Raúl Castro and Díaz-Canel lead May Day parade in Cuba

Army General Raul Castro led this Sunday, together with President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the massive parade in Havana on May 1, International Workers' Day.

In Havana and provincial capitals throughout Cuba, large marches began at 07:00 local time with a call for peace and solidarity and as a confirmation of the support of the majority of Cubans to socialism and a demonstration of unity in the face of U.S. hostility with its blockade policy and media campaigns.

Among other slogans, one of the prevailing ones was "Cuba lives and works," an expression of the determination of the people and government of the island to move forward despite all the difficulties.

The celebration was especially dedicated to the health workers and scientists for their extraordinary work in confronting the Covid-19 pandemic. The march through the Plaza de la Revolución began with a block of 50 thousand representatives of these sectors.

It was followed by tens of thousands of employees from state enterprises and the emerging cooperative and private sectors and closed with a large contingent of young people from all levels of education.

Also joining the demonstration were representatives of more than 200 trade unions, social and student organizations, political parties, leftist movements, and religious groups from 60 countries, participating in Havana in an International Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba convened by the CTC.

This day, the call made to the population by the national authorities and the trade unions took on a particular importance after two years without celebrations due to the Covid-19 pandemic and when the country faces significant challenges that may define its future.

Like the rest of the world, Cuba was hit by the disease, which it faced with its limited resources. However, there was no lack of international solidarity, which counteracted the effects of the U.S. blockade, whose government used SARS-Cov-2 as an additional factor to push the government and the island's entire population to the limit.

Now the country is seeking to alleviate the ravages of the international crisis aggravated by the disease and immersed, at the same time, in a profound reordering of the economy, without the policy of pressure from Washington having diminished despite the rejection by the international community of that practice which violates the human rights of an entire people.