Today, Cuba marks May Day, in acknowledgement of the Cuban Revolution. It is an occasion that is strongly linked to the concept of labour empowerment, as workers from various towns march with their colleagues to Plaza de la Revolución to hear speeches – the most substantial of which have historically been delivered by the Castros – at the foot of the statue of José Martí. There are also many cultural and musical events in honour of the occasion. National public service announcements about this year's parade state that it “will serve to demonstrate the people’s commitment to complying with the Communist Party’s economic and social reform guidelines.” But some bloggers are wondering whether anything has really changed in Cuba, despite the fact that self-employed workers will be taking part in the march for the first time. At Translating Cuba, Anddy Sierra Alvarez writes: The propaganda has begun for participation on May Day, no one is forced to go, they’ve said for a lifetime, but this is not the reality. For not only are those belonging to the Cuban Communist Party forced to participate, but they are told so in the bureaucratic meetings they have every month. The point of the march is to show the worlds that Cubans feel fine, there’s no desperation, no dissatisfaction with the government, no hunger, and that all we Cubans here who are trying to get the government to change the form of the government — or to bring it down — are painted as liars, defamers, or mercenaries supporting the interests of the government of Barack Obama. Generation Y draws a parallel to “the last time the Plaza of the Revolution was full, crammed with people”, which happened in March, when Cubans attended a papal mass: The television broadcasters repeated, with a strange insistence, that attending this Mass were ‘believers and non-believers.’ It was…a clarification — and not subtle in the least — that…Cubans were there because of ‘discipline,’ out of ‘respect,’ or because they are an ‘equable’ people, but not, in fact, because of faith. I wonder whether this May Day they will also throw out such contrasting adjectives. They could, for example, say that on this Workers’ Day both ‘Revolutionaries and Non-revolutionaries’ are marching, which would not be absurd on a day that should have a labor and union tone, not a political one. Can you imagine the grave voice of the announcer affirming that in the flag-waving crowd there are both ‘employed and unemployed'? Of these, the latter would undoubtedly have to be the most energetic block, because the number of unemployed workers in 2012 has grown to 170 million throughout the Island. In front of the microphones they should make the distinction that in the mass of people facing the statue of Jose Marti are found ‘sympathizers and non-sympathizers’ with Raul’s government. Because after all, who would believe that a million individuals are all in agreement with the administration of a president? She continues: There will be no surprises nor nuances, but rather attempts to lump together hundreds of thousands of participants and present them as a unanimous chorus supporting the system. And May Day once again will be hijacked, like so many times before. From the podium those who salute will be precisely those who should be called out and criticized on the banners, not those who should be leading a workers‘ commemoration. The day will end without demands being made of this boss named “the State” to raise salaries, lower the cost of living, or improve working conditions. Instead, every little head seen from the Plaza’s tower will be counted as a round of applause. Without Evasion notes that “the official press has been announcing the parade this May 1st with a newly added component to the ‘army’ of workers that will march in support of the revolution and socialism: the self-employed”: I cannot quite understand the issue. Aren’t the self-employed a sector that represents private enterprise? Haven’t we been taught in school that private property is one of the ‘evils of capitalism,’ a source of exploitation for the proletariat? Has the Cuban system created a new species, the owner-laborer? What concerns her most, though, is that: …when convening ‘independents’ to this parade, the government has the intention to continue to monitor the supply of slaves, even the sector of freedmen, i.e., those who are in the first phase of buying their freedom through their economic activity, independent of the Master.