HAVANA -- (AP) -- President Fidel Castro led thousands of people in a march
 past the U.S. mission here Friday to protest American immigration policies
 Havana says lure Cubans to their deaths trying to reach the United States.

 The rally was called after the burial Thursday of two military cadets who died
 trying to leave the country as stowaways in a jetliner's wheel well -- deaths the
 Cuban government blamed on the U.S. policies.

 ``Down with the murderous law!'' a young girl shouted over a loudspeaker as
 Castro, wearing his typical olive green uniform and white athletic shoes, started
 the trek down the Malecon coastal highway and past the U.S. Interests Section.
 Marchers vigorously waved tiny red, white and blue Cuban flags.

 Castro issued a call Wednesday night for new mass protests -- ``tomorrow and
 the day after that and as many are needed.''

 Described by state media as ``the first march of the victorious revolution in the
 new millennium,'' the gathering was being held to draw attention to the Cuban
 Adjustment Act, an American law that Havana says encourages its citizens to
 undertake risky journeys to flee.

 The 1966 law allows Cubans who reach American soil to apply for U.S. residency.
 Illegal immigrants to the United States from most other countries are usually
 immediately deported.

 The marches recall those held over seven months during the international custody
 battle over the Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez, who is now 7. Elian's father returned
 with the boy to Cuba in June after winning a lengthy legal battle against their
 Miami relatives, who fought to keep him in the United States.

 After the Elian case was settled, Havana said the protests would continue against
 American policies that target the island.

 The government blamed the Cuban Adjustment Act for the Christmas Eve deaths
 of military school students Maikel Fonseca, 16, and Alberto Vazquez, 17, who
 tried to leave the country as stowaways in a British Airways jetliner.

 The boys died from lack of oxygen and subfreezing temperatures during the flight
 to London. Cuba says that the teens had sought to go to the United States, citing
 a farewell letter from one boy to his family.

 Fonseca and Vazquez were buried Thursday in Havana in separate ceremonies
 that were later shown on state television.

 Meanwhile, six Czech legislators were to travel to Havana in an attempt to win the
 release of two Czech citizens, including another lawmaker, who were detained in
 Cuba for meeting with pro-democracy dissidents. The date of the trip was not yet
 announced.

 The U.S. State Department has condemned the Jan. 12 arrest of the two Czechs,
 whom Cuban have accused of being ``American agents.''