Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro tweets, referring to the yacht on which Fidel and Raul Castro sailed to Cuba to launch their revolution:

"Sixty years after the Granma sailed from Mexico, Fidel sails towards the immortality of all those who fight their whole lives…Onwards to victory, always!"

His predecessor, Hugo Chavez was a close friend of Fidel Castro.

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US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who represents the 27th district of Florida, where many Cuban exiles live, tweets:

The Daily Telegraph

In the Telegraph, James Kirkup, externalasks how people can mourn the death of Fidel Castro, external taking into account his human rights record. 

"I know the health service is very good. But it's good for the people who aren't in jail," he says. 

And he looks at Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch's assessment of the state of the country.

The Guardian

Writing in the Guardian, David Tang recalls, external his meetings with Castro in Cuba.

His stature was intimidating and he held forth on all subjects, requiring multiple interpreters in a single sitting, he writes.

And he describes how 'holding the plane' for the late arrival of their party was no problem for the former president.

Image source, AFP

Fidel Castro embodied Cuba's revolution in both its "hopes" and its later "disappointments", French President Francois Hollande said in a statement.

"An actor of the Cold War... he represented, for Cubans, pride in rejecting external domination," he added.

Mr Hollande met both Fidel and Raul Castro on a visit to Cuba in 2015, becoming the first French president to visit since 1898.

He hosted Raul Castro on a state visit to Paris earlier this year.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone has saluted Fidel Castro as a "giant of the 20th Century". 

In an interview with Mishal Husain, the veteran left winger defended Castro against criticism of his human rights record.  

Orlando Guiterrez, founder of the Cuban Democratic Directorate in Miami, gives voice to the strong opposition to Castro felt among many Cuban exiles:

"I regret that this criminal never faced a tribunal for all the crimes he committed against his own people.

"This is a man who leaves a legacy of intolerance, of setting up a family-run dictatorship which had no tolerance for anyone who thought differently, who set up a vicious totalitarian regime where people were persecuted for the most slight deviation from official ideology."

Image source, Reuters

In South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Fidel Castro dedicated his life to the right of Cuba to have sovereignty and self-determination. 

And he worked for the freedom of other oppressed people around the world, he added.

"President Castro identified with our struggle against apartheid..." he said.

Castro was an ally and friend of Nelson Mandela, after working with the late South African President in his struggle against apartheid. 

The Nelson Mandela Foundation sent its "deepest condolences to the people and government of Cuba, external".

Former ally and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev paid tribute, saying:

"Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade, when there was colossal pressure on him and he still took his country out of this blockade to a path of independent development."  

“I formed a very good opinion of him.

"We became firm friends and remained friends until the end... 

"In the 20th century, Fidel Castro did everything to destroy the colonial system, to establish relations of cooperation… 

"I am really sad that Fidel’s time is over. He will remain in our memory as an outstanding politician, an outstanding man and our friend.”    

Image source, Reuters

Former Pakistan presidential election candidate and ex-cricketer Imran Khan tweets:

The BBC's Will Grant in Havana says reaction among Cubans, no what their political views are, will overwhelmingly be quiet, dignified reflection on Fidel Castro's legacy.

"If you're talking to Cubans of a certain generation, they will probably answer with a tear in their eye - and I've seen this already. For others it might be borderline indifference, while others might privately say his time was over a long time ago."

"There will certainly be no outward show of celebration like in Miami - it wouldn't happen here and it wouldn't be tolerated if anybody tried it."

Image source, Reuters

The Prime Minister of India tweets:

World leaders have begun to pay tribute: 

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted, external: "Fidel Castro was a friend of Mexico, promoter of a bilateral relationship based on respect, dialogue and solidarity." 

In El Salvador, President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, external said: "With deep sorrow we received news of the death of my dear friend and eternal companion, Commander Fidel Castro Ruz." 

Residents of the Cuban capital Havana were enjoying a Friday night when the news of Fidel Castro's death was broadcast. 

"It's a normal life process (but) it's news that no one is ever ready to receive. Even less so, news of the Commander's death," said this woman.

Image source, Reuters

"Well, I feel a bit shaken," another resident told Reuters. "He was a public figure that everybody loved and respected." 

Fidel Castro is to be cremated on Saturday, within hours of the announcement of his death.

The BBC's Will Grant in Havana says quick cremations are traditional in Cuba.

"There will be time for reflection on his life and legacy, Cubans will be waking up to the news on Saturday, and they are still reacting to it. 

"There is clearly a plan in place for the mourning period and always has been, but we don't know the entirety of the details just yet."

The Cuban embassy in the US, which resumed relations in July 2015, tweets:

The BBC's James Robbins looks back on Fidel Castro's life.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba for nearly half a century. He survived dozens of assassination attempts as he embraced communism just 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

"This was one of the most important personalities in the 20th Century," says Scott Lucas, professor of American politics at the University of Birmingham.  

"Not only the practical effect of a country in Latin America choosing a new political and economic path, but the symbolism of a small nation really taking on the superpower in the Cold War, the United States, despite attempts to overthrow it with military invasion. 

"Despite the US maintaining an economic embargo for more than 50 years,  despite attempts to assassinate Castro, he and his country survived."

Image source, AP

While there's shock in the Cuban capital, in Miami, home to many anti-Castro Cuban exiles, some people have been letting off fireworks.