Revolution still strong, Castro says

``We now have to perfect it, to become stronger, more cultured, more prepared,'' the 71-year-old leader said after listing the accomplishments of his socialist revolution: free education and health care, access to utilities, home ownership.

All that, he said, ``despite the enormous difficulties of the special period,'' -- the official term for the economic crisis that slammed Cuba when it lost its Soviet bloc trading partners at the beginning of this decade.

``In difficult moments, the people unite to support the revolution,'' Manuel Valdez, 63, a retired soldier from this eastern provincial city, said shortly before Castro took the stage. ``I am proud to be part of the revolution.''

Dressed in his trademark olive military fatigues, Castro started out with a lengthy history lesson about Santiago, which was invaded by the U.S. military a century ago this year -- and one of his traditional attacks on the U.S. government.

``On April 19, 1898, the U.S. Congress adopted a joint resolution declaring that the people of Cuba should be free and independent. It was a deceitful resolution,'' Castro said. Spanish rule of Cuba ended when the Americans landed in 1898, but the United States continued to control the Caribbean island until 1902.

``It is good to remember these things,'' he said, his voice breaking frequently as he started out, but growing stronger and clearer as the speech wore on. He also called ``illegal'' the U.S. military's continued presence at Guantanamo Bay, on the island's eastern tip.

Some 10,000 people crowded into a clearing before the Moncada barracks where Castro and his followers launched a disastrous offensive against the Cuban army. Although the attackers were repelled, and either killed or jailed, the offensive is seen as the start of the revolution that triumphed 5 1/2 years later.