Chronicle on Cuba - February 2004

Foreign Affairs

February 2: A visit of a parliamentary delegation of Belarus to the Republic of Cuba has started. The Belarusian delegation is headed by Sergei Kostian, deputy chair of the permanent commission on international affairs, and head of the working group on cooperation with the Cuban National Assembly. (Belta, 2/2/04)

February 2: A group of Chilean senators on an official visit in Cuba met with dissident leader Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz to talk about the situation of civil, political and economic rights on the island. The delegation also met with Cuba’s Vice-President Carlos Lage, and the President of the National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcón. (Europa Press, 2/2/04)

February 3: Argentina’s president, Nestor Kirchner, will travel to Cuba "between February and March", said Raul Taleb, the Argentine ambassador to the island nation. He also defended his government's stance of not condemning the administration of Fidel Castro at the United Nations for alleged human rights violations. "There is no final date, but I would venture to say that President Kirchner will visit Cuba between February and March. I believe that the president wants to do so, although he has a very hectic and full schedule," Taleb said during an interview at the Argentine diplomatic mission in Havana. (BBC, 3/2/04)

February 3: The People in Need Czech humanitarian organisation has supported dissidents and families of political prisoners in Cuba for seven years and its delegation visited some of them recently, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) reports. Selected families of imprisoned Cuban dissidents will receive a one-off humanitarian aid of 200 dollars from the money collected within the SOS Cuba public fund raising, MfD notes. "Our aim is simple. We have been trying by all means to support democratic forces in Cuba," People in Need director Tomas Pojar told the paper. (CTK, 3/2/04)

February 3: Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, considered as very productive the II meeting of the Forum for East Asian-Latin American Cooperation, which was held in Manila, the Philippines. [Intervención del Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba en el Foro de Cooperación AL-AE] (AIN, 3/2/04)

February 4: The Ambassador of the Popular Republic of China in Cuba, Wang Zhiquan, was awarded the Medal of Friendship in recognition of what Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque called "his friendship and solidarity with and assistance for the Cuban Revolution." Pérez Roque presented the award to the Chinese diplomat, who will complete his posting this month, highlighting his tireless efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries. (Radio Habana Cuba, 4/2/04)

February 4: Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar told US Congress that Cuba is “one of the last remaining anomalies of history”. Mr. Aznar was the first Spanish prime minister to address Congress. Mr. Aznar added that he “would like to reiterate here my desire and hope that, before long, Cuba can be welcomed into the fold of free nations." (The Washington Times, 5/2/04)

February 5: Soldiers arrested Ulises Bernal Pérez, a Cuban doctor who allegedly kidnapped two Venezuelan journalists as he sought to defect to Colombia, said General Vivian Duran, a Colombian National Guard commander. Bernal Pérez was one of 10,000 Cuban doctors working in poor communities across Venezuela under President Hugo Chávez's ''Inside the Slum'' initiative -- a product of Chavez's close relationship with Fidel Castro. The Venezuelan government had been investigating reports that Bernal Pérez had slipped into hiding and was trying to defect. (The Miami Herald, 6/2/04)

February 5: At the inauguration of the 13 th Havana’s International Book Fair, the president of the Cuban Book Institute, Iroel Sanchez, accused the European Union of "complicity in an attempted cultural embargo" against the communist island and of hindering cultural exchanges between Cuba and Europe. He criticized the German government for having rejected Cuba's invitation to participate as an honored guest at the fair, although Berlin had committed itself to do so one year ago. "Our decision to honor German culture even under these circumstances was welcomed immediately by a group of friends and intellectuals from that country," Sanchez declared. He added that the Cuban publishing houses had specially published 22 titles by German authors for the occasion and that a group of important story-tellers, essayists and poets from Germany had signed over their authors' rights without compensation for those editions. (EFE, 5/2/04)

February 5: The Mexican Foreign Ministry confirmed that Fidel Castro has been invited to the Summit of Heads of State from Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union (ALCUE), which will take place in May in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Notimex, 6/2/04)

February 5: I nvited to the 13 th International Book Fair, Sir Colpille N. Young, General Governor of Belize, arrived in Havana. (Granma, 6/2/04)

February 6: An international higher education congress concluded in Havana with a call to end what participants termed the commercialization of education. The meeting-the fourth of its kind held in Cuba- passed a declaration that urges universities around the world to renovate themselves and to defend the culture, identity and sovereignty of countries. Fidel Castro delivered the gathering's closing address. He outlined some of the recent educational programs undertaken by Cuba, noting that in the process radical changes had been introduced in Cuban education to improve and promote it. (Radio Habana Cuba, 7/2/04)

February 6: Argentinean Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1980, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, issued a message from Buenos Aires calling on all Latin American and world intellectuals to be supportive of Cuba, which he said is currently under the threat of a military invasion from the United States. (World Data Service, 7/2/04)

February 7: The European Commission's delegation in Cuba denied the European Union had imposed a "cultural blockade" on the island, as a Cuban official claimed at the opening of this capital city's 23rd International Book Fair. "The European Commission's delegation in Cuba wants to say that the EU has never imposed a cultural blockade on Cuba and continues to be willing to support cultural activities in Cuba within the current framework defined by Cuban authorities," the delegation said in a note released in Havana. "On June 5, 2003, the EU (simply) decided to reduce the presence of its member states at cultural events in protest against the imprisonment of 75 political dissidents in March 2003, all of whom remain in prison," the note explained. (EFE, 7/2/04)

February 7: The office of the European Union Commission in Havana has been informed of the “cruel and degrading” treatment that Cuban dissidents suffer in the country’s jails, said EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid , Poul Nielson, to the EU Parliament. The Portuguese Member of the European Parliament, José Ribeiro e Castro, condemned before the Executive the living conditions of dissidents in Cuban jails. (Europa Press, 7/2/04)

February 7: Fidel Castro described presidents José María Aznar, of Spain, and George W. Bush, of the United States, as “repugnant characters.” In a 3-hours-and-20-minutes long speech closing a higher education congress, Castro, who has called Aznar the ‘Spanish Celestine,’ said that the Spanish President was a “Mussolini-like acolyte of the Führer who today holds in his hands the reins of the [US] empire.” (Europa Press, Granma, 7/2/04)

February 8: The Organizing Committee of the 13 th Havana International Book Fair rejected a communiqué from European Union in which it denies to be applying a cultural blockade against the island. “It is unbelievable that such a statement is released in a time when all measures taken by the EU on June 5, 2003 are in place (...) including a cultural boycott against our country which several [EU] members have been applying since then,” said the Cuban statement. [Desmiente Cuba supuesto comunicado de la UE] (World Data Service, 8/2/04)

February 9: Intellectual figures invited to the 13th Havana Book Fair met with their Cuban colleagues to initiate common action within an international movement to protect the planet from the evils that are threatening to destroy it, including neoliberal globalization and capitalism. They proposed ways of supporting a World Congress of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Humanity, to take place in Venezuela next December. During the exchange, one of the book fair’s high points, figures such as James Petras, Heinz Dieterich, François Houtard, Pablo González Casanova, Atilio Borón, Luis Britto and Tarek William Saab, Armando Hart, Carlos Martí, Roberto Fernández Retamar and Miguel Barnet, agreed on a number of basic principles underpinning this new struggle. They include the need to create an organization, constitute an organizing committee and embark on a program to promote those ideas. (Granma International, 10/2/04)

February 9: As a gathering of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) in Panama was cancelled, a meeting between Mexican Foreign Minister, Luis Ernesto Derbez, and his Cuban counterpart Felipe Pérez Roque scheduled to take place during that meeting had to be called off. (Notimex, 9/2/04)

February 9: More than 1,000 experts attending the 6th International Conference on Globalization and Development, including two Nobel Prize winners, are debating in Havana current world economy trends and their negative effects on the people. Globalization is inevitable and the world should make the best of it, Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel L. McFadden said. (Prensa Latina, AP, 9/2/04)

February 9: The extraterritorial enforcement of the so-called Helms-Burton Act on Cuban travel agencies based abroad, including Canada, announced by US Treasury Secretary John Snow, is illegal in Canada. Since 1997, a Canadian law protects Canadian companies doing business with Cuba, including those that operate in the tourism sector, from the provisions of the Helms-Burton. [For more on this, see US-Cuba Relations] (Notimex, 9/2/04)

February 10: Cultural Diversity in Cuba is being debated in a Colloquium that opened in the Cuban capital. UNESCO and Cuba's Casa de las Americas cultural institution, are sponsering the meeting which runs through Friday. The event, entitled "Cultural Diversity in the Caribbean", brings together the two institutions for the first time in defending the thesis that cultural diversity is as important to the human species as biodiversity is important to all live beings, noted UNESCO Representative in Cuba Francisco Lacayo. (Radio Habana Cuba, 10/2/04)

February 10: Cuba will keep all of its diplomatic personnel in Haiti and ship additional medical supplies to its doctors and nurses there, the Cuban Embassy announced. In a press release, the embassy said Cuban diplomats and medical staff in Haiti have received formal instructions from Havana to remain at their posts and continue their work. Some 570 Cuban health care workers, including 300 doctors, are currently in Haiti. Havana considers its medical mission in Haiti "very important," which is why the health personnel must remain at their posts to help the Haitian people, the statement said. (EFE, 10/2/04)

February 11: Irish Minister for European Affairs, Dick Roche, whose country holds the 6-month presidency of the European Union, refused to take any action against the United States on behalf of the five Cubans sent to prison for espionage. Roche believes that it is Cuba’s job to appeal to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. (Europa Press, 11/2/04)

February 12: Brazil was chosen as the guest of honor to the 14th Havana International Book Fair, scheduled to take place during in 2005. During a meeting at the San Carlos de La Cabaña Fortress, Joao Luiz Bocayuva Cunha, Head of the President’s Office of Brazil’s National Library, expressed his commitment of Brazilian literature to that event. (AIN, 12/2/04)

February 12: With a potential migration crisis brewing amid continued political turmoil in Haiti, Cuba has issued an appeal for international assistance for the troubled country just 50 miles off its eastern tip. '' Cuba believes that the international community cannot abandon Haiti. The social situation is getting worse,'' Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque urged the members of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). ''Collaborating with Haiti has become a duty for all of us, its neighbors.'' In the early 1990s, about 600 Haitians wound up in Cuba as thousands trying to escape the violence of a military coup in their homeland fled in rickety boats in an attempt to reach the United States. Cuba set up an emergency refugee camp near the sparsely populated eastern tip of the island to accommodate the Haitians who had come ashore in the eastern provinces of Camaguey, Holguin, Guantanamo and Santiago. Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, made the call at the opening ceremony of the ministerial meeting of the ACS, in Panama, and called on the Caribbean bloc to deliver more help to the turbulent country. (Xinhua, The Miami Herald, 12/2/04)

February 12: The Executive Committee of the Centrist Democrat International (CDI), headed by Spanish President, José María Aznar, passed a resolution condemning the Cuban government’s “repressive campaign.” The resolution also requests from Fidel Castro’s government the immediate suspension of all “terrorist acts”, the release of all political prisoners, and full respect for civil and political rights. (Europa Press, 12/2/04)

February 13: Argentine Foreign Minister, Rafael Bielsa, met with five anti-Castro intellectuals who in a public letter urged Argentina to recommend during the next meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission that Cuba allow international observers into the country. The letter also requests that the Argentine Embassy in Havana invite Cuban dissidents to its events. The meeting was attended by Marcos Aguinis, María Sáenz Quesada, Juan José Sebrelli, Fernando Ruiz, and Gabriel Salvia, director of CADAL, a policy centre based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Clarín, 13/2/04)

February 13: The 6th International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and the Problems of Development ended in the Cuban capital. More than 1400 delegates from nearly 50 countries took part in the workshops, working commissions and plenary sessions, which were held at Havana's International Convention Center all week. (Radio Habana Cuba, 13/2/04)

February 14: A brigade of 50 Cuban doctors traveled to Paraguay to provide care and conduct reseach there, the official press announced. The delegation, made up of general practitioners and 10 epidemiologists, will care for needy people as well as conduct research on diseases transmitted by insects and other animals, Granma official newspaper reported. This is the fourth Cuban medical brigade to offer its services in Paraguay. (EFE, 14/2/04)

February 14: The Cuban Council of State awarded its highest decoration- the “José Martí Medal”-, to Mexican sociologist Pablo González Casanova for the humanistic and Latin Americanist merits of his “life and work.” (Europa Press, 14/2/04)

February 15: Cuba has offered to give members of the Zambia’s MMD ( Movement for Multiparty Democracy) scholarships in politics and help them learn from its schools on the Cuban revolutionary government. Cuban director of African affairs Luis Morejón Poto said in Lusaka that Cuba had made the invitation because it enjoyed close ties with African nations, especially in Southern Africa. The Cuban envoy said this when he paid a courtesy call on MMD officials at the party secretariat. Speaking at the same function, MMD national secretary Samuel Miyanda thanked the Cuban government for the support it had continued rendering to Zambia. "Credit goes to the Cuban government for all the support it has rendered to Zambia in the field of medicine and the provision of medical facilities," Mr Miyanda said. (The Zambia Times, 15/2/04)

February 16: Cuban doctors and medical personnel in Guatemala are confronting a severe virus that has already claimed the lives of at least 50 children. According to health officials, the virus has brought on a serious diarrhea epidemic which is primarily affecting children under the age of five. Daniel Pupo, head of the island's medical brigade in Guatemala, reports that more than 520 Cuban health professionals are in the Central American country. (Radio Habana Cuba, 16/2/04)

February 17: Orlando Requeijo Gual, the new Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, presented his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Until his current appointment, from 2001, Mr. Requeijo Gual served as his mission's Deputy Permanent Representative. He was Director, Middle East and North Africa Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 2001, and in 2000 served as Presidential Special Envoy in eight states of the Persian Gulf and the Arabic Peninsula. From 1994 to 1998, he was Cuba's ambassador to Qatar. (Press Wire, 17/2/04)

February 17: French Member of Parliament, Yves Bur, asked the Cuban Ambassador in Paris permission to visit two political prisoners he sponsors. They are brothers José Daniel and Luis Enrique Ferrer García. Bur, also Vice-President of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement ( UMP), expressed during his meeting with Ambassador Eumelio Caballero that “the situation of Cuban prisoners of conscience is unacceptable,” according to a release by the French MP. (AFP, 17/2/04)

February 17: A United Nations envoy has published a scathing report on Cuba's treatment of political dissidents in prison. In a report produced for next month's annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission, Christine Chanet noted that the dissidents were tried and criticized their convictions within weeks or days of their arrests last year and the fact that the trials were closed to the public. Chanet, who prepared her report based on meetings with activists, human-rights investigators and other governments, said she has information that the dissidents are kept in very poor conditions, either in total isolation or in overcrowded cells with common criminals. They are often moved from one prison to another, making it difficult for their families to visit them. Chanet said she also was concerned about the April 11 execution of three Cubans who hijacked a ferry to try to reach the United States. She also noted that Cuba continues to suffer from the "disastrous and persistent" effects of the US economic embargo that has been in place for more than 40 years. "The extreme tension between Cuba and the United States creates a climate that is unfavorable to the development of freedom of expression and assembly," she said. "US laws and the financial support given to 'the building of democracy in Cuba' make political opponents on the island look like sympathizers with foreigners." Nevertheless, she said, it was up to the Cuban government to avoid making its people suffer any more than they already are. (CNN, BBC, 17/2/04)

February 17: A delegation of the Mexican "Partido del Trabajo" (PT) continued its five-day visit to Cuba. The Cuban Communist Party invited the PT delegation, led by its national coordinator, Alberto Anaya, who highlighted Cuba’s economic achievements without the support of the International Monetary Fund. (Prensa Latina, 17/2/04)

February 18: Vietnam´s President Tranh Duc Luong highlighted the excellent relations with Cuba in a farewell reception to retiring Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam, Fredesman Turro González. Luong said relations between Vietnam and Cuba are at a great moment and sent his greetings to Fidel Castro and the Cuban people. (Prensa Latina, 18/2/04)

February 19: About 30 Canadian secondary and university students are in Cuba on the second phase of a cultural, social and labour exchange program between the two nations- now in its 9 th consecutive year. “This program is more than a school as it allows to get acquainted with reality in the context of human relations,” said in Havana Matteu Pearse, president of Canada World Youth, a non-governmental organization that since 1977 hosts exchanges of students and teachers between Canada and developing countries. (World Data Service, 19/2/04)

February 19: “A shameful and indefensible behavior is that adopted by the European Union, which uses culture as a hostage to join the blockade against Cuba”, said Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto to the press in Eastern Camaguey city. Such a behavior was fought back during the 13th Havana International Book Fair, which was attended by more than 80 German personalities, and 34 publishing houses, Prieto told reporters. The Cuban Culture Minister recalled that the event, which was dedicated to Germany, has generated wide promotion of German culture in the island. (Notimex, 19/2/04)

February 19: A note in the official Cuban daily Granma praised former Mexican President, José López Portillo, for his political virtues. Portillo passed away in the Mexican capital. (World Data Service, 19/2/04)

February 19: An advocate of experimental cinema, Great Britain´s musician, actor, producer and director Mike Figgis is at the San Antonio International Cinema School (EICTV), south of Havana, to teach a class to Cuban film students. The famous director of Leaving Las Vegas and Hotel, known for his unconventional innovation, most recently the use of four cameras simultaneously in Time Code, accepted an invitation from the EICTV Board of Directors. (Prensa Latina, 19/2/04)

February 20: Canadian choir, the Greystone Singers, from Saskatchewan University, and Cuban Schola Cantorum Coralina performed at the Basílica Menor of San Francisco de Asís, in Havana. The Greystone Singers, headed by professor Gerald Langner and sponsored by Cuba-Canada Sports & Culture Festivals, showed a wide repertoir of both European classics and Canadian composers. (Granma, 20/2/04)

February 20: The first exchange of experiences organized by the International Police (INTERPOL) on the struggle against drug in the Caribbean, closed in Havana. According to Granma newspaper the meeting was held in the Ministry of the Interior Conference Center with the participation of delegates from 11 countries of the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The meeting was attended by six INTERPOL professors and officials headed by Mr. Stephen Schumerberk, director of Specialized Crime of INTERPOL’s General Secretariat, as well as Salvatore La Barbera, undersecretary of Organized Crime and Drug. The objective of the meeting was to update participants on the latest world tendencies in the use of synthetic drugs, traffickers´ ways to operate and techniques to fight drug trafficking. (Prensa Latina, 20/2/04)

February 20: The Vice Foreign Ministers of Laos and Cuba, Phonguavath Bounpha and José Guerra Menchero, met in the capital of the East Asian nation. Guerra Menchero heads a delegation from the Cuban Foreign Ministry currently on an official visit in Laos. (Radio Habana Cuba, 21/2/04)

February 20: A delegation of the Mexican Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) is winding up a six-day visit to Cuba at the invitation of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC). The PT delegation, led by its President Alberto Anaya, met with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque who thanked them for the continued and decisive friendship of the Mexican people. (Prensa Latina, 20/2/04)

February 20: Contrary to widely circulated reports, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew did not confer the Order of St. Andrew upon Fidel Castro, nor did he present him with the Cross of St. Andrew. According to Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Order of St. Andrew, who accompanied the Patriarch on his recently concluded historic trip to Cuba, "His All Holiness gave to the Cuban leader a simple cross bearing the seal of the Patriarchate, as an expression of gratitude to the people of Cuba for the return and reconstruction of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Havana." "Fidel Castro, despite his government's recent act of generosity to our Orthodox Church, does not espouse the Christian faith, and was never considered for this high honor," Limberakis added. (Archon Aktouarios & National Commander, 20/2/04)

February 22: Mexico’s immigration authorities detained a couple of Cuban doctors fleeing from Venezuela at Mexico City’s International Airport, said the Mexican newspaper El Siglo. I mmigration officer Alberto Pliego said the couple tried to enter Mexico with fake Venezuelan passports and will be sent back to Caracas. The couple is part of the doctors’ brigade that Havana has sent to Venezuela. (NotiCuba Internacional, 24/2/04)

February 22: A new team of 60 Cuban physicians has begun rendering their services in six Zimbabwean provincial hospitals. Doctor Felipe Delgado Bustillo, the head of the medical team, explained that 43 of the specialists are replacing those who had worked in Zimbabwe as part of the Integral Health Program for two years. (Prensa Latina , 23/2/04)

February 22: Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez, asked Chile to reverse its decision in recent years to vote to condemn Cuba's human rights record, newspaper La Tercera said. Chile, as part of the United Nations' Human Rights Commission, voted in 2000, 2002 and 2003 to criticize Cuba's record. Perez met with Cristian Barros, Chile's deputy foreign minister, during his nine-hour visit to Chile, the first visit by a Cuban official during the administration of Chilean Socialist President Ricardo Lagos. (Bloomberg, 23/2/04)

February 23: The Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, arrived in Asunción on an official visit to Paraguay to review bilateral relations. Perez Roque will hold talks with his Paraguayan counterpart, Leila Rashid. The Cuban minister will also meet with the leaders of the National Congress and the House of Deputies, as well as with senators and members of the Foreign Affairs commission. The guest will also hold talks with the Ministers of Health, Education, and the vice ministers of Culture and Youth. (Prensa Latina, 22/2/04)

February 23: Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, stated in Asunción, Paraguay, that the relations between Cuba and Latin America widened as part of the new situation in the region. The Cuban minister commented to reporters that Cuba´s relations with the rest of the area are extending, with the exception of a few cases of governments "subordinated and accomplices to the US policy of aggression and blockade" against Cuba. In his opinion, the new regional dynamics that discredit of neoliberalism, and the appearance of new popular movements claiming for deep changes in the zone, are catalysts for the current situation. (Prensa Latina, 23/2/04)

February 24: Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte is hosting Cuba´s Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque on the second day of his visit to Paraguay, designed to improve bilateral relations and expand cooperation. Cuba and Paraguay have found common ground to strengthen trade relations. So far, there´s been not much trade between the two countries due to distance and past political factors, Perez Roque said. (Prensa Latina, 25/2/04)

February 24: A UN organization has awarded its World Press Freedom Prize to Cuban journalist Raúl Rivero Castañeda, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said it gave Mr. Rivero the prize for his "brave and long-standing commitment to independent reporting." The group also said it is concerned about the conditions in which Mr. Rivero is being held, and called on Cuba to release him and other reporters. Last April, Rivero and 25 other journalists were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on charges of undermining Cuba's communist government. (VOA, 24/2/04)

February 24: The President of the Dominican Republic, Hipólito Mejía, has expressed his personal appreciation for Cuba's training of doctors from his country. During an event at the Government Palace, the Dominican president noted that 40 young people have been accepted to study at the Latin American School of Medicine. (Radio Habana Cuba, 24/2/04)

February 24: The European Union put out feelers to Cuba in an effort to overcome the deep chill in relations prompted by last year's wave of harsh repression on the communist-ruled island, but the overture was rejected by Havana, diplomatic sources said. They spoke of "discreet gestures" and "testing the waters" from the European side but reported that Havana did not respond in kind. It was up to Ireland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, to contact high-ranking Cuban officials in Dublin with a "conciliatory message" in the hopes of breaking the ice, according to the sources. In the message, the EU told Cuban officials that if Cuba "took concrete steps to improve the human rights situation, we would correspond immediately." Cuba's written response came a few days later, and stated that authorities on the island believe the "only way to improve the situation is for the EU to stop inviting mercenaries to their embassies." (EFE, 24/2/04)

February 25: The Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque´s visit to Argentina marks an important moment for strengthening bilateral relations. His visit includes discussions with Buenos Aires authorities to coordinate President Kirchner's next visit to the Caribbean island. Other points on the foreign minister's agenda will be to discuss Cuba's $1.9 billion debt with Argentina and Buenos Aires' abstention on the United Nations vote on the question of human rights in Cuba. Both governments already exchanged points of view about these matters last October when Bielsa made an official visit to Cuba. (Prensa Latina, EFE, 25/2/04)

February 25: Another group of forty young people from Guatemala have left for Havana to study medicine in response to an offer made by the Cuban government. Havana's ambassador to Guatemala City, Angel Abascal, saw the students off at the airport. Speaking with reporters, the island's representative in the Central American country said that these 20 young men and 20 women will study to become doctors and, when they graduate, return to Guatemala to treat people in poor, remote communities. (Radio Habana Cuba, 25/2/04)

February 25: The first Latin American campaign in support of the Cuban civic movement has been announced during an event at the Asamblea Legislativa of Costa Rica, headed by Mario Redondo Poveda, president of the Asamblea. The "Letter of Support to the Cuban Civic Movement", the fundamental document of this initiative, was read publicly and signed by Former Presidents of Costa Rica Luis Alberto Monge, Mario Echandi, Oscar Arias, José Joaquín Trejos, Rafael Angel Calderón, Rodrigo Carazo and other Latin American leaders. The campaign has been supported by the Costa Rican Committee of Solidarity with the Democracy in Cuba, a non-governmental organization based in San José, and the Cuban Democratic Directory, an organization with headquarters in Miami. (Puente Informativo, 26/2/04)

February 25: Uruguay will not respond to Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, who accused President Jorge Batlle of being an agent of foreign powers”. “It is not for us to comment on statements made by a country with which we broke diplomatic relations”, said Uruguayan Foreign Minister, Didier Opertti. (AFP, 25/2/04)

February 26: Uruguayan lawmaker Jaime Trobo has been accused by Cuban authorities of participating in a plan against the island’s government coordinated by “terrorist organizations” based in the US, Spain and other nations. The accusation was made in Montevideo, by Cuban journalist and legislator Lázaro Barredo. Barredo revealed the actions of the politician, also member of the National Party and close supporter of former leader (1990-1995) Luis Alberto Lacalle. (AIN, 26/2/04)

February 26: Argentina and Cuba touted the warmth of their bilateral relations in a press release, during the last day of Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque's official visit to Buenos Aires. Perez Roque, who met with president Nestor Kirchner, is set to tour Argentina's provinces. Also, Perez Roque's Argentine counterpart, Rafael Bielsa, delivered to the Cuban visitor two letters written by the son of a Cuban doctor barred from leaving the Communist island because of her differences with the Castro regime. (EFE, 26/2/04)

February 26: Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, refused to receive a letter signed by over twenty Argentinean lawmakers asking for the liberation of 75 Cuban dissidents. The letter was handed over to Roque by lawmakers Martín Borrelli (Frente Compromiso para el Cambio) and Fernanda Ferrero (Unión por Buenos Aires) minutes before the minister’s meeting with the mayor of Buenos Aires. Pérez Roque didn’t accept the letter saying that “there are no political prisoners in Cuba.” (Encuentro en La Red, 27/2/04)

February 26: A Mexican delegation of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) has arrived in Cuba invited by the Cuban Parliament and the Island´s Communist Party (PCC). Deputy Jose Alberto Aguilar, member of the National Defense, Marine and Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Deputies, leads the delegation. (Prensa Latina, 26/2/04)

February 27: Cuban independent journalist Raul Rivero, who is serving 20 years behind bars, was "moved, surprised and happy" to find out that he was awarded the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize, his wife told the press. Rivero's wife, Blanca Reyes, broke the news to him over the phone. She said Rivero asked her to convey his gratitude to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and send a message "to the world's free journalists telling them he will uphold with dignity the name of the late Colombian journalist," referring to Guillermo Cano whose name is that of the Award. (EFE, 28/2/04)

February 27: Fourteen Cubans who left their country made it to the Honduran city of La Ceiba after their boat capsized, officials said. La Ceiba Deputy Police Chief Juan Lopez said one of the "rafters" told him the group sailed toward Honduras, southwest of the island, with the intention of requesting political asylum and finding work there. Immigration authorities will make the Cubans' names public and ultimately decide their fate, Lopez added. (EFE, 27/2/04)

February 27: The long-running case of a Canadian businessman charged with violating the US embargo against Cuba came to an end with a fine and a sentence of a year's probation. James Sabzali, 45, pleaded guilty to a charge of "smuggling" several thousand dollars worth of supplies destined for the island. He pleaded guilty in exchange for the probation and a $10,000 fine. With the sentence, he avoids deportation. Sabzali has lived in Philadelphia since 1996. U.S. prosecutors said Sabzali broke the law while working for the American company Brotech Corp. U.S. officials said the company circumvented the trade embargo by selling products to foreign companies, which then shipped them to Cuba. (CBC Canada, 27/2/04)