HAVANA (AP) -- Cuba called 100,000 people into the streets Tuesday to
                   denounce a U.N. Human Rights Commission resolution criticizing the communist
                   island, accusing its Czech sponsors of being U.S. lackeys.

                   A sea of Cubans marched past the two-story Czech Embassy for about 90
                   minutes, shouting "Traitors! Marionettes!" and a few obscenities.

                   "This is the seat of the lackeys!" exclaimed a Cuban state television announcer as
                   the crowd waved small Cuban flags made of paper. The government urged other
                   Cubans to stay away, saying there was not enough room on the narrow streets
                   for more.

                   While the march took place, the rights commission in Geneva voted 21-18 to
                   censure Cuba for its human rights record. The measure was introduced by the
                   Czech Republic and was co-sponsored by Poland, though Cuban officials made
                   no reference to the Polish role.

                   The censure expressed "concern about the continued repression of members of
                   the political opposition and about the detention of dissidents" and accused Cuba
                   of "continued violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms ... such as
                   freedom of expression, association and assembly."

                   Both the government and marchers expressed a sense of betrayal; Czechs were
                   Cuba's close allies before the collapse of the Soviet bloc at the start of the 1990s
                   led to noncommunist governments in both.

                   "All those countries that were our friends are now betraying us," said Daniel
                   Heredia, a 44-year-old mechanic who marched. "They don't have any right to do
                   that."

                   "Those people always helped us and now they are putting themselves on the side
                   of the big countries and not with us ... a small country that needs help," said
                   Armando Flores, a 56-year-old university professor.

                   Swarms of Cuban police kept protesters from the embassy, where a large Czech
                   flag waved beside a towering palm tree.

                   State television announcers accused the Czechs of oppressing Gypsies and the
                   United States of violating the rights of immigrants and prisoners.

                   They also accused the United States of violating the rights of Elian Gonzalez, the
                   6-year-old at the center of a custody dispute between the boy's Cuban father and
                   his great-uncle in Miami.

                   "Who are they to make accusations about violations of human rights?" asked an
                   announcer, his voice quavering with anger.

                   The government statement announcing the march said the Geneva resolution was
                   "directed by the United States and seconded by the hypocrisy and racism of
                   Europe with the miserable complicity of lackeys headed by the Czech Republic."
                   The statement also called the commission corrupt.

                   Another mass rally was scheduled for Thursday in front of the U.S. Interests
                   Section, which serves in place of an embassy because Cuba and the United
                   States have no formal diplomatic relations.

                   A similar resolution censuring Cuba was narrowly approved last year after being
                   defeated in 1998 for the first time since 1991.

                   In Prague, Czech President Vaclav Havel said in a statement that "the aim of the
                   U.N. resolution is not to enforce the spirit of confrontation and intolerance.
                   Rather, we want to make clear that the problem of human rights in Cuba can
                   only be solved by cooperation based on a democratic dialogue."

                   Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.