With the zeal and mobilizing enthusiasm that characterizes the celebration of May Day in Cuba, once again the country’s working class and the people in general celebrated the event on Wednesday with a massive rally in Havana presided over by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
Long before dawn broke on a sunny morning, more than 200 thousand residents of the municipalities of Plaza de la Revolución, Centro Habana, La Habana Vieja and Cerro mobilized to the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune, the venue of the national event which was also attended by leaders of the Party, the Council of State, the Government, the Union of Young Communists, mass organizations, authorities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior.
From this square of historic rallies and marches of the fighting people, Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, general secretary of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba and member of the Political Bureau of the Party, delivered the main speech of the commemoration, which was also attended by more than a thousand visitors from 58 countries and some 220 trade union organizations, groups and solidarity brigades invited to the celebrations.
In his speech, he contextualized the current adverse and complex socioeconomic panorama on the island. «The intensification of the U.S. policy of utmost asphyxiation of our people, as well as our internal shortcomings, make up this scenario.»
This has a negative impact -he pointed out- on consumption levels, food and medicine shortages, as well as the loss of purchasing power of salaries and pensions, limits access to inputs and raw materials for our industrial plants, puts pressure on banking institutions and companies from all over the world interested in commercial exchange and foreign investment in Cuba.
He added that such problems constantly affect our workers in their family life, but also in the fulfillment of their work in the fields of production, education, health, science and agriculture. «There is not a single sector of the country free from these effects,» he emphasized.
The top trade union leader of the country stated that «in the face of these challenging circumstances, we have dedicated the celebration of the world proletariat to the heroism of the working people, who are focusing their efforts on economic recovery as the main battle».
He considered that for its implementation, «it is decisive the contribution of workers in optimizing the use of the working day and the existing productive capacities. To increase the lines linked to exports and food production, which are of strategic importance in the current situation».
He further commented that there are good experiences in all the territories of the country that show that it is possible and that it is possible to achieve productive efficiency over and above the limitations of material and financial resources, and that it requires responsibility, rigor, a sense of belonging for what is being done, developing the maximum capacity for innovation and creativity, which will allow us to face every obstacle that arises along the way.
The men and women who make these good experiences possible show us that human capital is the most secure and solid resource we have today, and we are not allowed to waste it, he said.
To this end, he called to work to strengthen the socialist state enterprise, and thus ensure the growth of the supply of goods and services to reduce prices, as well as to consolidate the necessary investment efficiency. All this in a constant process of linkage with the non-state sector of the economy, which demands greater attention and protection of the rights of the workers who are part of it.
«We assume this unpostponable challenge in full implementation of the Government Projections to Correct Distortions and Re-boost the Economy in the year 2024, which coincides with the organic process towards the 22nd Congress of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC)The CTC (Workers' Central Union of Cuba) was founded on January 28, 1939 by Lázaro Peña under the name Confederación de Trabajadores de Cuba (Confederation of Cuban Workers),» Guilarte de Nacimiento added and stressed that Cuban workers, with the conviction of owners of the fundamental means of production, «must go to an ever greater control and inspection of the resources at our disposal, as well as maintain a relentless fight against corruption, indiscipline and illegalities.»
In his speech he denounced the greatest crime committed against the Palestinian people by the Israeli government with the complicity of the United States, «We do not remain indifferent to these grave violations of international law. Cuban workers condemn the indiscriminate attacks that have taken the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children».
«Together with this claim -he stressed- we will hold high the banners of solidarity with the trade union movement. At the same time, we ratify to the international community that it will always be able to count on Cuba’s permanent battle against injustice, inequality and the establishment of a more just and equitable international order».
Cuban flags and flags of different countries and banners identifying labor collectives, gave color and combativeness to the celebration in whose beginning the young worker Darian Oramas Campos, from the Organización Básica Eléctrica de La Habana, condemned the inhuman and unjust blockade maintained for more than 60 years by U.S. imperialism against Cuba and the genocide committed by Israel among the Palestinian population, mostly children, women and elderly who are systematically deprived of their right to life.
The continuity of the Revolution is guaranteed. Young Cubans can be counted on to build the country we want and to continue defending our social project, he said.
The Cuban folklore through dance and country songs provided a cultural gift for this festivity, which was also spread throughout the national geography.
