Chronicle on Cuba - February 2004

Domestic Affairs

February 1: Palabra Nueva Catholic monthly in its latest edition has asserted that "a good many Cuban families do not enjoy at present good spiritual, moral, and even psychological health. The article acknowledges that “different social programs implemented in the past four decades provided solutions to many family problems but created others." In that respect, it said that the universalization of education "brought relief to a considerable number of families," but the mandatory boarding program of many schools caused "the disruption of family structure, weakened parent-children relations, undermined family traditions.” It explained that the boarding school is not bad in itself, but the moral and ethical patterns that structure human coexistence in such places are. Cuba needs integral people and families, more than people and families with an integral education." (AFP, 1/2/04)

February 1: Cuba began 2004 with a serious shortage of condoms, especially in Havana, where many pharmacies were out of stock, although sales of the much-in-demand product have resumed recently, according to the official Juventud Rebelde newspaper. Public Health Ministry National Epidemiology Service director Rigoberto Torres said the shortage of condoms "was due to delays in entry of imports of this necessary article, coming from faraway markets, which accelerated the shortage." (EFE, 1/2/04)

February 2: Nearly 2000 delegates from Cuba and 70 other countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America have gathered in Havana for the Fourth International Congress, “Universidad 2004”. Providing an opportunity to discuss many different aspects of higher education, the Congress will run through four days. According to organizers of the meeting in the Cuban capital, one of the main objectives of Universidad 2004 will be to find sustainable solutions to social and economic problems related to university education. (Radio Habana Cuba, 2/2/04)

February 3: The daughter of Cuba's late revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara says she is trying to stop capitalists from exploiting her father's famous image. "It cannot be that they are using it on bottles of vodka, bottles of rum," Aleida Guevara said in reference to the prevalent use of the "Che" image by businesses for advertising and profit-related ventures. "It must be a respected image (...) we are going to defend it," Guevara told reporters. Guevara said she and other relatives are currently going through legal channels to prevent businesses and organisations from using her father's image without the family's consent. She did not elaborate. (News.24, 4/2/04)

February 4: A Church symposium on the family has already been held, and a national congress on the topic is scheduled for December, wrote the Cuban bishops' conference spokesman Orlando Márquez in the publication Palabra Nueva. Workshops will be held during the year at the parish, regional and diocesan levels. National and foreign speakers will address topics such as the role of the family in building a healthy society. "How important is it to dedicate a year to reflect, pray, think and rethink about the family in Cuba for a Church lacking influence outside its own perimeter, not listened to and disregarded by the authorities on this and other issues?" Márquez asked in his article. (Zenit, 4/2/04)

February 5: Cuban citizen Orestes Álvarez was arrested by members of the Cuban state security while planning to flee the island on a hot-air balloon. Since 1996, Álvarez said, he had been building the balloon to fly to Florida. (NotiCuba Internacional, 22/2/04)

February 5: The 13th International Havana Book Fair was inaugurated in Havana with the participation of 250 publishing houses from 24 countries. The fair is being held in the old San Carlos de La Cabaña fort and is dedicated this year to German culture and the Cuban poet Carilda Oliver Labra. Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto, Vice President Jose R. Fernandez and Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez attended the initial ceremony along with other cultural affairs officials, teachers and heads of educational institutions, as well as foreign diplomats based in Havana. At the fair, 37 German publishing houses will set up in a 170-meter-wide (550 feet) pavilion. (EFE, 5/2/04)

February 6: “El éxito del tigre” (The Tiger’s Success), a novel by Cuban writer Luis Manuel García, was launched in Havana as part of the International Book Fair. The author, however, did not receive clearance from Cuban authorities to attend the event. García was not invited due to his collaboration with “Encuentro”, a journal published in Madrid, Spain. In Cuba, García won the 1990 Casa de las Américas Award for his novel “Habanecer”, as well as the 1992 Critics National Award. (Encuentro en la Red, 9/2/04)

February 9: The Ernesto Che Guevara monument complex was declared a national monument, at the 45th anniversary of Che being granted the status of a Cuban citizen. Nilson Acosta, executive secretary of the Cuban National Monuments Commission, read the resolution approving the initiative. From October 1997 to the present day, more than 1,060,000 people have visited the memorial-museum in Santa Clara, which houses Che’s remains as well as those of his comrades who fell in Bolivia. (Granma International, 10/2/04)

February 10: Cuban authorities defended their human rights record, saying much of the criticism directed at the communist island has come from groups whose only aim is to bring down the government. "Even those who say they are friends, while pointing to Cuba as a model in the application of economic, social and cultural rights, criticize us in terms of what they call civil rights," said deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno during the presentation of a new government-sponsored book on the subject. Fabio Raimundo Torrado, author of "Human Rights in the Cuban Political System," told reporters that the contemporary concept of "human rights" is based more on political and cultural points of view -- "a European fruit, born of the Bourgeois revolution" that governments then began imposing on the rest of the world. (AFP, 10/2/04)

February 10: A leading dissident group unveiled a list of proposals to achieve peaceful change in Cuba, calling for free speech, private business ownership and the formation of labor unions. The 36 demands were announced by Vladimiro Roca, a former military pilot who broke with the socialist government more than a decade ago. Roca, spokesman for the opposition United For All Movement, said he plans to submit the proposals to the local district representative, the lowest level of government, in hopes they will reach the National Assembly. According to Roca, the text has already been seen by more than 30,000 people, and is not a proposal for the post-Castro transition, but rather an initiative to mobilize the population, because "until the people mobilize, no change will be possible." At the moment, he added, "there are indications that unrest could cause a social explosion, which appears to be what the government is betting on." "The government is trying to provoke a social explosion (…) with possible consequences like a mass exodus of Cubans to the United States," he said. ``The intention is to mobilize people using the (government) mechanisms that they have available to them,'' Roca said. Roca said the proposals are a step toward the goal of achieving peaceful change on the communist island. [Propuesta de Programa] (AP, EFE, 10/2/04)

February 10: Cuban scientists have developed a drug to control anemia. The medicine, Trofin, produced in the island's National Bio-preparations Center, is made from all natural materials and has no negative side-effects. Last year it won the Grand Prize at the 1V Food and Nutrition Congress. Production of the new tablet began in 2003 and since then the Center has increased production and lowered cost without affecting quality. ( Radio Habana Cuba , 10/2/04)

February 10: The Colección Cultura Cubana book series, created by a Puerto Rico-based publishing house for Cuban writers, whether living in or outside this socialist-run country, is one of the main attractions of the International Book Fair under way in Havana. The editor of the collection, Patricia Gutiérrez, says the fundamental aim of the Plaza Mayor publishers is to offer and encourage ”respect for differences”. The shelves of Plaza Mayor's booth at the Havana fair hold books by Carmen Duarte, who lives in the US city of Miami, Pedro Pérez Sarduy, resident of London, and John Kirk, who lives in Canada. Not without some grumblings by officials, the publisher brought to Cuba ”Mi vida saxual” (My Saxual Life), by Paquito D'Rivera, a provocative autobiography of the Cuban child prodigy saxophone and clarinet player who emigrated to New York. Gutiérrez is the daughter of Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo, who returned to Cuba in the middle of last year and has been trying -- unsuccessfully -- to convince the authorities to grant him legal residence. (IPS, 10/2/04)

February 10: Relatives of the 75 prisoners of conscience sentenced to long prison terms last April are collecting signatures in support of an amnesty for all political prisoners in the country. According to article 63 of the Cuban Constitution, 10,000 signatures are needed for any such initiative to be considered. (Cubanet, 10/2/04)

February 10: Presided over by Manuel Cuesta Morúa, the dissident organization Arco Progresista has released a comprehensive study of the political situation on the island. [Informe a la Nación] (El Nuevo Herald, 10/2/04)

February 11: Javier Sotomayor’s band "Salsa Mayor" plays the matinee show at the Casa de la Música in downtown Havana, to a crowd of rhythmically gyrating dancers. "I'm the godfather of the band," Sotomayor says. He put up some of his prize money from athletics to buy instruments and his friend and former wrestler Roberto Despaigne, who plays guitar and writes the songs, selected the players, all professionals. The salsa band is more than a hobby for Sotomayor. The athlete turned budding musical impresario is looking for a recording company while doing gigs for tourists at a hotel on one of Cuba's sun-bathed Caribbean keys. (Reuters, 11/2/04)

February 11: Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá said he is “constantly threatened” by Cuban government agents and at present “the likelihood of being killed is very high.” Payá, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, believes his life is up to a “decision” by Fidel Castro, he said to the French daily Le Figaro. (Encuentro en La Red, 11/2/04)

February 11: The Cuban Council of State appointed Manuel Marrero Cruz as the country's new Tourism Minister, replacing Ibrahim Ferradaz Garcia, the Granma newspaper reported. Architect Manuel Marrero Cruz was before the Executive President of the Gaviota Group, a tourism and services corporation. He had worked for more than a decade in investment projects, hotel management and held several public posts. Without providing further details, Granma says Ibrahim Ferradaz “will be assigned to other tasks”. (Prensa Latina, 11/2/04)

February 11: Cuban police inspected a house and several auto repair shops in a neighborhood where residents recently converted two 1950s cars into boats that refugees used in attempts to reach the United States. The search came a day after eight residents of the Diezmero neighborhood in Havana were returned to Cuba by the US Coast Guard, after their converted 1959 Buick was spotted floating off Key West, Florida. (The Seattle Times, 12/2/04)

February 11: A family of four intercepted at sea while trying to get to Florida in a floating 1959 Buick returned home to jubilant relatives and cheering neighbors after Cuban authorities released them. "We feel good. They treated us as well as could be expected," Marcial Basanta said as he hugged and kissed the friends and family who gathered for his return to Havana's Diezmero neighborhood. (AP, 12/2/04)

February 11: After a restructuring of the "Manuel Sánchez Herrero" Institute of Independent Economists, Dr. Francisco Pijuán Rodríguez was appointed acting director. Former members of the Institute’s board, Martha Beatriz Roque and Arnaldo Ramos, have been in jail after last year’s crackdown on dissidents. (Cubanet, 11/2/04)

February 11: After two months of meetings, the November 30 Democratic Party "Frank País", emerged stronger and closed its ranks in the island. Ada Kaly Márquez, National Coordinator in function of the illegal partisan organization, reported that as per agreement of the party's Executive Committee, the New National Directors Committee board members are: Juan Hernández Herrera, Maite Vázquez González, and Alfredo Reynaldo Castro Rodríguez, in charge of Public Relations, Labor and Social Matters and Attention to the Political Prisoners and of Consciences respectively. (Puente Informativo, 11/2/04)

February 12: A book by Fidel Castro was launched at Havana’s Book Fair. Cuban publishing House “Abril” compiled a group of Castro’s speeches between July 2001 and September 2002 aimed at children. The President of the “Jose Martí” Children Organization, Miriam Janet Martin, presented the book and underscored its usefulness at school, the library or at home. (AIN, 12/2/04)

February 12: Cuba's national labor federation has called on Cubans to participate in demonstrations island-wide on May 1, International Workers Day.  National Council of the Cuban Workers Confederation, CTC, issued a statement convening activities nationwide as a "united response to threats of measures and aggressions against us by the current US Administration". (Radio Habana Cuba, 12/2/04)

February 13: A colloquium on Carl Marx’s economic and philosophic thinking was held at Havana’s International Book Fair. Participants stressed the validity of Marxist doctrine under current world conditions. Argentinean scholar Nestor Kohan underscored the revitalization of Carl Marx’s legacy in his country. (AIN, 13/2/04)

February 13: At a press conference, the President of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Jose Ramón Fernández, ratified the island’s aspiration to organize the 2012 Olympic Games. (AIN, 13/2/04)

February 13: Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya is among the record number of nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Paya, who was also nominated for the award in 2003, heads the so-called Varela Project. The movement aims to bring democratic change to communist Cuba through a referendum on political and economic reforms. (VOA, 13/2/04)

February 15: The 13th International Book Fair came to an end in the Cuban capital, but opened to the rest of the island. The annual fiesta of books included workshops, lectures, roundtables and concerts. More than 450,000 people visited the fair in Havana, that will now continue on in another 33 Cuban cities. At the closing ceremony, Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcón said the International Book Fair is a social event of special importance, "a space where culture and liberty merge." (Radio Habana Cuba, 15/2/04)

February 16: More than a half million Cuban children will receive doses of oral polio vaccine at the end of this month, according to the Ministry of Public Health. During the first stage more than 400,000 children from one month to three-years-old will receive the first oral dose. A second and final stage will be administered and over 150,000 nine-year-old children will have their vaccination reactivated. This is the 43rd polio vaccination campaign carried out across the island since 1959. (Radio Habana Cuba, 16/2/04)

February 17: Sources from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade (MINCEX) confirmed that after a long police investigation about ten officials are being prosecuted under corruption allegations. Among those involved are Gabriel Villar, director of foreign negotiations at MINCEX; Arnaldo Vega, a CIMEX executive, the largest business group on the island; and Iván Esteva, Cuban manager of the Spanish firm Provimar S.A. (El Nuevo Herald, 17/2/04)

February 18: A new airplane for Fidel Castro, replete with an office, conference room and bedroom, will be built by a Russian aeronautical firm based in the city of Voronezh, about 400 kilometers (some 250 miles) south of Moscow. The aircraft will be one of two similar planes commissioned by Cuba's official aviation firm and will replace the one custom-built for Castro 30 years ago, identical to the plane former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev used in his day. Castro's new plane will be like that currently used by Russian President, Vladmir Putin, based on the VIP model of the Il-96-300M. The plane outdoes the standard model with a more luxurious interior, chairs specially designed for comfort, satellite television and Internet access. (EFE, 18/2/04)

February 19: Cuban traffic authorities have suspended 18,000 drivers so far this year. They announced they would continue applying severe measures against offenders . Only 225 were suspended last year. The official daily Granma published a note from the Traffic division of the Ministry of Interior in reply to criticism from drivers. (World Data Service, 19/2/04)

February 20: As a goal achieved for its upcoming 8th Congress, the Federation of Cuban Women reported a record membership of four million in more than 40 years of foundation. Founded in 1960, the FMC is the only women’s organization in the island. (Prensa Latina, 20/2/04)

February 20: A book containing thousands of letters to the five Cubans imprisoned in the US by Cuban children was launched at the “Marcelo Salado” elementary school, where Elián González attends. (AIN, 20/2/04)

February 22: Havana Assistant Bishop Monsignor Salvador Riverón Cortina died from an intestinal blockage caused by a tumor. Cardinal Jaime Ortega, lead bishop in Havana and the island's top Roman Catholic churchman, officiated at a funeral Mass for Riverón at the cathedral in Old Havana. Pope John Paul II named Riverón to the post of assistant bishop in 1999, one year after the pontiff's historic visit to the communist-ruled island. (EFE, The Miami Herald, 22/2/04)

February 22: On the first anniversary of the last wave of repression against the Cuban internal opposition in March and April of 2003, the School of Independent Educators of Cuba announced a symbolic fast on the 18 and 19 of March in favor of the liberation of the Cuban political prisoners and those of conscience. "We cannot allow this date to pass without condemning these acts, because we would be leaving our brothers in prison without a voice ", said to Lux-Info-Press Soledad Rivas Verdecía, wife of Roberto de Miranda Hernandez, president of the School of Independent Educators of Cuba and Director of the Varela Project, unjustly serving a sentence of 20 years in prison. (Puente Informativo, 22/2/04)

February 23: With fireworks exploding over an old Spanish fort on Havana Bay, Cuba's Habanos Festival opened, drawing hundreds of foreigners for the annual tribute to the island's world famous cigars. Several hundred people gathered on the grounds of La Cabaña fort, where they were invited to try a special San Cristóbal brand cigar made for the sixth annual Habanos Festival. About 500 cigar merchants and other foreigners were expected at the event, said Miguel Campoy, an executive of Habanos S.A., the Cuban-Spanish firm that is the festival organizer and that markets the island's cigars abroad. Classic Harley-Davidson motorcycles from the 1950s were on display. Unlike past years, no foreign celebrities or high-ranking government officials were seen at the opening event. (AP, 23/2/04)

February 23: T he prisoner of conscience Julio Antonio Valdés Guevara was transported in critical health condition from the Canaleta prison, in the central province of Ciego de Avila, to the Julio Trigo hospital, in Havana. Valdés Guevara, director of the Independent Library Martyrs of the Tug Boat “March 13”, was arrested last March in Manzanillo as part of last year’s repressive wave and later sentenced to 20 years in jail. (Puente Informativo, 23/2/04)

February 23: ''I don't think it is worth commenting on them,'' says Alicia Alonso about the five young dancers who bailed out of her Ballet Nacional de Cuba tour last fall and defected to the United States. She then proceeded to comment anyway on the actions of Cervilio Amador and Gema Díaz, of Adiarys Almeida, Violeta Serrat and Luis Valdés, the latest protagonists of a Cuban ballet diaspora that has been going on for nearly half a century, including 20 in 2003. ''Of course it affects us,'' says Alonso, founder and head of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. “Not as a company, because we have 110 beautiful dancers, and we have more coming up each year through our school. But as human beings, I wish they had waited to develop a little more, to be better formed. Those young people who left may not believe this, but I worry about them.'' (Sun Sentinel, 23/2/04)

February 23: Cuban independent economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, is "gravely ill" and the doctors who are treating him "are contributing to his death", declared his mother, Clara Chepe Núñez. Espinosa Chepe's mother, who is 95 years old, sent a letter to the foreign media to report the prison conditions in which her son is being held. He is in a State Security cell in the Carlos J. Finlay Military Hospital in Havana. (BBC, 23/2/04)

February 23: The 13th International Book Fair is moving on to 11 cities in Cuba’s central region – from Villa Clara to Camagüey – in a further extension of one of the country’s most important cultural events. (Granma International, 23/2/04)

February 25: The International Habano Festival surprised its participants with a tribute paid to Sir Winston Churchill in the Hotel Nacional in the presence of his granddaughter, and the opening of a new Floridita restaurant in London. The former Minister's heir Jenny Reppard was given a humidor of Cuban cigars from Cuba's foremost grower Alejandro Robaina, who received a bronze bust of her granddad from Reppard in the event. She even tried a cigar for the first time, in homage of her illustrious ancestor, who visited Havana in 1947. Cuban rollers then named a new cigar vitola (type) on his name under the Partagas brand of cigars. (Prensa Latina, 25/2/04)

February 25: Cuban scientists disapprove of cloning for reproductive purposes; however, they support its therapeutic uses, according to specialists in the area. “Cuban scientists reject as unacceptable human cloning for reproductive purposes”, said the Deputy Director of the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Centre, Carlos Barroto, on local television. (EFE, 25/2/04)

February 25: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said that when Fidel Castro no longer governs Cuba, "in no case will it mean the end of the Cuban revolution", and he said that, in that event, the people of the island "will continue defending his legacy, building his dream". In an interview with Argentinean Telam, the Cuban Foreign Minister discussed a possible successor to Castro. “Revolutions are not made by the efforts of just one person (…) Our people will continue to move forward, defending his legacy, building his dream, and will not renounce the idea of being a socialist country, with equal opportunities and true justice and democracy”. (BBC, 25/2/04)