After hearing the news of Fidel Castro's death on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted a succinct message about the former Cuban dictator's passing.
Two hours after Trump's social media message, his presidential transition team issued a longer statement.
"Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades," Trump said in the statement. "Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.
"While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve.
"Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty. I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign ... with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba."
"The next president can reverse them, and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands," Trump said at a rally in Miami.
Cuban-American senator and former presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Sunday that "so far, (Trump) has said all the right things" about how he will handle Cuban-American relations and that he intends to "play an active role in making suggestions and guidance" regarding the relationship between the two countries.
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