MEXICO CITY Aug 7: As many as 500.000 Cuban* marched through Havana to show support tor Fidel Castro and to protest the US trade embargo against the Caribbean nation, reports AP.

"Look with what force" the socialist government has remained in power despite the collapse of the Soviet Union. Castro told the marchers late Saturday. This revolution is not crumbling."

His comments were reported by Cuba’s official Prensa Latina news agency and by Mexico's Notimex agency

No independent estimates of the crowd were available, but Prensa Latina said as many as 500,000 people

marched in the rain.

The march was partly to commemorate the anniversary of a crackdown on rioting apparently set off by a failed attempt to hijack a Havana harbour ferry and take It to the United States.

The riots, an unprecedented show of discontent with Cuba's socialist regime. Precipitated Castro to say he would no longer stop Cubans who wanted to flee to the United States. Some 30,000 people left Cuba on rickety rafts.

After leading the last leg of Saturday’s march. Castro spoke briefly to the marchers. He said conservatives In Washington are threatening to thwart efforts to lift

the embargo, in effect for more than three decades.

"We cannot fool ourselves, when extremist elements are dictating policy in the United States." Castro said, referring to the Increased congressional power of the Republican Party.

Castro announced 10 days ago that Cuba's economy has begun to creep upward after years of decline. He said growth was 2 per cent in the first half of the year.

Economists say the slow pace of the recovery indicates the island's economy still has severe problems. Castro blamed the low growth on a disastrous sugar harvest, which may be the worst since the 1930s.