Fidel Castro died on Friday, at the age of 90 years old, as announced by his brother, incumbent Cuban President Raul Castro, on state television earlier in the day.
"He was a personification of the Cuban revolution both in hopes it had awaken and in further disappointment. He was a figure of the Cold War era, the epoch, which led to the fall of the Soviet Union. He had given the Cubans an opportunity to be proud of freedom from foreign rule… I am sending my condolences to Raul Castro, his family and to the Cuban nation," Hollande was quoted in the statement as saying.
The president noted that France, which is condemning violations of human rights in Cuba, has always been against the embargo imposed by the United States and welcomed the restoration of US relations with Cuba.
Fidel remained the first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party until April 19, 2011, when he officially announced his resignation from the post.
In December 2014, President Barack Obama announced that the United States would begin to normalize relations with Cuba after more than 50 years of non-engagement and hostilities. While the two countries reopened embassies in their respective capitals in July 2015, the congressionally-mandated US trade embargo continues to remain in effect.
