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Castro Leads More Than 1 Million Marchers
Fidel Castro walked briskly Thursday as he led more than 1 million people on a march marking the start of the Cuban revolution nearly a half-century ago.
Dressed in his typical olive green uniform and a less typical pair of white sneakers for walking, the Cuban president, who turns 75 next month, vigorously waved a small Cuban flag as he started the march down Havana's coastal Malecon highway.
The Communist Party daily Granma declared that about 1.2 million residents of the capital and surrounding Havana province were expected to participate in the "gigantic combatant march" past the U.S. Interests Section, the American mission here.
The annual celebration marks the anniversary of the July 26, 1953 attack by Castro and his followers on an army barracks that launched the Cuban Revolution. For decades, the celebration was always an afternoon event, held in a different Cuban province each year.
July 26, known here as National Rebellion Day, is among the most important dates on communist Cuba's calendar. During the July 25-27 national holidays, banks, government offices and virtually all businesses are closed.
During the storming of the army barracks 48 years ago, 61 of the 160 attackers were killed and many of the rest, including Castro and his younger brother Raul, were jailed.
The movement later regained strength and triumphed on New Year's Day 1959 after then-President Fulgencio Batista fled the country.
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