Castro absent on May Day

Source: CCTV.com | 05-02-2007 14:11

Thousands of Cubans have marched through Revolution Plaza to celebrate International Workers' Day, an event President Fidel Castro has attended for decades without fail.

But this time, the acting president and defense minister, Raul Castro, stood in his brother's place. The leader of the Cuban Workers' Union and common people all wished Fidel Castro a "swift recovery and good health." The eighty-year-old Cuban leader has not appeared in public for nine months since he underwent emergency surgery.

But on Monday, he called for a revolution in energy production, denouncing plans of the US to use food crops to produce fuel for cars.

Editor:Chen Ge