The celebration of May Day in Cuba went through several stages, always marked by the patriotic fervour of the working class.
When on May Day 1890 the proletariat of the world decided to celebrate International Workers’ Day, Cubans were part of that first battalion.
The Havana Workers’ Circle organised a parade through several streets of the now capital municipality of Centro Habana and a rally in which nearly three thousand people took part.
The demands for an eight-hour day and better working conditions were in keeping with the times: the country was under Spanish rule.
After the emergence of the Republic of Cuba in 1902, the island’s proletariat was limited, weak in organisation and class consciousness. The nation was suffering from the precarious post-war situation.
The celebration of the anniversary was generally illegal. To the traditional economic demands, the Cuban workers added political slogans, such as denouncing the tyranny of Gerardo Machado’s government and foreign interference.
In 1939, with the creation of the Confederation of Cuban Workers, then presided over by Lázaro Peña, the celebrations gained in quality and organisation, with large parades coordinated by the proletarian fighters.
In 1957, the revolutionaries took advantage of the official rally to make popular demands known and to denounce the corrupt leaders who had sold out to the bosses.
With the triumph of the Revolution led by Fidel Castro, on January 1, 1959, the working class took power and the celebration of the international day of the proletariat became a big party, not to demand, nor to make demands, but to show their support for the social project that was being built in the country.
