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Posted on 06/12/2002 2:19:43 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
HAVANA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Cubans led by President Fidel Castro marched along Havana's waterfront on Wednesday in a show of revolutionary fervor against U.S. pressure for political change in the communist-run island.
Similar anti-American marches were held in 800 towns and villages across Cuba in one of the largest mass demonstrations since Castro's 1959 revolution.
Officials said more than 1 million people, most of them wearing red T-shirts and waving Cuban flags, marched by the American mission shouting slogans against the United States and in defense of Cuba's socialist state.
The march lasted more than four hours.
"Long live socialism, down with the lies," the crowd shouted at the bunker-like building, which is surrounded by iron railings and is the U.S. presence in Cuba despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations for four decades.
Factories and schools shut down, bringing Cuba's tattered economy to a halt. Even the Central Bank closed for the day.
The marches were the climax of three weeks of rallies led by Castro to reject demands made by President Bush that the island's one-party state open up to elections and a free market.
Backed by anti-Castro exiles in Florida, Bush vowed recently to maintain trade sanctions against Havana until it permit reforms, despite mounting pressure from big business to lift the embargo and allow Americans to travel freely to Cuba.
"We are here to tell Bush to stop interfering in Cuba. Leave us alone," said Juan Antonio Gonzalez, an employee in Cuba's dollar-earning tourism industry.
"This is a delicate moment for Cuba. Bush is crazy and he could attack us like he has done elsewhere," said Teresita Arafet, a worker who cycled 5 miles to the waterfront from her suburb of La Vibora with her husband.
"An immense majority of Cubans support Fidel and the revolution," she said, adding: "It's voluntary. We are here of our own will."
It was not clear how much choice Cubans had to stay away from the marches. Residents who have lived through dire economic hardships since the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago lose benefits if they shun official events by the ruling Communist Party.
Cubans were driven at dawn to the marches in buses and open trucks in a massive operation.
THE 'UNTOUCHABLE' REVOLUTION
Flanked by Cabinet ministers and bodyguards, Castro, 75, led the 1 mile (1.6 km) march in his trademark olive green military fatigues, wearing black sneakers instead of boots.
His sons Fidel, Alejandro and Antonio joined the march, and his brother Raul Castro, No. 2 in the political hierarchy and minister in charge of the army, marched at the head of a block of uniformed soldiers.
"March to show that this revolution is untouchable," a woman announcer told the crowd.
The U.S. government has openly backed a campaign by Cuba's small and fragmented dissident movement that has gathered more than 11,000 signatures to petition for a popular vote on civil liberties under a provision in the country's constitution.
Few Cubans had heard of the dissidents' Varela Project until former U.S. President Jimmy Carter praised it during a goodwill visit last month. The plan seeks a referendum on civil liberties such as freedom of expression and assembly, the right to own a business and an amnesty for political prisoners, as well as electoral reform.
The Castro government says the Varela Project is financed by the United States to destroy the egalitarian society where all Cubans have free access to medical care and education.
Under Cuba's constitution, the National Assembly should debate the petition. The legislative body meets twice a year for a few days and is next scheduled to sit in July.
But Cuban dissidents said on Tuesday that the communist government was moving to block the campaign by proposing constitutional amendments that would rule out any change that threatens the socialist workers state. Castro called the nationwide marches to back the amendments.
"This is a referendum right here on the street," said marcher Enriqueta Rodriguez, a Havana high school teacher.
If a majority supports him, why doesn't he have an election to prove his popularity. If he were to win by an immense majority, it would be one of the greatest humiliations to the U.S. and all of its Presidents over the last forty years could suffer.
I have been to Cuba, and the people I spoke with told me he has the support of less than five percent of the population and that five percent is made up of the military and Communist party members who benefit from his power. When he dies the truth will come out just as it has in other countries ruled by Communists.
Bump!!
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