end of a second massive rally in honor of Fidel as Cuba neared the end of a nine-day period of public mourning. Castro's ashes arrived Saturday afternoon in Santiago, ending a four-day journey across Cuba that began after a massive rally in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution.
Thousands of people welcomed the leader's remains to shouts of "Fidel! I am Fidel!" Hundreds of thousands more gathered in Santiago's Revolution Plaza Saturday night, cheering speeches by the heads of state-run groups of small farmers, women, revolutionary veterans and neighborhood watch committee members.
The event was attended by Bolivian President Evo Morales, Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega and Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, along with former Brazilian presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva.
Castro's ashes will be interred Sunday morning in Santiago's Santa Ifigenia cemetery, ending the official mourning period.
_____ Weissenstein contributed from Havana.
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Andrea Rodriguez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARodriguezAP
Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein
A neon light image of Fidel Castro covers a building near Antonio Maceo plaza where people gather as Castro's ashes arrive to Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across the country through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, Castro's remains arrived to Santiago where they will be buried the following day. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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A woman holds a picture of Fidel Castro before a rally honoring Cuba's leader before his burial Sunday at the Plaza Antonio Maceo in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a a four-day journey across the island, retracing the path of his triumphant march into Havana nearly six decades ago a small, Cuban-flag covered cedar coffin containing the remains of the 90-year-old leader arrived in Santiago to be buried Sunday. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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Soldiers push the jeep and trailer carrying the ashes of the late Fidel Castro after the jeep briefly stopped working during Castro's funeral procession near Moncada Fort in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Castro's ashes will be interred Sunday in Santiago, ending a nine-day period of mourning that saw Cuba fall silent as thousands paid tribute to photographs of Castro and sign oaths of loyalty to his socialist, single-party system. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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People stand on a building to get a better view of the funeral procession carrying the ashes of Fidel Castro, the last stage of the convoy arriving to Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across Cuba, Castro's ashes arrived to their final resting place in the eastern city of Santiago. (Fernando Medina/Cubahora via AP)
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People holds up Cuban flags before a mass rally honoring Fidel Castro at the Antonio Maceo plaza in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Castro's ashes arrived in Santiago to be buried after a four-day journey across Cuba from Havana. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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Residents watch the funeral procession carrying the ashes of Fidel Castro on the last stage of the convoy arriving to Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across Cuba, the late leader's ashes arrived to their final resting place. (Fernando Medina/Cubahora via AP)
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Backdropped by a picture of his brother, Cuba's President Raul Castro walks on the stage during a rally honoring the late Fidel Castro at Antonio Maceo plaza in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across the country through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, Fidel Castro's remains arrived to Santiago where they will be interred. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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A girl holds a Cuban flag during a rally honoring late Fidel Castro at Antonio Maceo plaza, the day his ashes arrived to Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. After a four-day journey across the country through small towns and cities where his rebel army fought its way to power nearly 60 years ago, Castro's remains arrived to Santiago for burial. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
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People waits for the beginning of a rally honoring Cuba's leader Fidel Castro before his burial Sunday at the Plaza Antonio Maceo in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. The sign reads in Spanish 'Fidel we will never let you down. I am Fidel.'(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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Young Cubans chant slogans as they wait for the beginning of a rally honoring Cuba's leader Fidel Castro, before his burial Sunday, at the Plaza Antonio Maceo in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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Soldiers push the jeep and trailer carrying the ashes of the late Fidel Castro after the jeep briefly stopped working during Castro's funeral procession near Moncada Fort in Santiago, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Castro's ashes will be interred Sunday in Santiago, ending a nine-day period of mourning that saw Cuba fall silent as thousands paid tribute to photographs of Castro and sign oaths of loyalty to his socialist, single-party system. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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