Pandemic and economic crisis dampen May Day in Cuba

A banner displaying the portrait of late Cuban President Fidel Castro hangs on the street in downtown Havana, Cuba, May 1, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

HAVANA (Reuters) - For a second consecutive year Communist-run Cuba canceled its emblematic May Day march though Havana's Plaza de la Revolution Square on Saturday as it battles a surge in COVID-19 cases and a scarcity of basic goods.

Across the island, small groups of dignitaries gathered at abandoned squares that would usually be filled by crowds of banner-waving citizens marking International Workers Day, the country's most important holiday after Jan. 1, victory day of former leader Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.