There was no sign of a convalescing Fidel Castro as hundreds of
thousands of Cubans marched through Revolution Plaza yesterday to
celebrate May Day, an event the island's "maximum leader" had
attended for decades without fail.
In a speech just before the huge annual parade began, Salvador
Valdes, secretary-general of Cuba's central workers union, hinted
it was highly unlikely the 80-year-old Castro would make his first
public appearance since stepping down from power nine months
ago.
"A speedy recovery and lots of health, dear Fidel," said Valdes,
adding "Viva Fidel!" as the crowd shouted back "Viva!"
The place where Castro would have watched the festivities - a
raised platform under a towering statue of Cuban colonial
independence hero Jose Marti staring out over the plaza - was
instead occupied by his brother Raul.
The acting president and defense minister, five years younger
than his more-famous sibling, stood stiffly and smiled,
occasionally waving as marchers streamed past, waving plastic Cuban
flags, portraits of Fidel Castro and banners denouncing US
"imperialism."
Special guests surrounded the base of the platform, including a
Cuba solidarity group from the New York City area and a contingent
of Brazilian union members.
In the hours before the march began, Fidel Castro issued the
latest in a series of new communiques he has been writing in recent
weeks - but gave no hint he would show up in public.
Castro called for a revolution in energy production in his
latest message and reiterated his opposition to US plans to use
food crops to produce ethanol for cars, predicting that American
fuel needs would require the labor of the world's impoverished
sugar cane workers.
"Tomorrow the 1st of May is a good day to carry these
reflections to the workers and all of the poor people of the
world," Fidel Castro wrote in the statement dated Monday
evening.
On Sunday, one of Castro's main allies, Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez, said the Cuban leader is once again "in charge" but
declined to comment on whether his friend would show for May
Day.
Many marchers wore red or white T-shirts with a May 1 slogan
reading "More solidarity, unity and strength than ever."
"There's hope in Latin America for a shift to the left," said
Fredy Franco, a labor activist who was visiting from Nicaragua.
"That's why we are here, supporting Cuba's socialist project."
Smaller marches were held simultaneously in cities around the
island, with the government expecting several million people to
participate.
Those gathered protested the recent decision to free on bond
militant Luis Posada Carriles, pending his trial on US immigration
charges. Havana accuses the Cuban-born Posada of orchestrating a
1976 airliner bombing that killed 73 people - a charge he
denies.
Demonstrators held signs and banners declaring "Prison for the
Executioner" in reference to Posada, accusing the administration of
US President George W. Bush of a double standard on terrorism.
(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2007)