News24. 01/05/2001 08:23 -
(SA)
Havana - Fidel Castro's government promised Cuba's young workers a
starring role for May Day festivities as it called out hundreds of thousands of
labourers for a militant march past the US government's mission in Havana.
"Hundreds of thousands of compatriots from two Havana provinces will
represent our embattled people," the Communist Party daily Granma said on
Monday. "In this concentration of the people, the voice of workers'
representatives from the youngest and most promising generation of Cubans will
be heard."
Cuba's government has emphasised the role of youth in the island's
leadership for more than a year, working to engage the young people it sees as
the key to the survival of Cuban communism.
Young protagonists
Since Havana's battle over Cuban castaway Elian Gonzalez began back in
December 1999, young people ranging from primary school children to university
students have been cast as the protagonists in hundreds of marches, rallies,
speeches and state television programmes.
With Elian's return to Cuba last June, the massive political gatherings have
continued - a continual "Battle of Ideas" aimed at rallying citizens,
young ones in particular, behind Castro's government.
Almost a full year after Elian, now 7, returned to the island with his
father following a protracted custody battle with the child's relatives in
Miami, a massive gathering is held in a different province every Saturday to
protest US policies toward Cuba.
The march on Tuesday morning also comes amid increasingly strident political
language and symbols by the communist government.
In mid-April, when Castro reaffirmed his commitment to socialism 40 years
ago, he thrust an automatic rifle high into the air.
"Workers and farmers, humble men and women of the fatherland: Do you
swear to defend this revolution to the last drop of blood?" Castro asked
tens of thousands of pro-government militants - repeating the speech he gave on
the same street corner on April 16, 1961, the day before the Bay of Pigs
invasion began.
"We swear!" the crowd responded, many also thrusting old wooden
and metal Kalashnikov or FAL rifles into the air. The vast majority in the crowd
that day were dressed in the uniforms of Cuban soldiers and militiamen.
Ready for foreign attack
The more than 1600 labour leaders from across the island attending the Cuban
Workers Congress in Havana in the days before Tuesday's May Day festivities also
dressed in the olive green uniforms of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Communist labour leader Pedro Ross told the congress at its Sunday morning
inauguration that the uniforms were worn to show their readiness in the event of
a foreign military attack.
Marchers were called on Tuesday to protest the recent United Nations
condemnation of Cuba for its rights record.
The Czech Republic's proposal to condemn Cuba, strongly supported by the
United States, was approved by the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva on April
18. Another 10 nations abstained.
Cuba maintains that it respects human rights by ensuring its citizens are
cared for through free health care and other social services.
Havana's detractors charge that the communist government fails to respect
civil and political liberties such as freedom of expression and assembly. -
Sapa-AP | 