An estimated 1.3 million people gathered in Havana's Revolution Plaza on May 1, the biggest May Day celebration in Cuba's history. In the country's second largest city, Santiago de Cuba, another 300,000 marched. Tens of thousands more celebrated in cities and towns throughout Cuba.
Contingents were organised from virtually every factory, workplace, school and neighbourhood. The huge turnout was a clear reaffirmation of the Cuban people's support for their revolution and for socialism. A persistent demand was for the lifting of the US blockade and opposition to the draconian Helms-Burton Act that recently tightened the blockade.
International Workers Day was celebrated throughout Latin America with marches, strike calls and demonstrations against neo-liberal policies, privatisation, unemployment and low wages.
"Privatisation will not pass!" was the chant in El Salvador, where some 15,000 workers from 60 unions attended a peaceful march called by the United Workers Federation and the National Union of Salvadoran Workers to protest the planned privatisation of telecommunications, water and electricity services. The demonstrators were also protesting against efforts of the business sector to destroy the union movement.
More than 30,000 Hondurans participated in a march in Tegucigalpa, called by the Unitary Confederation of Honduran Workers, General Workers Federation and the Confederation of Honduran Workers. Another 20,000 workers marched in the city of San Pedro Sula.
Banana workers of the Tela Railroad Company Workers Union held their own May 1 march near the plantations of El Progreso and Puerto Cortes, led by some 500 campesinos evicted from the Tacamiche plantation. Workers chanted slogans against President Carlos Roberto Reina at all the marches; in Tegucigalpa, a cross-bearing, half-starved worker held a sign reading: "This isn't AIDS, it's lack of food".
Marchers in Guatemala called for the signing of a definitive peace accord between the government and guerillas, respect for labour rights and an end to privatisations.
In Ecuador, a large number of workers, students, campesinos — particularly women — turned out in Quito to reject the economic policies of the government of President Sixto Duran Ballen, such as privatisation, salary cuts and changes to the social security system. One of the groups with the largest representation at the march was the indigenous Pachakutik Movement.
Bolivia's march turned into a protest against the recently approved privatisation of the country's oil industry, with union members declaring "a day of mourning" and workers draping black ribbons over their banners in La Paz.
In Peru, workers threatened a national strike against the government's privatisation plans. The General Confederation of Peruvian Workers used the May 1 holiday to step up its campaign to collect signatures on a petition calling for a national referendum on the issue of privatisation of the state-run oil company, Petroperu.
Uruguayan workers marched to reject neo-liberal policies. The demonstrations in Montevideo followed a half-day strike by workers on April 30 and a march through the city's poor neighbourhoods in which participants drummed on pots and pans, protesting against 11.8% unemployment.
A May 1 demonstration in Port-au-Prince by Haitian unions and grassroots organisations against privatisation plans was a success according to its organisers. Protesters marched from the National Cathedral to the National Police headquarters with an effigy of Haiti president Preval "the country-seller" dressed as Uncle Sam.
Unions opposed to the tame-cat pro-government union federation staged a huge march through Mexico City. For the second year in a row, the leader of the major government-allied labour federation called off the traditional May Day march, attempting to ban all public demonstrations by workers. About 40 unions mobilised a march that took four hours to pass. Twenty-one unions from the official federation participated despite being threatened with expulsion. Last year only three unions defied the ban.
At least three May Day demonstrators in Turkey were killed and many wounded when police opened fire in Istanbul following a disturbance. A scuffle broke out after police attempted to search unionists as they arrived to hear speeches in the Kadikoy Square. In Izmir, police attempted to prevent workers from rallying. Dogs were set on the marchers, who retaliated with stones.