Chronicle on Cuba - January 2004

Security

January 9: Brigadier General Ji Shaoying, deputy chief of Communications for the Chinese Liberation Army, arrived in Havana heading a military delegation. The visitors will hold talks with top Cuban army chiefs, leaders of the Cuban Communist Party and Cuban media officials, as well as visiting military units and places of historic, social and cultural interest. (Prensa Latina, 9/1/04)

January 9: China's First Defense Minister has honored Colonel Isberto Sanfiel Batista, Cuban military, naval, and air attaché in Beijing, with the "Primero de Agosto" commemorative medal, on the conclusion of his mission. When awarding the decoration at the National Defense Ministry, Maj. General Chang Bandong, director of this Foreign Affairs ministry office, highlighted that the distinction is granted only to foreign military personnel, who have worked hard to strengthen and consolidate friendship, collaboration, and combatant fraternity between their respective armed forces and the Chinese People's Liberation Army. (Prensa Latina, 9/1/03)

January 16: Miguel Marrero, Public Vigilance Secretary of the National Directorate of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), informed that all the CDRs in the country, currently in excess of 131,000, conducted a neighborhood watch exercise in their respective communities. He added that, presently, there are 4,295 Watch Teams, out of which 497 already have communications equipment. (Juventud Rebelde, 16/1/04)

January 16: With the country's leadership considering the possibility of US aggression, Cuba started 2004 with a reinforcement of its military defenses. The Cuban official media announced that the Army of the Central Provinces initiated its "Defense Readiness year," a yearlong period of continuous military exercises and training. (World Data Service, 16/1/04)

January 31: Firing heavy machine guns and mortars, US soldiers practiced repulsing a commando attack at the maximum-security prison for terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. While the possibility of terrorists trying to free prisoners seems remote, it's crucial for the soldiers to be prepared, said Captain Gregg Langevin, a 33-year-old from the Massachusetts Army National Guard. "There have been reports that the al-Qaida are out there actively trying to buy small crafts," Langevin said, suggesting a stealthy approach from the coast. Some 650 men and several juveniles from more than 40 countries are detained at the remote camp in eastern Cuba. (The Seattle Times, 31/1/04)