With Fidel Castro leading the way, a sea of Cubans flooded Havana's coastal highway Wednesday in a march authorities said drew more than 1 million protesters opposing the U.S. trade embargo. The march came amid the most significant efforts by the U.S. Congress in nearly two generations to ease sanctions imposed by the Kennedy administration against the communist island at the height of the Cold War. ''Down with the blockade! Long live the homeland!'' the marchers chanted as they started the 3-mile trek. The event coincided with the 47th anniversary of the July 26, 1953, attack by Castro and his followers on an army barracks that launched the Cuban Revolution against the dictatorship of then-President Fulgencio Batista.
With Fidel Castro leading the way, a sea of Cubans flooded Havana's coastal highway Wednesday in a march authorities said drew more than 1 million protesters opposing the U.S. trade embargo.