Millions turned out to celebrate May Day across Cuba, as they have since the Cuban Revolution triumphed. Above, rally in Holguín May 1. In Havana some 200,000 gathered at the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune square, joined by Army Gen. Raúl Castro, a central leader of the revolution, and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Speaking at the rally, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, general secretary of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC), described the impact of Washington’s unrelenting economic war on Cuba. “In the face of these challenging circumstances we have dedicated the celebration of the world proletariat to the heroism of the working people, who are concentrating their efforts on economic recovery as the main battle,” Guilarte said. Those men and women “show us that human capital is the most secure and solid resource we have today.”
Guilarte also condemned the Israeli government’s offensive in Gaza, carried out with the complicity of the United States.
Due to fuel shortages — primarily a result of Washington’s unrelenting economic war against the Cuban Revolution — Cubans celebrated in cities throughout the country for the second year in a row instead of traveling to Havana. Esteban Lazo, president of the National Assembly of Cuba, addressed the May Day crowd in Santiago de Cuba.
The 4 million working people in Cuba who took part on May Day showed that Cubans “are ready to defend their independence, their sovereignty, their right to live in peace,” Díaz-Canel told a solidarity meeting in Havana the next day. “Without kneeling down, without renouncing their history and their principles.”