Havana, May 1 (RHC)-- Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, and the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, were present at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune in Havana to celebrate with International Workers' Day.

An estimated 200,000 people crowded into the plaza on the Malecon, in front of the U.S. Embassy in the Cuban capital.  More than 1,000 activists from 200 solidarity organizations around the world are also present alongside the Cuban workers.

Darian Oramas Campo, a young worker in the electrical sector, spoke during the national central event for International Workers' Day, in Havana.  In her speech, she pointed out the challenges of the current context for our people, who are experiencing a tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States on the Island.

The secretary of the Union of Young Communists reiterated the condemnation of the Caribbean nation of the crimes that Israel commits against the Palestinian population, mostly children, women and the elderly, who are systematically deprived of their right to life.

The general secretary of the Cuban Workers' Union (CTC), Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, in the central speech of the event, pointed out that today thousands of workers demonstrate in rallies throughout the country.  He said that the Cuban people remain firm and united in support of the Revolution, defending its ideals of independence, sovereignty and social justice.

He also addressed the particularities of the Cuban socioeconomic context, marked both by the U.S. blockade and by our own internal insufficiencies.

All of this has had an impact on food shortages, the loss of purchasing power of salaries and pensions, limits access to inputs and raw materials for industries, restricts trade and foreign investment, which, as a result of the impact of U.S. measures, has a reflection in the lives of the country's workers.

"We have dedicated this day, therefore, to the heroism of the Cuban workers."

Guilarte de Nacimiento pointed out that there are good experiences in all territories of the country, demonstrating that it is possible to achieve productive efficiency, despite the limitations of material and financial resources.

In the rest of the provinces, rallies are held in unison in the main squares to welcome the crowd of Cubans who will celebrate the 65th anniversary of the first workers' parade held after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

Cubans continue to demand the end of the U.S. economic blockade and the exclusion of the island from the illegal list of countries supposedly sponsoring terrorism.