Fidel Castro dies: Florida leaders hope Cuba knows more freedom

A durable communist dictator at home and a romanticized icon of the left throughout much of the world, Cuba's Fidel Castro was also a towering figure for decades in Florida politics.

Exiles who fled Castro's oppression reshaped the cultural and political landscape in Miami, where they and their descendants have dominated elected offices and established themselves as an influential constituency in statewide politics.

Younger generations of Cuban-Americans are more open to engagement with the communist island, but a hard-line approach remains prevalent in the GOP, with candidates for president and other offices making regular trips to Miami's Little Havana to sip cortaditos and denounce the Castro regime.