ksazma posted:Gilly, my question was not about him being cremated but rather it is uncommon to have the funeral after the cremation.
On the same day Fidel's corpse was cremated there was a big funeral rally in Havana at the Square of the Revolution. Among the foreign guests were Moses Nagamootoo and Gail Teixeira from Guyana. Because Fidel was undoubtedly a larger-than-life figure, a final farewell rally was held in Santiago de Cuba on the eve of his entombment. The foreign press described that event as a "funeral" but the Cubans themselves called it a farewell rally.
Now, leaving Fidel aside, I know a few cases of Guyanese who died in Canada, were cremated in Canada, whose ashes were transported to Guyana where a funeral service was organized before the ashes were dumped in the river/ocean.