Castro Leads 1 Million Cubans in Anti-U.S. March

June 12, 2002
By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Cubans, led by President Fidel Castro, marched on Havana's waterfront on Wednesday in a show of revolutionary fervor against U.S. pressure for change in the Communist-run island.

Officials said more than 1 million people, mostly wearing red T-shirts and waving Cuban flags, marched by the U.S. mission shouting slogans against the administration of President Bush.

"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 march in Havana and towns across Cuba was the climax of three weeks of rallies led by Castro to reject demands made by Bush that the island's one-party state open up to political change and free elections.

Backed by anti-Castro exiles in Florida, Bush vowed recently to enforce trade sanctions against Cuba until reforms are allowed by the Castro government, in power since 1959.

"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.

THE 'UNTOUCHABLE' REVOLUTION

Flanked by Cabinet ministers, Castro, 75, led the 1 mile 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, amnesty for political prisoners and electoral reform.

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.

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