Castro to Speak at Huge May Day Rally

By ALEXANDRA OLSON The Associated Press

HAVANA - Hundreds of thousands of Cubans poured into the country's main plaza Thursday for a May Day celebration that aimed to defend the island's socialist system against criticism from abroad.

"We workers are gathered here to tell the American empire that we are not afraid, in spite of their lies," Jose Rego, a 66-year-old gardener in a straw hat, said shortly before the ceremony began at Havana's Plaza of the Revolution.

Waving a poster of a young Fidel Castro in one hand and a red, white and blue Cuban flag in the other, Rego declared: "The Cuban people know how to defend the just cause of the working class."

Cheers erupted as Castro, wearing his typical olive green uniform and cap, arrived and took his place alongside other communist leaders. The Cuban president was to speak later Thursday.

"Long live May Day! Long live socialism! Long live Fidel!" declared Pedro Ross, secretary-general of the Cuban Workers Confederation, as the event began.

Organizers said 1 million people were expected at the Havana rally, including more than 900 union leaders from around the world - 160 of them from the United States. Smaller gatherings were being held in other Cuban cities.

The demonstrations came as Cuba faces stern criticism for sending 75 dissidents to prison on charges of collaborating with U.S. diplomats to destabilize the socialist regime. It was the island's harshest crackdown on opponents in decades, drawing condemnation even from leftist intellectuals traditionally sympathetic to Cuba.

Governments and human rights groups around the world also condemned the April 11 execution of three men who hijacked a ferry and tried to commandeer it to the United States. No one was hurt in the hijacking.

Giant posters, radio appeals and newspaper articles in recent days have urged Cubans to attend the rally and defy recent criticism of the island's human rights record.

Gathered under cloudy skies, some workers carried plastic bags to protect themselves against rain. One group hoisted an effigy of President Bush, fashioned of cardboard and plastic bags and bearing the message, "Bush: Don't mess with Cuba."

A scattering of Cuban flags waved above the crowd, along with flags of nations from around the region, including Brazil, Venezuela, Canada and Uruguay.

During its annual six-week session that ended Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Commission passed a resolution urging Cuba to accept a visit from an international rights inspector, a request the country rejected.

But Cuba has claimed two recent diplomatic victories. The United Nations rights watchdog failed to pass an amendment condemning Cuba's crackdown, and the island was re-elected to the 53-member panel for another three-year term.