
The jeep carrying the urn that contained Fidel Castro’s ashes broke down during its procession to the late leader’s final resting place in Cuba on Saturday.

An Associated Press photo made the rounds on social media over the weekend, with commenters on Twitter saying that it was a metaphor for the Castro regime that has reigned over the Communist island for over five decades.

The photo shows Cuban soldiers pushing the struggling jeep on the road as mourners line the streets near Moncada Fort in Santiago, Cuba.

Cuba bid a final goodbye to Castro on Sunday, bringing nine days of official mourning to a close - as his brother and successor Raul urged the nation not to turn its grief into a cult of personality for the late leader.

This Associated Press photo shows the jeep carrying Fidel Castro's ashes break down during the funeral procession near Moncada Fort in Santiago, Cuba. Soldiers had to push the jeep along as mourners and onlookers lined the streets

Cubans chant 'I am Fidel!' as the motorcade carrying the late ruler's ashes leaves Cespedes Park in Santiago Cuba on Friday

Castro's remains were interred in a private ceremony, away from the public eye, at Santiago De Cuba's Santa Ifigenia cemetery.

Cuban officials at the last minute cancelled plans to broadcast the event live on national and international television and barred foreign media from the service.

The ashes left the Plaza Of The Revolution in the eastern city of Santiago at 6:39 am, more than 20 minutes ahead of their scheduled departure.

Cuba bid a final goodbye to Castro on Sunday, bringing nine days of official mourning to a close. Here the motorcade makes its final approach towards the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in Santiago, Cuba

Thousands of people lined the two-mile route to Santa Ifigenia cemetery, waving Cuban flags and shouting 'Long live Fidel!'

The funeral caravan entered the cemetery at 7:12 am. The Cuban military fired a 21-gun salute and crowds at the entrance to the ceremony sang the national anthem, then filled the road to the cemetery where the ashes were being interred inside, out of the public eye.

Fidel Castro's ashes were interred Sunday morning at Santiago De Cuba's Santa Ifigenia cemetery during a private ceremony. The motorcade carrying the remains of the late Cuban leader is pictured on final journey to the ceremony

Thousands of people lined the short route from the Plaza Antonio Maceo to the cemetery waving Cuban flags and shouting 'I am Fidel!', on the last of nine days of official mourning for the late leader

A woman sobbed after watching Castro's ashes leave the Antonio Maceo plaza for the Santa Ifigenia cemetery on Sunday

A group wore T-shirts spelling out the name of the late leader, but President Raul Castro announced the previous day that Cuba would prohibit naming streets and monuments after his brother, as well as statues of the revolutionary icon

Sunday's events ended more than a week of national mourning for Fidel Castro that reached near-religious peaks of adulation. Thousands of supporters watched as the urn containing Castro's ashes (pictured) traveled to the cemetery

The funeral caravan entered the cemetery at 7:12 am. The Cuban military fired a 21-gun salute and crowds at the entrance to the ceremony sang the national anthem. The ceremony at Santa Ifigenia is pictured from a distance

Workers fixed the plaque with Castro's name on his tomb at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery, where his ashes were buried Sunday

A guard of honor remained in place whilst workers fixed the plaque on Castro's tomb after he was buried near national heroes

Castro's ashes were interred Sunday at Santa Ifigenia cemetery, where he now has a tomb next to other national heroes

A man saluted to Castro's tomb in the cemetery of Santa Ifigenia in Santiago de Cuba after the ceremony Sunday

People lined up to visit Castro's tomb inside the cemetery after the former president's ashes were interred in the morning

The public (pictured watching the funeral cortege) couldn't go into the cemetery for the service, which was held privately

A woman wiped away tears while clutching a Cuban flag after seeing the cortege bring Castro's ashes to their resting place

Martial music could be heard during the ceremony from outside the cemetery, where mourners gathered.

Mourner Ines de la Rosa said she would have liked to watch the ceremony on television, but 'we understand how they as a family also need a bit of privacy'.

Fellow mourner Elena Vinales says she wasn't surprised that the images of the ceremony were not broadcast. 'It seems to be a family moment,' she said.

Cubans were later allowed briefly inside the cemetery where Castro was interred to see his tomb. It is a simple round stone about 15 feet high with an emerald-colored plaque bearing his name.

The tomb stands to the side of a memorial to the rebel soldiers killed in an attack that Castro led on Santiago's Moncada barracks on July 26, 1953, and in front of the mausoleum of Cuban national hero Jose Marti.

Photographs taken by the Cuban national press show President Raul Castro dressed in an olive green uniform as he presides over the interment of his older brother Fidel.

The images were seen by The Associated Press after the Sunday morning ceremony in the eastern city of Santiago.

The photos also show Fidel Castro's wife and sons and presidents Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua.

The decision to hold a private ceremony came the morning after Castro's brother, President Raul Castro, announced that Cuba will prohibit the naming of streets and monuments after the former leader.

The nation will also bar the construction of statues of the former leader and revolutionary icon, in keeping with his desire to avoid a cult of personality.

Sunday's events ended more than a week of national mourning for Fidel Castro that reached near-religious peaks of adulation.

'The leader of the revolution rejected any manifestation of a cult of personality and was consistent in that through the last hours of his life, insisting that, once dead, his name and likeness would never be used on institutions, streets, parks or other public sites, and that busts, statutes or other forms of tribute would never be erected,' Raul told a massive crowd gathered in Santiago.

Cuba's National Assembly, he said, will vote in its next session on the law fulfilling the wishes of his brother, who died last week at 90.

The decision to hold a private ceremony came the morning after Castro's brother Raul announced that Cuba will prohibit the naming of streets and monuments after the former leader. His ashes are pictured Sunday on their way to the cemetery

Mourning for Castro has been fervent and intense across the country since his death, particularly in rural eastern Cuba. Supporters lined up all the way to the Santa Ifigenia cemetery and watched the motorcade go by

The ashes left the Plaza Of The Revolution in the eastern city of Santiago at 6:39 am, more than 20 minutes ahead of their scheduled departure. Castro's remains are pictured on their way to the cemetery

A young woman cried after watching the military jeep towing a trailer with the chest containing Castro's remains drive past

People looked on from a building on which a Cuban flag hung as they waited to watch the funeral procession on Sunday

Soldiers smiled as they stood next to the road after watching the motorcade carrying Castro's remains to the cemetery

Fidel Castro, who stepped down in 2006 after falling ill, kept his name off public sites during his near half-century in power because he said he wanted to avoid the development of a personality cult

Some woke up early to catch a glimpse of the funeral procession and are pictured resting on a sidewalk Sunday morning

Crowds lined up the streets of Santiago De Cuba before the sun even rose on Sunday to watch his ashes go by in a motorcade

People rested on a sidewalk while waiting for the cortege carrying the ashes of the former president to the cemetery

The cortege carrying Castro's ashes went through Santiago De Cuba while crowds line up the streets for a final goodbye

A billboard of former President of Cuba Fidel Castro could be seen as people lined the street ahead of his private funeral on Sunday morning to watch a military jeep tow a trailer with the flag-draped chest containing his remains

Sunday marked the final day of more than a week of remembrance of Castro as thousands gathered to bid him a final farewell. But in the future, Cubans will forbid named tributes to the late leader, to avoid a cult of personality

The crowd waved Cuban flags as the motorcade took Castro's ashes, which have traveled around the country, to the cemetery

A man held a photo of the former Cuban president as he waited to watch the military jeep towing Castro's remains Sunday

Students gathered on Sunday and held Cuban flags as they waited to see the motorcade transporting Castro's remains

Castro's ashes arrived to the cemetery after a tour through the country during which thousands paid tribute to the late leader