Chronicle on Cuba - September 2004

Terrorism

September 1: There was a Cuban citizen among those who suffered in the terrorist attack near Moscow's Rozhskaya metro station, medical sources told the press. In total, 46 people suffered in the terrorist attack, including 4 children, 25 men and 17 women. (Interfax, 1/9/040)

September 2: Cuba has formally requested the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles from Honduras. The request was made by Havana's ambassador to Tegucigalpa, Alberto González Polanco, in a letter addressed to acting Honduran Foreign Minister Aníbal Quiñónez. The Honduran Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Tegucigalpa would extradite Posada Carriles if he is found to be in Honduras. (EFE, Radio Habana Cuba, 2/9/04)

September 2: In Tegucigalpa, Honduran Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said that Luis Posada Carriles had presumably left Honduras for the Bahamas. Meanwhile, in San José, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Roberto Tovar declared in a press release that "the Government had no knowledge" of the Cuban anti-Castro fugitive entering the country. Tovar made this declaration following a tip from Cuban authorities that Posada Carriles might "enter Costa Rican territory." The Costa Rican minister said that "if (Posada Carriles's) presence (in Costa Rica) were confirmed, he would not be granted asylum or refuge." (EFE, Europa Press, 2/9/04)

September 5: Cuban Parliamentary President Ricardo Alarcón declared that any country locating self-confessed terrorist Luis Posada Carriles is under obligation to detain him in accordance with international law. Alarcón, in an interview with the Prensa Latina news agency, affirmed that both international law and UN Security Council resolutions originally proposed by the United States oblige states to apprehend groups or individuals linked to terrorism found within their territory. The leader of the Cuban Parliament criticised statements from some Central American political leaders declaring that Posada Carriles would be deported if found, reiterating that states were duty bound to arrest the self confessed killer and then discuss requests for extradition. (Radio Habana Cuba, 6/9/04)

September 6: The opening round of detainee military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay resembled something between a Mel Brooks farce and the kangaroo courts of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The proceedings didn't look anything like justice, military or otherwise. Meanwhile, two US citizens still sit in military brigs, isolated from their lawyers and months if not years away from the hearings the high court says they deserve. The US criminal justice system, including its military stepchild, is supposed to stand for due process, impartiality and openness. No photographic, video or audio recordings of the hearings will be released. (The Toronto Star, 6/9/04)

September 9: Fidel Castro sent a letter of condolence to the Russian people and condemned the bloody terrorist siege in the southern Russian town of Beslan that left almost 350 people dead, the Cuban Foreign Ministry informed. The official Ministry press release said that the Cuban leader sent the letter of condolence to Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 4th to express his and Cuba's sympathy with the families of the dead and condemn what he called "repulsive" acts of violence the world over. [Nota Informativa] (Radio Habana Cuba, 10/9/04)

September 17: The Bush administration has conducted a new assessment of Cuba's biological weapons capacity and concluded that it is no longer clear that Cuba has an active, offensive bio-weapons program, according to administration officials. The latest assessment contradicts a 1999 National Intelligence Estimate and past statements by top administration officials, some of whom have warned that Cuba may be sharing its weapons capacity with "rogue states" or with terrorists. The new assessment says the intelligence community "continues to believe that Cuba has the technical capability to pursue some aspects of an offensive biological weapons program," according to an intelligence official. He added, "There is still much about Cuba that is cause for concern, including the production and export of dual-use items and cooperating with countries on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism." The term "dual use" refers to items that could be used for both civilian and military programs. (The New York Times, 17/9/04)

September 28: The top diplomats for Russia and Cuba condemned all forms of terrorism and renewed Russia's call to expand the war against the global scourge. Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia and Felipe Perez Roque of Cuba said in a statement after private talks that they "condemn terrorism in all forms and manifestations, wherever, and against whomever, such acts are committed and independent of their motives." (AP, 28/9/04