Nelson Mandela Memorial: A Giant History Is Laid To Rest.

Thousands of mourners huddled together in the pouring rain to pay respects to their beloved Madiba. However around a third of the 95,000-seater stadium was left empty with people apparently deterred by the inclement weather. Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president of the ruling ANC party who opened the proceedings, said:
'In our tradition, when it rains when you are buried, your gods are welcoming you to heaven.' Mr Obama was greeted with prolonged applause by the crowd - in stark contrast to South African president Jacob Zuma, who was loudly booed whenever he appeared on the stadium's big screen.

When Mr Zuma walked up to the podium to deliver the keynote speech at the ceremony, he was met with a huge chorus of boos, forcing organizers to bring in a choir to drown out the noise of the crowd and save the president's blushes. Obama described Mr Mandela as the 'last great liberator of the 20th century' and compared him to Ghandi and Martin Luther King in a powerful address to the crowds. Mr Obama opened his speech by thanking Mandela's family, then continued:
 'To the people of South Africa - people of every race and walk of life - the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. 'Your dignity and hope found expression in his life, and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy.
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'Mandela taught us the power of action, but also ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those you agree with, but those who you don't.'
Referring to the anti-apartheid icon's friendship with his own prison warders, the President said: 'It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the gaoler as well.'

He also spoke out against the dictators from countries such as Zimbabwe and China who pay lip service to Mandela's legacy while repressing their own people, saying: 'There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality.

'There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. And there are too many of us who stand on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard.'

Barack Obama paid an emotional tribute to his personal hero Mandela, calling the South African leader a 'giant of history'.

He said: 'He changed views but he also changed hearts. For the people of South Africa, for the people he inspired around the globe, his passing is rightly a time of mourning and a time to celebrate his life.

The U.S. and Cuba have recently taken small steps toward rapprochement, raising hopes the two nations could be on the verge of a breakthrough in relations. But skeptics caution that the two countries have shown signs of a thaw in the past, only to fall back into old recriminations.

Obama also shook hands with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who has clashed with the U.S. President over alleged National Security Agency spying.