HAVANA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- More than a million people have visited Fidel Castro's mausoleum in eastern Cuba since it opened in December 2016, including several world leaders and international celebrities, state daily Granma said on Thursday.
Former Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa was among the 1,008,392 people who as of Monday had paid their respects to the legendary revolutionary and statesman buried at the Santa Iphigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba city.
Castro was an inspiration for Latin American and global movements against oppression and inequality, said Correa.
"He set an example not just for revolutionary struggle in the Americas, but the whole world," Correa said.
As a testament to Castro's worldwide fame, some 170,104 visitors came from foreign countries, with Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the United States heading the list.
Many visitors laid flowers at the simple yet imposing tomb, designed in the shape of a giant boulder that contains Catro's ashes. Others came to thank the longtime Cuban leader for his lasting legacy and "shed some tears," said Granma.
"There are also offerings of personal letters, poems, flags, (even) a fistful of soil from overseas and in the case of the locals, a pledge to honor him with concrete actions," said the daily.
Castro's tomb is situated in the center of the cemetery, alongside the tombs of national hero Jose Marti, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, considered as the "Father of the Homeland," and other figures from Cuba's wars of independence.
