Havana , Cuba ( CNN ) -- Thousands packed Havana 's Revolution Square on Saturday for International Workers ' Day , drawing hordes of Cuban demonstrators , spectators , and trade unionists from around the world -- including the United States and the United Kingdom . `` I 've never seen anything like it , '' said Brian Hattsberger , a British labor unionist in attendance , wiping the sweat from his brow with his red labor hat . `` It 's just amazing . '' For years , since Cuba 's bearded revolutionaries toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista over half a century ago , residents have gathered in Havana on May 1 to listen to hours-long speeches from their former president , Fidel Castro . The elder Castro made his last showing in 2006 before stepping down because of illness , at first temporarily and then permanently , leaving the reins to his younger brother , Raul . Since then , neither Castro has made a major speech on May Day . This year was no different . In a carefully choreographed show of force , thousands took to the streets , carrying placards with the faces of Che Guevara , Fidel Castro and Raul Castro , and waving Cuban flags as they sang and sweated beneath the hot Caribbean sun . `` I am marching for Cuba and for the Cuban revolution , '' said one Cuban marcher as she passed through the square . Cuba had billed this year 's march as a rebuke to international criticism from Europe and Washington over human rights issues recently bubbling up in the Communist nation . In February , dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo , who was jailed in 2003 during a crackdown on political opposition , died after a hunger strike that lasted for more than 80 days . He began the strike to demand better prison conditions . In an unprecedented government statement , Raul Castro said he `` lamented the death of Cuban prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo , who died after leading a hunger strike . '' He blamed the United States for the death , but did not explain why . `` Tortured people do not exist , '' Castro added . Recently , an opposition group that calls itself the `` Ladies in White '' -- made up of relatives of dissidents jailed in the 2003 crackdown -- has met recurring resistance from large groups of pro-government demonstrators , who surround the women and drown out their chants of `` Freedom '' with such phrases as `` This street belongs to Fidel . '' The women on occasion are detained briefly by police before being driven back to their homes . Saturday marked the second International Workers ' Day since U.S. President Obama took office . At the time of his election , Obama elicited a sense among many Cubans that they might finally see an end to the economic trade embargo that has been in place since the administration of President John F. Kennedy . While Obama eased restrictions on small-ticket items such as family travel and telecommunications , and sent high-ranking envoys to Havana to foster fresh migration talks , broader discussions now appear at a standstill following a storm of criticism over Zapata 's death and increasingly routine counter-demonstrations in support of the government that overpower the handful of weekly protests . Saturday 's May Day march began around 8 a.m. and lasted roughly two hours without incident .
Thousands of Cuban demonstrators , trade unionists gather from around world . `` I am marching for Cuba and for the Cuban revolution , '' one Cuban marcher says . Cuba had billed march as rebuke to international criticism over human rights .