Cuba urges economic gain, work at May Day rally

HAVANA (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched through Havana's Revolution Square on Thursday for a red-splashed May Day celebration that urged economic gains and increased productivity from workers.

A sea of people, wearing red shirts and waving red flags, paraded through the vast square as President Raul Castro, making his first May Day appearance as Cuba's leader, looked on from a podium beneath a statue of national hero Jose Marti.

He did not speak, but the emphasis Castro has placed on improving Cuba's socialist economy was a dominant theme during the annual festivities that celebrate the international labor movement.

"It is fundamental to concentrate efforts on increasing production and productivity, above all of food," said Cuban labor leader and high-ranking Communist Party official Salvador Valdes Mesa in a speech to the gathered masses.

He said there had been "modest advances" in production and services, but that Cuba must "reduce costs and achieve the economic efficiency we need."

The same message was seen on some of the banners carried by marchers.

"With efficiency, quality and productivity, we salute the first of May," said one.

"Work, resist, overcome," read another.

Raul Castro was elected president by Cuba's National Assembly in February after serving as provisional leader following older brother Fidel Castro's intestinal surgery in July 2006.

The elder Castro, who led the nation for almost 50 years after taking over in a 1959 revolution, has been seen only in occasional videos and photos since his surgery.

Since his election, Raul Castro has lifted restrictions on such things as Cubans owning cellular phones and going to tourist hotels and has implemented reforms aimed at increasing food production.

The changes, small but symbolic, have been embraced by Cubans as a sign of better things to come in the island nation where the average monthly wage is about $18.

"I'm here to defend the revolution with the security that everything is going to improve here," said marcher Ernestina Hernandez, 65.

"Cuba is living another moment and we want to support the measures Raul is introducing," she said. "We have many hopes."

(For special coverage from Reuters on the changes in Cuba, see here)

(Additional reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes, Nelson Acosta and Esteban Israel; Editing by Kieran Murray)