Cuba plans large anti-U.S. rally

Cuba plans large anti-U.S. rally

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- The communist government on Monday called an
evening rally at the scene of a mysterious construction project outside
the American mission.

The rally -- called to remember those who have lost their lives in
violent acts against Cuba over 45 years -- was expected to include the
unveiling what appear to be dozens of flagpoles, positioned to block the
view of an electronic sign on the outside of the U.S. Interests Section
that has provoked the ire of President Fidel Castro.

The event will be broadcast live nationwide to Cuba's 11.2 million
people on state television and radio channels. And while Monday's
government newspaper didn't say if Castro would be there, his
participation was considered likely.

"It will be an act of tribute and denunciation," said the note in the
Communist Party daily Granma. "Over the pain and mourning of the loss of
more than 3,000 compatriots assassinated in criminal terrorist acts
organized, financed or supported by the U.S. government, we Cubans will
lift up with honor our infinite love for the homeland."

Castro late last month personally visited the Cuban government's
construction site outside the mission, where workers said they were
expanding the "Anti-Imperialist Plaza" built there several years ago to
host protests against U.S. policies toward the island.

In response to the electronic sign streaming news and human rights
messages across the facade of U.S. diplomatic offices, Castro led a huge
march past the mission. The construction project began the next day.

America's top diplomat in Havana has said the sign will stay, despite
protests from Cuba. The government also surrounded the U.S. mission with
several billboards, including one with a mock ad for a horror film, "The
Murderer," featuring likenesses of U.S. President George W. Bush and
anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles with bloody vampire teeth.

Castro has called Posada the Western Hemisphere's worst terrorist and
accuses the United States of planning to free him from a detention
center in El Paso, Texas, where he is being held on immigration charges.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/02/06/cuba.ap/