It's an effort to sway opinion at crucial time

 BY ANITA SNOW
 Associated Press

 HAVANA -- With Fidel Castro leading the way in sneakers, Cubans marched
 Wednesday to protest the U.S. trade embargo. Authorities here estimated the
 crowd at more than one million.

 The mass demonstration came amid the most significant efforts by the U.S.
 Congress in 38 years to ease sanctions first imposed against the
 communist-ruled island by President John Kennedy.

 ``Down with the blockade! Long live the homeland!'' the marchers chanted as they
 started the 3 1/2-mile trek, many waving small Cuban flags.

 As temperatures rose, many marchers replaced their flags with umbrellas to
 protect themselves from the unrelenting tropical sun. Military marches gave way
 to the pounding and clanging of traditional conga bands.

 The Cuban president, who turns 74 next month, completed the march to the U.S.
 Interests Section, where he boarded his black Mercedes Benz. The chief of the
 American mission, Vicky Huddleston, was briefly seen on a balcony with
 binoculars.

 The event coincided with the 47th anniversary of the July 26, 1953, attack by
 Castro and his followers on an army barracks. That launched the Cuban
 Revolution against the dictatorship of then-President Fulgencio Batista. Although
 the attackers were all either killed or jailed, the movement eventually triumphed on
 New Year's Day 1959 after Batista fled the country.

 Cubans celebrate July 26 as a national holiday every year, but this time the
 celebration comes amid growing moves in the U.S. Congress to chip away at the
 trade sanctions against Cuba.

 The House of Representatives last week voted to stop enforcing provisions that
 ban U.S. food exports and limit sales of American medicine to Cuba and four
 other countries -- Iran, Libya, North Korea and Sudan. The Senate passed a bill
 the same day to permit food and medical sales to the five countries.

 Cuba welcomed the moves, but said they do not go far enough. The Cubans have
 said they believe that massive marches, such as the scores of gatherings held
 during the seven-month battle to return 6-year-old Elián González to Cuba, are
 necessary to help turn U.S. public opinion against the embargo while it is the
 focus of congressional debate.