------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the May 17, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- MAY DAY IN CUBA: PROUD TO BE WORKERS & INTERNATIONALISTS By Teresa Gutierrez Havana, Cuba The ratification of the Free Trade Area of the Americas as part of U.S. imperialist expansion is ushering in a revival of revolutionary struggle around the world and in the U.S. This revival can be clearly seen in socialist Cuba. On May 1 Cuban President Fidel Castro led the first mass protest in Latin America and the Caribbean against the FTAA. Heading a demonstration of over 600,000 Cubans and some foreign representatives, the people of Cuba sent to Washington and leaders under its thumb a resounding message of defiance. The main message was that Cuba would never surrender. Another was a call to the Latin American and Caribbean masses to counter the FTAA with a program developed by President Castro and best summarized by the slogan: Annexation, no! Plebiscite, yes! The May Day demonstration marched for two miles along the Malecon--Havana's beautiful seaside drive--and ended at the U.S. Interests Section. There, Cubans and their guests chanted for hours and raised their fists proudly in the air as staff of the Interests Section looked on. A North American visitor who was among the Cubans led a prolonged chant of "Cuba si, Yankee no!" Several Cubans then presented their flags to him in a moment he said he would never forget. Every sector of Cuban society march ed. Teachers, students, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, hotel workers, sugar cane cutters--all had made their way to the Plaza of the Revolution where the march gathered. Transporting over half a million people to one location at one time is quite a feat. Workers made the sacrifice of getting up at the crack of dawn to meet at their work site or at their local Committee in Defense of the Revolution. The demonstration could have reached one million but for the shortages resulting from the criminal U.S. blockade and the fact that many workers had to keep production and services going. All along the march, loudspeakers were set up so everyone could hear the speeches given at the beginning of the rally. Water was provided throughout the route and medical workers were easily accessible. Spontaneous dancing and chanting broke out constantly. Cubans saluted and thanked the North Americans on the march. The rally confirmed the revolutionary fervor that has been sweeping socialist Cuba, especially since the attempt by right-wing Cubans in the U.S. to kidnap young Eli�n Gonzalez. The people have never been more united or politically clear. The last year has seen an upsurge of political activity as well as profound preparation on every major national and world topic. The theme woven throughout May Day was the struggle against the FTAA. In a rally that preceded the march, President Castro spoke to the Cuban people and the foreign representatives for almost an hour. Several guests, including representatives from Argentina, Canada and Uruguay, joined the president. The air tingled with emotion as 7-year-old Kenia Ota�o confidently addressed the participants. "I have come from Ci�naga de Zapata," she said, "and the great emotion I feel does not fit in my little heart. A few days ago ... I expressed my satisfaction of being a liberated child who could count on basic human rights: health care, education and culture. "Today in this beautiful plaza I reaffirm my great joy at being a pioneer of my times." Ci�naga de Zapata had been one of the poorest areas of Cuba before the revolution--comparable to rural Mississippi. The personal development of this child spoke volumes about conditions for youths in socialist Cuba compared with capitalist societies. AN ALARM BELL FOR LATIN AMERICA As the march prepared to step off, President Castro predicted that "the so-called Free Trade Area of the Americas, under the terms, the timetable, the strategy, objectives and procedures imposed by the United States, will inexorably lead to Latin America's annexation to the United States. "This kind of association," he continued, "imposes such inequality that it is tantamount to nothing less than the total absorption of the economies of the Latin American and Caribbean countries by that of the United States. "All of the banks, insurance companies, telecommunications, shipping services and airlines will be U.S.-owned. All business will pass into the hands of U.S. companies, from the big retail store chains to pizza outlets and McDonald's. "The minute [this] happens, it will no longer be possible to speak of independence, and annexation will begin to be a reality. And this is absolutely not an overstatement. "The worst, saddest, most shameless and hypocritical thing of all is that they intend to take this monstrous step without consulting their peoples. "We must prevent annexation, and resolutely demand, from this moment forward, that no government be allowed to sell out a nation behind its people's back. There can be no annexation without a plebiscite. "Today, we will stage the first protest. Within a few minutes, we will set out with hundreds of thousands of Cubans on a Latin American protest march on the United States Interests Section, shouting this slogan: Annexation no, plebiscite yes! Let it ring out loud and clear, and be heard all the way up in Washington!" And it was. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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