The elaborate gathering shown live on Cuban television was a stark contrast to a tense calm that hung over the host city earlier in the day, perhaps because shortly after the New Year began, authorities banned Cubans from one of the city's busiest square.

But the mood picked up in the late afteroon when streams of credentialed guests gathered at the Parque Cespedes chanted in unison during the orderly affair. The location is normally a bustling hot spot.

At the stroke of midnight Thursday morning, dozens gathered for the ceremonial raising of the flag and watched an enormous poster of Castro draped over the Casa Granda Hotel.

But once the crowd petered out to revel at home, heavy security did not permit Cubans to enter the plaza in anticipation of the evening ceremonies to celebrate the anniversary.

Most had to hear what Raúl Castro had to say on Cuban television.

''Nobody is out today because nobody wants to talk,'' said Orlando, a gypsy cab driver. ``There's a fog over the whole city. They [government officials] are celebrating while the people are screwed.''

''They are celebrating this anniversary themselves, just like they chose a president for this country among themselves,'' said Daly, a mother of two.''

In Havana, music blared at an outdoor concert at the Tribuna Antiimperialista in front of the U.S. Interests Section and another performance was held at the Amphitheatre of Old Havana.

The government announced that a ''Caravan of Liberty'' carrying 50 people selected from each province would set out from Santiago de Cuba on Friday and follow the route taken by members of the Rebel Army in 1959 from Santiago to Havana.

The caravan members will be chosen from among elementary, intermediate and university students, as well as other outstanding youth, teachers, doctors, artists, athletes, scientists, internationalists and farmers. They will be joined by officers and soldiers from the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior.

The caravan will reenact the one led by Fidel Castro that ended in Havana on Jan. 8, 1959, where he and other rebels were by jubilant Cubans who celebrated the departure of dictator Fulgencio Batista. The mock caravan will culminate with a massive rally at the former Columbia Military Base just outside Havana, where Batista gathered his closest allies and shared his decision to flee. The site now serves as an educational complex.

The caravan will resume its journey to Pinar del Río on Jan. 17, marking the 1959 visit by Castro to that province.

Thursday's event in Santiago marked a bittersweet anniversary.

It was 50 years ago that rebels came down from the mountains to oust a dictator, only to institute one themselves. The revolution was welcomed with enthusiastic praise, particularly in the countryside here, where deeply entrenched poverty left many in squalor. Even Cuba's middle class welcomed that Jan. 1 day when Fidel Castro took to the town hall balcony on Parque Cespedes and promised to restore order to a war-torn nation.

But the decades of economic ruin and restricted freedoms have taken their toll.

Most people in Santiago respond with a polite smile when asked by foreigners about Thursday's celebration. Some tout the important accomplishments such as healthcare and education for all, but many others point their heads at the cop on every corner, an indication of a conversation that will not take place.