President Raúl Castro presided during Cuba's national May Day march in which 500,000 participants celebrated International Workers' Day, in Havana's José Martí Plaza de la Revolución.

The march began with a speech by Salvador Valdés Mesa Secretary General of the Cuban Workers Federation (CTC) and a member of the Party's Political Bureau. He described the mobilizations across the country as genuine expressions of the workers’ and the people’s support for the Revolution and their commitment to socialism.

He said, "We are celebrating a day of reaffirmation and commitment to the fulfillment of the Social and Economic Policy Guidelines approved at the 6th Communist Party of Cuba Congress."

Valdés added that workers and the trade union movement are the principal protagonists in efforts to perfect Cuba’s economic model, acknowledging that the current economic battle is not without obstacles and hardship. He called for increased production, improved discipline on the job and greater productivity.

Workers from the health sector carrying an enormous banner reading ‘Preserve and perfect socialism’ led the march, in which leaders of the Party, government and mass organizations also participated.

Health workers were awarded the honor of leading the march this year in recognition of the importance of their work to the country and the role they play in Cuba’s international collaboration, currently working in 66 nations around the globe.

Workers and communities were organized into 23 blocks, each assigned a place within the march, and carried an incredible variety of banners, posters and photographs of Fidel, Raúl, Che and revolutionaries from around the world, including Karl Marx and Lenin.

Most evident were images of the Cuban Five, unjustly convicted for their anti-terrorist activities in the United States: Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González and René González. Posters and banners called for their immediate release and definitive return to Cuba.