Cubans told to work harder at May Day celebration

Cubans told to work harder at May Day celebration
Published on Saturday, May 2, 2009
By Jeff Franks

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Hundreds of thousands of Cubans filed through
Havana's Revolution Square on Friday in a May Day parade where they were
exhorted to work harder to help their country's battered economy.

President Raul Castro, wearing a straw hat and white guayabera shirt,
waved from a podium overlooking the vast plaza as the flag-waving masses
moved past.

He did not speak, leaving that task to Cuban labour leader and
high-ranking Communist Party official Salvador Valdes Mesa.

Fidel Castro, who led Cuba for 49 years before ceding power last year to
his younger brother, was not present, missing his third straight May 1
parade.

Now 82, he has not been seen in public since falling ill in July 2006,
although he regularly writes influential columns published in Cuba's
state-run media.

Valdes spoke about Cuba's economic woes, saying three hurricanes last
year and an ongoing global financial crisis had inflicted much damage.

Workers, he said, needed to work to raise "production and productivity,
for the reduction of costs and expenditures, to grow exports and
(reduce) imports."

Achieving these goals, Valdes said, would require everyone to "work with
more discipline, with more quality."

A sign held by the first line of people in the parade underscored the
message: "Combative, productive and effective," it read.

On the nationally televised broadcast of the event, the words "United,
efficient and productive" were flashed across the screen.

Raul Castro has made minor reforms to the state-run economy but is now
facing a liquidity crunch that has depleted foreign reserves and delayed
payment to many foreign businesses.

He has said Cuba must raise productivity and reduce handouts to its
people, who earn only about $20 a month but receive social benefits such
as free health care, food rations and subsidized housing.

Valdes only briefly mentioned the US trade embargo against Cuba, which
has been in place since 1962 and is usually blamed for the island's
financial woes.

Cuba and the United States have been at odds since Fidel Castro took
power in a 1959 revolution, but US President Barack Obama recently
extended an olive branch by easing the embargo and saying the United
States wanted to "recast" relations.

Raul Castro has responded that Cuba was willing to talk but does not
have to make concessions to further rapprochement.

Yusiley Gonzalez, wearing a red shirt like many parade participants,
said she supported Cuba's government, but had high hopes for better
relations with the United States.

"We're giving our support to the revolution, Fidel and Raul," she said.
But, Gonzalez said, "We hope the position of Obama is positive and there
will be a positive result. I believe he'll be able to eliminate the
embargo that has caused so much damage to our system."

The parade went on amid worldwide concern about a flu variant that has
killed at least 176 people in Mexico, separated from Cuba by the
115-mile (185 km) wide Yucatan Channel.

Officials assured Cubans they would be safe from the contagion because
no flu cases have been found on the island.

"Cuban people may celebrate May Day with tranquillity," said a headline
in Communist Party newspaper Granma.

Cuban dissidents on the Internet urged Cubans to bang pots and pans on
Friday night in a form of protest known in Latin America as a "cacerolada."

They said the protest would be a message to Cuban leaders to let Cubans
travel freely.

Caribbean Net News: Cubans told to work harder at May Day celebration (2
May 2009)

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/article.php?news_id=16132