Castro Addresses Huge May Day Crowd
HAVANA, Cuba, May 1, 2006 — -- Cuban President Fidel Castro presided over May Day activities today in Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion, also known as Revolution Square.
The May Day, or Workers Day, celebration marked International Workers' Day in Havana's main square, where more than 1 million people gathered.
There was traditional Cuban music, singing and dancing, as well as stirring speeches, including an address by the aging Cuban leader.
Castro started his speech with a swipe at the United States, saying that finally, after 13 months of silence, the United States had admitted that Luis Posada Carriles had entered the country illegally. Castro reiterated his denunciation of Mexico and the United States' "complicity in the protection of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles."
Posada Carriles is wanted for trial in Venezuela on accusations of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people.
Addressing a rally held Saturday in Havana to mark the first anniversary of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a regional integration project launched by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Castro, the Cuban leader said that Bush was an accomplice of "criminal actions undertaken against Cuba."
Castro said Washington had kept silent despite reiterated denunciations by Cuba of the entry into U.S. territory of the accused international terrorist.
The Cuban-born former CIA agent is accused of plotting the bombing while living in Venezuela.
He has denied involvement and is being held by immigration authorities in El Paso, Texas.
Castro also said recent U.S. military maneuvers in the Caribbean were aimed at intimidating Cuba and its ally Venezuela.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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