Chronicle on Cuba - September 2004

Foreign Affairs

September 1: A group of 27 Cuban believers, including some evangelic leaders and Catholic laymen, traveled to Caracas, to attend the second meeting with Venezuelan counterparts. Raul Suarez, director of Havana-based Martin Luther King Center, told the press that the meeting's purpose is to reflect on biblical and theological unity, reconciliation, peace and justice. The gathering will also be an opportunity for exchanging views on the church’s mistakes and reflect on revolutionary movements' flaws in their relation with religion. (Prensa Latina, 1/9/04)

September 1: Martín Torrijos, the son of a former dictator, took office as Panama's president, promising better relations with Cuba. He criticized Moscoso for last week's pardon of four Cuban exiles who had been accused by the Cuban government of trying to kill Fidel Castro at a summit in Panama in 2000. ''For me, there are not two classes of terrorism, one that is condemned and another that is pardoned (…) It has to be fought no matter what its origins,'' Torrijos said. Torrijos said he would seek to improve relations with both Cuba and Venezuela, which were angered by Moscoso's pardon of the Cuban exiles. Castro's government broke off relations, and Venezuela recalled its ambassador. (AP, 1/9/04)

September 2: Half a hundred Cuban doctors, members of the Special Program of Health in Honduras, attended an emergency operation against dengue in Rivera Hernandez shantytown, in San Pedro Sula department. The anti-dengue operation was developed to face the appearance of new cases in this sector, noted the chief of the metropolitan area, Diogenes Chavez. The coordinator of the Cuban doctors, Redelio Rendon, explained that in the last 32 weeks over seven thousand cases of dengue were reported, 120 of hemorrhage dengue with high incidence in this capital and in San Pedro Sula, according to official statistics. (Prensa Latina, 3/9/04)

September 2: According to Panamanian First Vice-President and Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro, Panama's new government initiated diplomatic contacts to mend relations with Cuba and Venezuela. (EFE, 2/9/04)

September 3: Radio Prague, the international service of the Czech Republic's state-owned radio, will expand its Cuba-focused programming next year, with an eye to human rights and peaceful democratic transition on the island. For four months, Radio Prague has been broadcasting a weekly 10-minute program on short-wave radio called "From Totalitarianism to Democracy," which directly addresses the communist-ruled island. "This initiative, an alternative to Miami programs, explains how the transition in Eastern Europe went, as told by its protagonists," Carlos Gonzalez, a representative of the nongovernmental People in Need foundation, told the press. The show "will help Cubans apply the experiences to their own situation," Gonzalez said. (EFE, 3/9/04)

September 4: Cuba's civic movement received the support of six former Costa Rican presidents and some 300 congressional members from 12 Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela. The group released a letter stating that, “Cuba is governed at present by the only dictatorship remaining in Latin America. There, the values of freedom are disregarded in the most visible manner”. “In collective and general terms, our region still has not expressed itself in a clearly defined manner regarding this opening to the budding Cuban civic movement. In view of the hope for a peaceful change that emerges from the depths of Cuban reality, Latin American regional organisms and the embassies of our countries in Havana have a moral obligation to respond in a positive manner”, the letter adds. (The Miami Herald, 4/9/04)

September 6: Guinea Bissau minister of Foreign Business, International Cooperation and Communities, Soares Sambu, arrived in Havana on an official visit to Cuba. Sambu will hold official talks with Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque, and later sign an inter-ministerial agreement. (Prensa Latina, 6/9/04)

September 6: Recent denunciations of political prisoner abuse in Cuba could delay consideration by the European Union (EU) of a downgrading of diplomatic sanctions imposed against Havana in June 2003, European diplomatic sources told the media. According to a Dutch report to the EU, the Dutch EU Presidency summoned Cuba's second ambassador to The Hague to communicate concerns over the use of "torture and abuse" against imprisoned oppositionists in Cuban jails. (Europa Press, 6/9/04)

September 6: EU Council experts on Latin American issues will debate a study on the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, a recent Bush Administration initiative concerning the future of the island. Taking into account recommendations by the EU-25 ambassadors in Havana, the Dutch EU Presidency's considers that the U.S. initiative only has bilateral political relevance between Cuba and the United States. (Europa Press, 6/9/04)

September 7: Nauru's Health Minister said the arrival of 11 Cuban doctors has made a major contribution to the country's ability to handle serious health problems. The Cuban Government sent the doctors to Nauru two months ago, following a request made to Fidel Castro. Nauru's Health Minister Kieren Keke, a medical doctor who used to spend half his day at the hospital and the other half in his ministerial office, says the arrival of the Cuban doctors has taken a lot of pressure off the local medical fraternity. (ABC, 7/9/04)

September 8: Seven Cuban rafters missing at sea for a week are safe and sound in the Bahamas, Miami activists have confirmed. "We are glad to confirm that the seven missing young men are in Nassau," said Angel de Fana, head of the organization "Plantados." (El Nuevo Herald, 9/9/04)

September 9: The Parliamentary Group of Spain’s People's Party has submitted draft legislation to its Congress aimed at having the Chamber of Representatives' Plenary Session express support for the Varela Project. The Popular Party initiative takes place prior to the second phase of the Varela Project, known as "National Dialogue," soon to be launched in Cuba and abroad. (Europa Press, 9/9/04)

September 9: The Canadian Network on Cuba is currently holding its convention to evaluate the solidarity work carried out over the past two years and to draw up new action plans. Representatives of 11 Friendship-with-Cuba Associations in English speaking Canada, two communist parties, and the Worker to Worker and the Postal Workers labor unions are attending the event underway in Toronto, Canada. In a press release, the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP), said convention activities began as over 50 participants waged a demonstration to protest the recent pardoning of four anti-Cuba terrorists by former Panamanian President Mireya Mosocoso, including Luis Posada Carriles. ICAP vice-president Enrique Roman heads a delegation from Cuba to the Canadian event. Also attending are Antonio Pubillones, Cuban political attaché in Ottawa and Laureano Cardoso, the Caribbean nation’s General Consul in Toronto. (AIN, 9/9/04)

September 9: Some 50 deputies from 10 member nations of the Latin American Parliament, PARLATINO, are meeting in Havana to analyze health, energy and mining in the region. The meeting will be divided into two working committees. Access to health services in the continent including the impact on demographics and the main causes of ill health in adults and children are the main topics to be discussed in the health committee. The Energy and Mines Committee is discussing the experiences of public corporations and alternative energy sources. (Radio Habana Cuba, 9/9/04)

September 10: Seven Cubans reached the Caribbean island of Guanaja, off the coast of Honduras, in a small wooden boat, a Honduran immigration official reported. The Cubans, all males, said they were from Camaguey, Cuba, from where they had sailed the previous week, he added. The men also said they wanted to go to Tegucigalpa, perhaps to travel to the United States from there, officials speculated. (EFE, 11/9/04)

September 13: With regards to Cuba, Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Ibero-America, Bernardino León, expressed before the Senate's Ibero-American Affairs Commission the need to "re-establish a normal dialogue, while continuing to push for improvements in the human rights situation." León also stressed that policies that instigate confrontation and obstruct dialogue can only benefit Castro's regime. (Europa Press, 13/9/04)

September 14: A group of eight Cuban refugees arrived by boat in the isles of Cisne, Atlantic Honduras. The group is under the custody of Honduran authorities, it was officially reported. (AP, 15/9/04)

September 15: Great Britain offered the Cuban government emergency aid to alleviate damage caused by hurricane Ivan, which killed at least 71 people in the Caribbean and is currently headed for U.S. shores. Last week, Fidel Castro declared that Cuba would not accept humanitarian assistance from countries that have enforced sanctions against its government. (AFP, 15/9/04)

September 15: The head of the UN body that focuses on disaster reduction said Cuba is a model for other countries in the management of hurricane risks, according to UN News Center. Salvano Briceño, director of the International Secretariat for Disaster Reduction, said Cubans are taught in schools, universities and workplaces how to prepare for hurricanes and how to cope with them if they hit the country. Some 1.3 million Cuban people were evacuated from their homes in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Ivan. Television and radio stations are used to transmit information to the public and all institutions are mobilized 48 hours in advance of the expected arrival of a serious storm. (Prensa Latina, 15/9/04)

September 15: At the European Parliament (EP) Chamber, a group of 40 representatives from 10 countries have formed the Group for Solidarity and Friendship with Cuba, which seeks non-discriminatory treatment of Cuba by the European Union, like the rest of the developing world receives. EP socialist representative Miguel Angel Martínez was unanimously chosen as president of the Group. (Europa Press, 15/9/04)

September 15: A report called "Manifesto for the freedom of the prisoners of conscience in Cuba" presented by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in Madrid said that Cuba lacks an alibi "with which it can excuse or explain" its political and civil rights abuses. Also on hand for the report's presentation, which will be delivered to the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba at that body's first summit in Prague, were prominent Cuban exile Carlos Alberto Montaner and the president of the Spanish Association Cuba in Transition, Rafael Rubio. In the event, organized by the Fundación para el Análisis y los Estudios Sociales, headed by Aznar, the former president of the Spanish government demanded the Cuban government grant "immediate and unconditional" freedom for all prisoners of conscience. [Manifiesto, pdf] (EFE, 15/9/04)

September 16: Cuban official newspaper Granma chastised former Spanish President José María Aznar, who once again demanded the "immediate and unconditional" release of all political prisoners in the island. Under the headline "A now weaker Hurricane Aznar hits Cuba one more time," the daily claims that the ex-President is following to the letter the instructions of his "bosom buddy" George W. Bush. (Europa Press, 16/9/04)

September 16: During a Parliament session, Dutch Foreign Minister, Bernard Bot, said that Dutch diplomats in Cuba do not have access to the intellectuals imprisoned in Cuban jails. Bot said that, “our Embassy in Havana cannot have access to Cuban dissidents, in spite of the efforts they make to meet them”. The Dutch minister emphasized the importance of the European Union pressures on the Cuban government in order to obtain the liberation of “the 68 intellectuals imprisoned in Cuba for the crime of having opposed current political regime”. (EFE, 16/9/04)

September 16: Mothers, wives and daughters of 75 imprisoned Cuban dissidents have sent a letter of thanks to the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC) which will shortly meet in Prague. The statement of Cuban women recalls that the dissidents are kept under extremely severe conditions which have a negative impact on their health. They suffer from various diseases which are not treated properly in prison. Cuban women in their letter appreciated solidarity and the committee's interest to help liberate those who are guilty only of the love for their country. Most of the women are relatives of the political opponents who were imprisoned by the Cuban regime last year. Among the signatories is the wife of Cuban poet and journalist Raul Rivero, 57, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison and whose health condition is allegedly very poor. One of his books has recently been published in the Czech Republic. (CTK, 16/9/04)

September 17: Former Czech President, Vaclav Havel, will be joined by politicians, intellectuals, and non-governmental organizations, during the first meeting of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba. The meeting will discuss strategies for a peaceful transition on the island. Also in attendance will be Chile's Patricio Aylwin, his nation's first democratic president after the end of the Pinochet regime in 1990, former Canadian prime minister, Kim Campbell, and Luis Alberto Monge and Luis Alberto Lacalle, former heads of state in Costa Rica and Uruguay, respectively. Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar is also slated to take part in the gathering that is taking place under the auspices of the Czech Foreign Ministry and Senate. (EFE, 16/9/04)

September 17: Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar called for the release of dozens of inmates in Cuba, charging they're political prisoners held "simply because they have a different opinion from the official line." He spoke at a meeting of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, which is examining ways to support resistance to Fidel Castro’ regime. Participants highlighted the case of Raul Rivero, a dissident journalist and author who was arrested in March 2003 along with 74 others in a crackdown on the opposition. (AP, 18/9/04)

September 17: Ricardo Alarcón, the president of the Cuban parliament, said that Cuban-Mexican relations were on the mend. Alarcón was speaking at a reception, held by the Mexican embassy in Havana, to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day. He was the most senior Cuban to attend, though the minister of culture, Abel Prieto, was also there along with a swarm of junior officials. Alarcón admitted that relations between the two countries were still not perfect but said that their improvement was inevitable. He said both countries could work out their differences and pointed out that next week there will be a meeting of the Mexican-Cuban inter-parliamentary union. He also praised the Mexican ambassador to Cuba, Roberta Lajous, saying that everyone in Cuba liked and respected her. (Latin News Daily, 17/9/04)

September 18: Former Czech President Vaclav Havel has opened an international conference in Prague on promoting democracy in Cuba. He told delegates that Cuba's situation would change soon and that opponents to Fidel Castro's 45-year rule should prepare for the end of "dictatorship". Mr Havel said a free, post-Castro Cuba should take inspiration from the experience of eastern Europe. "Some will be surprised to have so much freedom after all these years of communism and to have so much weight on their shoulders," he told delegates. Former Czech president Vaclav Havel described Cuba as "a giant prison", as he called for international mobilisation to persuade the country to commit to a peaceful transition to democracy. "Cuba is a giant prison. We have to put up alarm bells around the walls," he said. "With every signature, every conference we make another step towards freedom in Cuba." The Prague meeting is being organised by the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, founded by Mr Havel a year ago. (BBC, AFP, 19/9/04)

September 18: A fleet of environmentally-friendly buses will soon be on the streets of Havana thanks to a donation from the German State of Hessen and the Transport Association of Rhine Meno, the Granma daily newspaper reported. Parliamentary Member Dieter Posch presented the 13 buses, with capacity for between 110 and 180 passengers to the Cuban Minister of Transport, Carlos Manuel Pazos, at the central Bus Terminal in the Cuban capital. (Radio Habana Cuba, 19/9/04)

September 18: Swedish MEP Cecilia Malmstroem said at a meeting of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC) in Prague, that pressure on the United States to lift the economic embargo should be one of the pillars of EU policy towards Cuba. Malmstroem said that most of the European Parliament believes that the embargo has not been effective, has not brought anything positive and is used only as an alibi for the dictatorship in Cuba. Former Uruguayan President Luis Alberto Lacalle said he agrees with this opinion, adding that if George Bush wins re-election as president of the United States, he should re-evaluate this ineffective policy. Malmstroem said that coordination of activities between countries in Latin America, the United States and Europe is key, which a UN resolution from last year's conference on human rights shows. (CTK, 18/9/04)

September 19: The three-day conference of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC) concluded with a discussion between European and Latin American NGOs. The groups agreed to ask the European Commission to work out a plan on how to deal with Cuba after a regime change. "Eastern European countries can contribute their experiences so that chaos is avoided," Milan Nic form the Pontis group said. Former Czech President Vaclav Havel also stressed the need to prepare for communism's fall in Cuba. NGOs also debated on how they can help Cuba. "Spain and the Netherlands are the largest investors in Cuba. Every investment, into a hotel for example, violates international conventions in several ways, labour codes, for example," Nic said. He added that the fact that the Cuban government charges several times what it pays out to workers means that investments are moral support for the regime. (CTK, 19/9/04)

September 19: The declaration adopted by the Summit of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, known as the "Prague Memorandum," seeks "to set out common objectives for a general plan of support for democracy in Cuba that can be implemented in a coordinated manner at different levels and from different parts of the world. The task of general coordination and support for this plan will correspond to the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba." [The Prague Memorandum] (El Nuevo Herald, 19/9/04)

September 19: If a small but growing group of Argentine legislators has its way, the remains of Che Guevara will come back home one day -- back, that is, to a home that many people do not know he had. "Some people may be in favor of his ideas, and some may be against, but all agree that Che was a figure of noble causes," said Ines Perez Suarez, a congresswoman from Buenos Aires who wants the government to ask the Castro regime to repatriate Guevara's remains. "Che is admired all over the world, and the Argentine people deserve to have him back." That Castro would agree to such a request is unlikely if not unthinkable. One of Guevara's Cuban sons said he considered it so outlandish, "at first I thought it was a joke." (Chicago Tribune, 19/9/04)

September 18: The 23rd Economic and Scientific-Technical Commission between Cuba and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea opened at the Sojedong Residential Complex in Pyongyang. Cuban Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas and DPRK Trade Minister Ri Kyong Man are chairing sessions on the development of bilateral economic and commercial relations over the last two years, and exchange views on relations in 2005 in a wide variety of areas. (Prensa Latina, 18/9/04)

September 18: A group of Cubans who tried to make it to Florida aboard a boat made from a 1959 Buick have started a hunger strike to protest the limbo they've fallen into since being sent to Guantanamo Bay where they are waiting on their asylum claims.      The Cubans - 13 of the some 38 - began the hunger strike after being held at the US outpost in eastern Cuba for months, according to William Sanchez, a Miami attorney for Luis Grass Rodriguez, one of the Cubans who made the trip in the makeshift boat in February. "What they're asking for is to be granted political asylum in the United States or for the United States to expedite political asylum, or for the minimum a third country, but to not keep them in Guantanamo any longer because that violates international law on political asylum and because the stay there is unbearable,'' said Sanchez. The migrants are being held on the Leeward side of the base away from the terror suspects. (AP, 18/9/04)

September 20: Slovakia hosted a conference for the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba, indicating a seismic shift in Slovak foreign policy towards Cuba. Meanwhile, Slovak non-governmental organisations (NGO) have been actively supporting Cuba's political dissidents, and several Slovak representatives have criticised the Castro regime for human rights violations, especially after the Cuban government detained a number of people accused of conspiring with the US. Slovakia's increasing involvement was highlighted when Bratislava hosted a conference supporting the democratic movement in Cuba. The conference came after a meeting held in Prague by the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba. "We are observing increasing interest in some groups, for example, the NGOs, the media, and citizens who have visited Cuba as tourists," programme manager of the Pontis Foundation Milan Nič told the press. (Slovak Spectator, 27/9/04)

September 20: A senior Cuban government delegation is headed to Southeast Asia for a three-nation tour. The group, led by senior government official Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, will travel to China, Laos and Vietnam for talks. Also joining the delegation are Salvador Valdés Mesa, member of the Central Committee and first secretary of the Party in Camagüey, and Oscar Martínez Cordovés, vice chief of the International Relations Department of the CC. Details of the meetings have not been released. (VOA, Granma, 20/9/04)

September 20: Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona arrived in Cuba in another effort to kick his 20-year cocaine addiction and regain his health. A grinning but seriously overweight Maradona gave the thumbs up to European tourists as he slowly made his way through the airport but he frowned at reporters and refused to talk to them before being whisked away into the night. The 43-year-old, one of the most gifted players in the history of soccer, was accompanied on the flight from Argentina by his personal doctor Alfredo Cahe and his two sisters, among others. Maradona, who led Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup, will be treated at the Cuban Interior Ministry's Centre for Mental Health (CENSAM). (Reuters, 20/9/04)

September 20: Dissident Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas praised the outcome of the Prague Summit for democracy in Cuba and said that criticism of the event from domestic opposition figures was uncalled for. "I can't understand why anybody would have anything against a summit that aimed at promoting civil society in Cuba," indicated the leader of the Varela Project. From Havana, Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo, leader of Cuban Change, said that the Czechs had made a mistake in inviting people who did not have the best interests of the Cuban nation in mind and acted to promote "unscrupulous destabilization plans against Cuba." [Message from Oswaldo Payá to the Prague Summit] (El Nuevo Herald, 20/9/04)

September 21: Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona was having medical examinations in Cuba and received a message of support from Fidel Castro for his latest efforts to kick cocaine, Argentina's ambassador said. The soccer great was met by Cuban Health Minister, Jose Ramon Balaguer, and Secretary of the Council of State, Jose Miyar Barrueco, upon his arrival in Havana´s international airport. The Cuban officials brought a message from Castro welcoming Maradona and offering his support, Argentina's ambassador, Raul Taleb. (Reuters, 21/9/04)

September 22: Cuban and Mexican legislators began working to improve bilateral relations at the 7th Inter-Parliamentary Meeting, in an encounter favored by Havana´s authorities, said Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban Parlament. The meeting officially opened at the Nacional Hotel with the participation of 10 Mexican Senators and six Congress people, representing six political parties, and eight Cuban Assembly representatives. At the opening ceremony, Cuban Congress President Ricardo Alarcon urged participants to insist on better friendship and fraternal relations based on honest dialogue among real friends to improve bilateral ties. All Mexican political parties are represented in the delegation led by PAN Senator Marco Antonio Adame (Partido Accion Nacional). Among others in the delegation are PRD Jorge Martinez (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica), who is coordinator, and PT (Partido del Trabajo) Pedro Vazquez, president of the recently-constituted Mexico-Cuba Friendship Group. (Prensa Latina, 22/9/04)

September 22: The head of Cuba's medical brigade in Haiti, Juan Carlos Chávez, has announced that Cuban doctors are working to return health facilities to normal and assist Haitians affected by tropical storm Jeanne. In an interview with Cuban journalists, Dr. Chávez said Cuban medical personnel were evacuated from the path of the storm, but are now ready with medicine and provisions to help counteract infections and possible epidemics in Haiti. (Radio Habana Cuba, 23/9/04)

September 22: Delegates from ten countries are debating the development of fragile ecosystems at an international workshop in the eastern Cuban province of Santiago. Among participants at the three-day event are specialists from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, El Salvador and Guatemala, who will share experiences and research with their Cuban counterparts. The workshop is sponsored by the Cuban Science, Technology and Environment Ministry, the Canadian International Development Agency, the non-governmental organization Alternative, the United Nations Development Program and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences. (Prensa Latina, 22/9/04)

September 24: Chinese President Hu Jintao said in Beijing that China has set an unswerving policy on consolidating ties with Cuba, and the policy will not alter regardless of changes in the international situation. Hu made the remarks at a meeting with Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee and vice president of the Council of State of Cuba. With concerted efforts, China believes the bilateral friendship between China and Cuba would be better developed, said Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China. (Xinhua, 24/9/04)

September 24: Mexican and Cuban legislators meeting in Havana criticized the US embargo against Cuba while avoiding thorny issues that might affect bilateral relations. The final statement from the conference, the first since the crisis that had the two countries on the verge of breaking off diplomatic relations in May, does not mention issues like Cuba's debt to Mexico or the latter's criticism of the human rights situation on the island. The document said the 42year-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba "violates the principles of international law and norms governing relations between countries." The statement also expressed the legislators' "satisfaction" with the "normalization of bilateral relations within an atmosphere of respect and cordiality." Havana and Mexico City exchanged ambassadors over the summer after nearly severing diplomatic ties in May. In addition, it highlighted the need to expand trade and opportunities for investment to promote bilateral exchanges and proposed a treaty that would do away with double taxation. The statement did not mention Cuba's debt to Mexico, some 480 million, although both delegations agreed to refer the issue to the appropriate government agencies. (El Universal, 24/9/04)

September 24: In a press conference, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos confirmed that, during a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Felipe Pérez Roque, the release of political prisoners in Cuba, particularly that of Raúl Rivero, had been discussed. Asked whether they had talked about the incarcerated poet, Moratinos answered with a terse "yes," and made no further comment. (Europa Press, 24/9/04)

September 24: President Hugo Chavez proposed joining forces with communist Cuba to bring free health and education programs to poor Caribbean nations ravaged by recent hurricanes and tropical storms. "I've proposed to Cuban President Fidel Castro that Venezuela and Cuba pool resources to offer the governments of these people, if they consider it appropriate, these programs for literacy (…) and medical attention," he said. (Reuters, 25/9/04)

September 25: Forced by a freedom-of-information request, Mexico's government has released a report giving a sketchy outline of its reasons for a near-break in relations with Cuba earlier this year, a newspaper reported. The newspaper El Universal, which obtained the document, said that roughly a fourth of the material had been blacked out by censors on national security grounds, leaving several questions unanswered. It was produced by the government intelligence agency, which operates under the interior minister. The document said that growing activism by Cuban officials in Mexican affairs led to the May 2 expulsion of Cuba's ambassador and the withdrawal of Mexico's ambassador to the island. The ambassadors later returned to their posts. (AP, 25/9/04)

September 26: Latin Americans must unite to avoid being devoured by large centers of power, Fidel Castro warned during the closing of the 5th Cuba-Venezuela Meeting at Havana´s Convention Center. With the money flying from developing countries to developed ones, social programs similar to those the Bolivarian Revolution is developing could be implemented in all the region, the daily Juventud Rebelde quoted Castro as saying. "Resulting from injustices and need to survive, Latin America is facing more crises, but rebelliousness and consciousness are higher than ever before, in a context where the example of Venezuela is outstanding," Fidel Castro stated. (Prensa Latina, 26/9/04)

September 27: Barbados Prime Minister Billie Miller expressed in New York the rejection of his country and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) of every attempt of "change of regime" imposed from abroad on Cuba. Cuba´s isolation in the hemisphere is also a problem that concerns Barbados, that is why we embrace (Cuba) as a sister nation and we are committed to keep a constructive policy towards its government and people, Miller stated at the UN. (Prensa Latina, 28/9/04)

September 27: Cuba will send a brigade of electricians and linesmen to Grenada to help re-establish electricity on that island, seriously damaged by Hurricane Ivan several weeks ago. According to the daily Granma, the brigade -- made up of workers from seven Cuban provinces -- will travel to Grenada in the next few days. Angel Morfi, general secretary of the National Chemical, Mining and Energy Workers Union, said that the electricians just finished repairing damage done by hurricane-force winds in western Pinar del Río. (Prensa Latina, 28/9/04)

September 27: Panama acknowledged that it will not be easy to restore relations with Cuba, which were broken in August after the Central American nation's outgoing president ordered that four imprisoned anti-Castro Cuban exiles be pardoned. Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro said during a press conference that the process of restoring relations with Cuba was "not easy," but that the island had "smiled upon the steps Panama has taken" in that direction. He added that during the 59th United Nations General Assembly in New York, he had spoken with his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, about the matter, saying that "now the ball is in (the Cuban government's) court." (EFE, 27/9/04)

September 28: In response to a voter letter campaign, 79 percent of the British Parliament voted to oppose any US military action and hostile policy against Cuba. Concerned that Bush is increasing aggression against the island, the British Solidarity Campaign organized "Hands Off Cuba", in which a large number of British voters overwhelmingly rejected all belligerent actions by Washington, Granma daily reported. (Prensa Latina, 28/9/04)

September 28: Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Kalombo T. Mwansa concluded an official visit to Cuba, where he held top-level talks and visited socio-economic centers in the island’s western zone. Mwansa arrived in Havana at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, with whom he held official talks at the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry. (Prensa Latina, 28/9/04)

September 28: The visit of Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, to Cuba is devoted to development of trade and economic relations between the two countries, according to an interview he gave to the Russian journalists in Havana. "The purpose of the visit is, along with an exchange of views on international problems, to discuss ways, so to speak, to 'push' towards acceleration of the development of trade and economic relations," Russia's Foreign Minister said. "Following the well-known changes which have taken place in our relations, including the termination, for objective reasons, of the implementation of the 'oil for sugar' traditional scheme, it is necessary for us to seek new forms of cooperation, including establishment of joint ventures and joint production units, development of the natural resources, and other projects linked with industrial investment," Mr. Lavrov went on to say. (Novosti, 28/9/04)

September 28: The 12th International Conference on European Studies opened in Havana with the presentation of sixty papers on a wide variety of themes. The conference is hosted by the Cuban Center of European Studies, an organisation set up in 1974, that won consultative status in the Economic and Social Commission of the United Nations in 1996. The conference was opened by Dennys Guzmán, director of the Center, and by Ricardo Alarcón, president of the Cuban National Assembly. More than 250 experts are participating in the conference that includes debates and workshops on themes as diverse as the European Union's foreign policy towards Cuba and the economic evolution of Eastern European countries. (Radio Habana Cuba, 28/9/04)

September 29: "Cuba is not unfriendly towards the United States," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference he gave with his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque. "I have never felt Havana's unfriendliness towards the United States whenever I talked to Cuban officials. Russia believes Cuba is eager to be energetically engaged in tackling problems facing the world," said Mr. Lavrov. Mr. Lavrov said Russia believed the policy of imposing embargoes and economic sanctions was inefficient, although it was not ruled out by the United Nations Charter. (Novosti, 29/9/04)

September 29: Russia and Cuba agreed on a collective reaction to crises and conflicts under the UN aegis on the basis of international law. A statement issued by the Russian and Cuban Foreign Ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Felipe Perez Roque, confirmed "the readiness of both sides to an overwhelming boost of cooperation in the international scene in the interests of forming a more just, equal and democratic world order, based on strict observance of the norms and principles of international law and the UN Charter”. (Novosti, 29/9/04)

September 29: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Fidel Castro and other Cuban leaders as the countries worked on re-creating more modest versions of political and economic alliances that unraveled after the Soviet Union's collapse. Lavrov said in Havana that his lengthy meeting with Castro started the day before. "I slept five hours,'' Lavrov said before meeting with Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage. Lavrov characterized the encounter as "very useful and interesting'' without offering any details. The meeting with Castro underscored the importance of Russia's past relationship to Cuba, a strategic Soviet ally in America's backyard during the Cold War. (AP, 29/9/04)

September 29: President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, begins a visit to Cuba to improve cooperation and bilateral relations, according to official sorces in Havana. Guelleh is the first president of this African nation tou visit the island, and it demonstrates the wish of both countries to strengthen bilateral relations and collaboration. (Prensa Latina, 29/9/04)

September 29: The planes owned by state-run oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) have made unusually frequent flights to Cuba. Cuban ministers, diplomats, relatives, and officials are frequent beneficiaries of the so-called "colitas". On several occasions the Cuban Vice President, Carlos Aurelio Lage Dávila, has arrived in Venezuela aboard a Falcon 50 airplane owned by Flight registers for PDVSA airplanes show that the aircrafts have frequently flown to the Caribbean island, carrying ministers, diplomats, political leaders, and relatives of top Venezuelan officials. (El Universal, 29/9/04)

September 29: Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, admitted that Madrid is looking for consensus among the twenty-five EU ministers in order to ease some of the diplomatic sanctions imposed by the EU Council on Cuba. Moratinos added that limitation of diplomatic contacts with Havana is "irrational" and doesn't lead anywhere". (Europa Press, 29/9/04)