The Cuban leader Raul Castro was among thousands who attended a rally held in Havana on Saturday to denounce the U.S. trade embargo and reaffirm their support for Cuba’s revolution.

Government supporters gathered next to the US embassy before dawn to wave Cuban flags and photos of late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and his brother Raul.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who also heads the Communist Party, told the crowd that Cuba’s “enemy has once again thrown itself into destroying citizen’s sacred unity and tranquility.”

He said it was no small matter to call a rally as the country saw increasing numbers of COVID cases: “We convened you to denounce once more the blockade, the aggression and terror.”

Authorities said similar rallies were held nationwide.

“This revolution will continue for a long time,” said Margaritza Arteaga, a state social worker who attended the rally in Havana.

Workers had been convened by neighborhood block committees, known as the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, she said, and a state bus had picked her up at 4 a.m.

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