Wednesday night in Little Havana felt was filled with jubilation to celebrate the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Now with Castro gone, that jubilation also comes with a renewed purpose.
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Wednesday’s unity rally on Calle Ocho near the Bay of Pigs memorial could be summed up in a simple phrase - ‘Viva Cuba Libre’ or ‘Long Live Free Cuba.’
Frank Garcia says his father died fighting for that freedom in the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961—a failed effort, backed by the CIA, to oust Fidel’s communist government.
Standing in the shadow of the memorial dedicated to that mission, he tells me he wants his dad's fight to continue.
“It is about freedom,” Garcia says. “We want to see a free Cuba.”
The question tonight - how to get there?
Organizers at today's rally say it will take several steps - including rolling back what they call 'unilateral concessions' on trade and travel that the Obama administration made towards Cuba in opening relations.
“Obama maybe thought it would help, by nothing has changed,” says
Maria-Louisa Redero hopes the incoming president, Donald Trump, can make a difference.
“He has no favors to pay to anybody, and we have hopes that he's going to make Cubans free,” she says.
Alberto Grau-Sierra, who tells us he was Castro's political prisoner for 25 years, says those efforts must go beyond just the U.S..
“All the countries around the world have to get together with the Cuban people so they can get the democracy they deserve,” he says.
It's a message people at the rally hope resonates from Calle Ocho - and around the globe.