Chronicle on Cuba - December 2004

Foreign Affairs

December 1: Former President Vaclav Havel welcomed the release of Cuban author Raul Rivero and four other dissidents, his secretary said. Havel's secretary, Jakub Hladik, said Havel, himself a former dissident, called the Cuban's release good news. "Rivero's release is a very good news," he quoted Havel as saying. "It's also a good sign that something is happening in Cuba." (AP, 1/12/04)

December 1: France hailed the recent release from prison of Cuban dissident journalist and poet Raúl Rivero and called for the release of “all prisoners of conscience” on the island. “We welcome the recent releases of the last few days, particularly Raúl Rivero’s”, said the deputy spokesperson of the French Foreign Ministry, Cecile Pozzo di Borgo. “We continue to hope for the release of all prisoners of conscience in Cuba”, she added. (AFP, 1/12/04)

December 1: The heads of European Union diplomatic missions posted in Havana agreed on a document containing policy options to be examined during the revision of the community’s common position on Cuba. Ambassadors and heads of diplomatic mission from the EU met to discuss the document requested from Brussels. The result of several meetings, the document will feed the debate on the issue on January 14. (EFE, 1/12/04)

December 1: Relations between Mexico and Cuba have improved and a positive atmosphere has set in after a diplomatic scuffle between the two governments last May, said Mexico’s Ambassador to Cuba, Roberta Lajous. “(Relations) have improved ... and we are now looking into the future”, said Lajous to the press. (AP, 1/12/04)

December 2: "The new South African Experiences, Ten Years After the End of Apartheid" was the title of a seminar held in Havana. Sponsored by the South African embassy in Havana and the Cuban Friendship Institute, the meeting was held at Havana's elegant Hotel Nacional. Among the participants was former South African freedom fighter, Ruth Segomotsi Mompati. (Radio Habana Cuba, 2/12/04)

December 2: Spain's Socialist government defended the soundness of its efforts to renew dialogue with Cuba's Communist regime and denied that the new tack is "conditioned" by demands from Fidel Castro. "The effort to renew dialogue (with Cuba) should not be the object of scorn or disdain," Francisco Javier Sandomingo, who is in charge of Spain's Latin American policy, said during a round table discussion on EU policy and human rights in Cuba. Sandomingo insisted that "our policy is not conditioned by Cuban gestures," and emphasized that the path taken by the administration of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero toward dialogue with Cuba had led to the recent release of imprisoned dissidents. "Let anyone ask these 12 dissidents (...) if they're better off than they were 15 days ago," Sandomingo said, referring to the release of poet-journalist Raul Rivero and other opponents of the Castro regime. (EFE, 2/12/04)

December 3: The German government is expecting further gestures from Cuba before supporting further dialogue between the European Union (EU) and Havana, according to government sources. (EFE, 3/12/04) 

December 3: Slovakia and Cuba are embroiled in a diplomatic squabble following the Cuban ambassador's describing as a "miserable manipulation" a note the president of the European nation's parliament, Pavol Hrusovsky, sent her government requesting information on a political prisoner, Luis Ferrer, a prisoner of conscience of the Communist regime. The Cuban ambassador to Slovakia, Caridad Yamiri Cueto Milian, replied to Hrusovsky saying, "the reservations expressed in your letter have no legitimacy or value whatsoever in the eyes of Cuba and its government." "We are convinced Slovak citizens will, at the proper time, judge the way you have employed the parliamentary mandate entrusted to you in a miserable manipulation," she added. (EFE, 3/12/04)

December 3: Cuban doctor Hilda Molina, who for over a decade has not been able to visit her son and grandchildren who reside in Buenos Aires, has stated that she does not want "any problems to exist between Cuba and Argentina" and reaffirmed her desire to continue living on the island even if her travel abroad is authorized. The doctor, during a dialogue with the press, preferred to somewhat downplay the problem that arose over the statements made by Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa, who said he had "hope and reasonable belief that Molina would be able to spend this Christmas with her grandchildren and with her son". "I thank the foreign minister very much; he has expressed himself in such a way, with extreme compassion, a form of support that my son had never received in Argentina," she said sitting in an armchair in her modest apartment located in downtown Havana. (Telam, 5/12/04)

December 4: The organization Solidarity Without Borders (SSF) revealed that some 500 Cuban doctors have defected in Venezuela and presented two doctors who claimed to have left that country two weeks earlier. The government of President Hugo Chavez promotes the so-called ‘Plan Barrio Adentro’. “We promote 'Plan Barrio Afuera' to help these doctors escape the working slavery which has been imposed on them'', said Dr. Julio Cesar Alfonso, president of SSF. (DPA, 4/12/04)

December 5: Diego Maradona left Cuba, interrupting his cocaine-addiction therapy to spend Christmas at home with his family in defiance of his doctor's advice. The 44-year-year-old Argentinean soccer great was whisked into the airport by security personnel and avoided the press before boarding a flight to Panama, where he was expected to transfer for Argentina. His doctor, Alfredo Cahe, told the press that he opposed Maradona's decision to disrupt his treatment at the Havana clinic. Cuban authorities and those treating him had no comment. (Reuters, 5/12/04)

December 6: Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Guinea's Mamady Conde held official talks, as part of the African diplomat's visit to Havana. Conde told the press that the purpose of his visit is to boost bilateral cooperation links, especially in public health, construction and higher education. He also thanked Cuba for its support, which has allowed dozens of Guineans to study on the island. (Prensa Latina, 6/12/04)

December 6: Cuba opened its Panama consulate some three months after breaking off diplomatic relations with that country to protest the Mireya Moscoso government's pardoning of four Cubans previously convicted of plotting to assassinate Fidel Castro, the Panamanian Foreign Ministry said. Panama will reopen its consulate in Havana on December 13, the ministry added. (EFE, 6/12/04)

December 6: Luis Conde Morales, a member of the Democratic Party November 30 "Frank País" retained at the Center for Refugees in the Bahamas, said that all the Cubans at the camp (58 in total) began a hunger strike -- with the exception of the two children also retained in the camp. They are protesting that Bahaman authorities are not providing them with sufficient food. Conde Morales said that the food Cubans receive at the camp has been progressively reduced, to the point of having a piece of bread and some tea for breakfast, and another piece of bread, on this occasion with fish, for lunch. These actions forced the Cubans to start a hunger strike because he said that, "not eating anything is similar to eating very little". (Netfor Cuba, 7/12/04)

December 7: Cuba's well-known dissident, the Christian Democrat Oswaldo Paya, warned the European Union (EU) not to change its common position and give concessions to the communist government in regard to human rights. "The political dialogue must have the goals of the release of political prisoners in the short term and then democratic reforms," the 2002 laureate of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize told the press in Havana. Paya called the European Union measures "symbolic actions of moral worth", but are not by any means tough. "It was the Cuban government, that broke off contacts to the European Union embassies, because they invited us," Paya said referring to a symbolic move to invite dissidents to national festivities at EU embassies. He hailed Germany's withdrawal from the Havana book fair earlier this year as being appropriate "in a country where people sit in prison because they write what they think". (DPA, 7/12/04)

December 7: French President Jacques Chirac used a bilateral summit meeting with Spain to describe the recent freeing of several Cuban political prisoners as a "positive effect" arising from Spanish attempts to soften the EU line on relations with Havana. Although Washington continues to support a tough line on Cuba, Chirac praised Spain for its attempts to restore dialogue with Havana. "Truth does not always necessarily come from the mouth of some (US) State Department official," said a smiling Chirac when asked to comment on a recent accusation by US Undersecretary of State for Latin American affairs Roger Noriega that Madrid was making "concessions" to Cuba. Chirac, speaking after wide-ranging talks with his host, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said that France "perfectly approved" a policy designed to establish a dialogue with Havana. "I note that this policy has had positive effects with the freeing of several personalities," said Chirac. (EUObserver, AFP, 7/12/04)

December 7: A Cuban neurosurgeon who has been trying for 10 years to get permission from the island's Communist regime to visit her son in Argentina issued an appeal to the Spanish government to join Buenos Aires in lobbying Havana on her behalf. Hilda Molina's case has gained notoriety thanks to Argentine President Nestor Kirchner's efforts to persuade Cuban authorities to allow the physician to visit her son, Roberto Quiñones, in Buenos Aires and meet her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. In an interview with the press at her Havana home, Molina said she felt "hopeful" about finally being granted permission to visit her son in Argentina. Molina thanked Kirchner and Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa for their efforts in her behalf. "Now I have hope, because the Cuban government responded to the Spanish request to release the sick political dissidents. In this case, it's not a European government making the request but a Latin American one," she said. (EFE, 7/12/04)

December 7: Current chairman of the Caribbean Community, Grenada Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, said that Caricom "will continue to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Cuba". The pledge came in a statement on the eve of the second anniversary of "Caricom-Cuba Day", as determined at the December 8, 2003 special summit of Caricom and Cuban government leaders in Havana. This special annual calendar event is to commemorate the joint diplomatic relations first established with Cuba by four Caricom states on December 8, 1972-Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica. (Trinidad and Tobago Express, 8/12/04)

December 8: Activities for the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and CARICOM continued with cultural galas in different Cuban universities. A delegation of the Caribbean Community is scheduled to visit higher education centers in Cuba, where youth from the region are studying different specialties. (Radio Habana Cuba, 9/12/04)

December 8: In a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement Cuba has condemned a campaign against the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. "This hysterical campaign against the United Nations has reached the point where voices in the US Congress are demanding the resignation of the secretary general, suspiciously echoed by certain mainstream media," the text reads. [Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs] (Granma International, 8/12/04)

December 9: At least 20 people were injured, including 5 Cubans who were hospitalized, during a riot at the Carmichael Detention Centre in Nassau, Bahamas, where a group of detainees set a dormitory on fire and clashed with prison officers. A total of 48 Cubans, including two children, have been held at Carmichael since September, after being intercepted at sea en route to the United States. (El Nuevo Herald, 10/12/04)

December 10: Cuba questioned that the UN Special Program on Education will teach the world infant population its rights when more than 140 million destitute children have never been to school. This was highlighted by Cuban alternate representative Rodney Lopez at a UN General Assembly special plenary meeting on human rights. (Prensa Latina, 10/12/04)

December 10: The celebrations for the 32nd anniversary of Cuba- Caribbean Community (CARICOM) relations concluded with the creation of the Caribbean Professorship at the University of Havana. CARICOM delegates left the Cuban capital to travel to the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba where they will participate in a cultural gala. (Radio Habana Cuba, 10/12/04)

December 10: During a visit to London, the President of the Cuban Academy of Science, Dr. Ismael Clark, said that Great Britain and Cuba are strengthening their relations in the scientific-technical field. Clark's visit responds to an invitation by London`s Royal Society, allowing him to visit scientific research centers and meetings with important figures. (Radio Habana Cuba, 10/12/04)

December 10: Reports of possible use of excessive force by law enforcement officials during a fire and confrontation at the Carmichael Detention Centre, in which 9 detainees and 11 soldiers were injured, underline the need for the Government of the Bahamas to establish an independent commission of inquiry into conditions at the Carmichael Detention Centre, said Amnesty International. Amnesty International has received reports that some detainees are alleging that several people, including women and children, were severely beaten with batons and that police prevented detainees from leaving the facility once the fire started. The authorities have stated that soldiers fired rubber rounds to restore order after detainees tried to secure and subsequently set fire to a room. A newspaper also published an unconfirmed report that one man sustained a gunshot wound. The action reportedly followed what appeared to be attempts by immigration staff and soldiers to remove Cuban detainees for deportation. (AI Press Release, 10/12/04)

December 12: The official visit Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was to pay to Cuba has been delayed one day due to unexpected work reasons, the local press reported. The Venezuelan Head of State will carry out an official, friendly visit to Cuba on December 13, at an invitation by his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro, according to Juventud Rebelde newspaper. (EFE, Prensa Latina, 12/12/04)

December 13: A Cuban couple who have been granted political asylum in the Czech Republic, demonstrated in front of the Cuban Embassy in Prague in an effort to make communist Cuba allow their two small children to join them in the Czech Republic. Liuver Saborit and Mayda Arguelles arrived in the Czech Republic about 1.5 years ago and were granted Czech asylum last December. They say their children were left behind in Cuba, but the Cuban authorities do not want them to leave. "We haven't seen the children for 17 months," Saborit told the press. The couple were not received by authorities at the Cuban Embassy and they said are ready to launch a hunger strike if their efforts fail. (CTK, El Nuevo Herald, 13/12/04)

December 13: Fidel Castro welcomed his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez Frías at his arrival in Cuba on a friendly and official visit, the Granma newspaper reported. The Venezuelan president´s trip comes 10 years after his first stay in Cuba, on December 13 and 14, 1994, the paper adds. Chavez´ agenda includes an official welcoming ceremony at the Revolution Square where both governments' delegations will hold official talks. To mark the 10th anniversary of Chavez´s first time in Cuba, a cultural gala will take place at Havana´s Karl Marx Theater. (Prensa Latina, 13/12/04)

December 13: Panama reopened its consulate in Cuba, a measure President Martin Torrijos touted as a new step toward normalization of diplomatic relations with Havana, which were ruptured more than three months ago when the previous administration pardoned four Cuban-exile extremists. The Panamanian Foreign Ministry issued a statement announcing the reopening of the consulate in Havana with Roberto Barrow in charge. The move comes a week-and-a-half after Cuba reopened its consulate in Panama with Consul Iraida Guerrero at the helm. (EFE, 13/12/04)

December 13: Guatemala's Ministry of Health thanked the Cuban medical brigade working in that Central American nation for having saved over 64,000 dollars in repairs and maintenance of hospital equipment, according to Cuban AIN News Agency. This recognition was made by a health official to a group of Cuban specialists that participated in the 6th Scientific event organized by the 531 Cuban medical personnel offering their services in Guatemala, reported the Granma newspaper. (Radio Habana Cuba, 13/12/04)

December 13: Neither the Speaker of the Slovak Parliament Pavol Hrusovsky nor Speaker of the Czech Senate Petr Pithart support softening the European Union's stance towards Cuba. "We stated jointly that there is no reason to make such a change as in the area of respecting human rights, political and religious freedoms, virtually nothing has changed in Cuba," said the Speaker of Slovak Parliament. (SITA, 13/12/04)

December 14: The European Union's Committee on Latin America (COLAT) reached a consensus to recommend to the EU's 25 member states the suspension of the diplomatic sanctions imposed on Cuba in June 2003, Spanish diplomats said. COLAT recommended, as an alternative to the sanctions, that the EU seek a "strong dialogue with the opposition" to Fidel Castro's regime. According to the diplomats, the recommendation calls for the re-establishment of high-level visits to the island "at a regular rate." It also proposes that the EU temporarily suspend, until June 2005, invitations to dissidents to national celebrations organized by member states' embassies in Cuba. The EU also will not invite high-level Cuban government officials to such events. COLAT recommended that the EU end its policy of maintaining a low profile when staging European cultural events in Cuba. (EFE, 14/12/04)

December 14: Two acclaimed Cuban dissidents criticized the proposal emerging from a European Union committee to consider softening the hard line the bloc adopted against Cuba in mid-2003. Elizardo Sanchez, who heads the outlawed Cuban Human Rights Commission, told the press the recommendation from the EU's Committee on Latin America, or COLAT, "lacks a foundation." "The circumstances that led to the measures adopted by the EU continue to be the same, given that the Cuban government has not released the prisoners of conscience, except for several who were very sick. It keeps in effect the sentence of execution by firing squad and maintains around 50 convicts on death row," Sanchez said. Vladimiro Roca, of the banned opposition group Todos Unidos (All United), said he respects "the sovereignty of the EU and the decisions they reach." "The only thing I feel bad about is that they will again be lost with a distorted vision of the Cuban problem, in a mirage created by the ruler Fidel Castro," he said. According to Roca, the EU panel's recommendations do not reflect "the real Cuban problem”. Regarding a return to dialogue between the EU and Cuba, Roca said "it has to be with the entire Cuban society and not just a part of it." (EFE, 14/12/04)

December 14: Cuba could enter the Kyoto Protocol's carbon market if it is able to keep up the current pace of reforestation, through which a full 30 percent of the island's territory would be covered with forests ten years from now. According to specialists in Cuba, the Caribbean island nation has developed the databases and trained the personnel needed to establish reforestation projects, but has yet to submit any concrete proposals for entering this new market. Some believe that the Kyoto Protocol could generate significant business opportunities involving the development of cleaner, more efficient technologies and the promotion of renewable energy sources. Cuban specialists, however, are less enthusiastic, and believe that the carbon market is not a real solution to environmental problems, but rather a negotiating tool. (IPS, 14/12/04)

December 14: Argentinean Foreign Minister, Rafael Bielsa, said that his government “expects respect from the United States, but from Cuba as well”. “Dignity is not a one-way street, but a multi-lane highway”, added Bielsa in the wake of Fidel Castro’s refusal to accede to a personal request from President Néstor Kirchner to allow Cuban brain surgeon Hilda Molina to visit her son and grandchildren in Buenos Aires. (La Nación, 15/12/04)

December 15: Cuba and Venezuela rejected a US-inspired pan-American free trade zone saying that it would only make Latin American countries more dependent on the United States. Cuba's communist leader Fidel Castro instead signed an accord backing a rival trade zone sponsored by his leftist-populist Venezuelan ally, President Hugo Chavez. Cuba has been excluded from talks for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which the United States has strongly promoted. Venezuela has refused to join the process. The FTAA "is the most complete expression of the desire for domination over the region and, if it comes into action, will constitute a deepening of neo-liberalism, creating unprecedented levels of dependence and subordination," Castro and Chavez said in a statement. (AFP, 15/12/04)

December 15: At a meeting with US permanent representative to the Organisation of American States (OAS), Ambassador John Maisto, Jamaican Foreign Minister, K. D. Knight, urged the Bush administration "not to increase the isolation of Cuba through the Helms-Burton Act", according to a statement from the foreign ministry. "The Helms-Burton Act is an invidious piece of legislation. We got caught up in it through one of our hotel investors," Knight said, noting that the Caribbean Community (Caricom) had also added its voice for an inclusionary approach to Cuba. (Jamaica Observer, 16/12/04)

December 15: A SATA plane heading to Portugal from Cuba was forced to return to the island after a passenger found a message warning that a bomb was on board, a spokeswoman for the Portuguese airliner said. The message was later determined to be a hoax. The Airbus 310, which can carry up to 280 passengers, returned to the resort of Varadero shortly after takeoff and the passengers disembarked without incident, she said. The plane resumed its journey to Lisbon some five hours later after a police search of the plane found no evidence of a bomb. (AFP, 15/12/04)

December 15: Jamaica's Foreign Minister KD Knight has urged the United States to reconsider its position on Cuba. According to a Jamaican foreign ministry’s statement, in a meeting with US permanent representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), Ambassador John Maisto, Knight called on the Bush administration not to increase the isolation of Cuba through the Helms-Burton Act. "The Helms-Burton Act is an invidious piece of legislation. We got caught up in it through one of our hotel investors," Knight said, noting that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) had also added its voice for an inclusive approach to Cuba. (Prensa Latina, 15/12/04)

December 16: Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov welcomed Cuba's Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas who is on an official visit to Moscow aimed at expanding bilateral ties. Both sides will discuss issues for the next Intergovernmental Commission For Economic, Commercial and Scientific-Technical Cooperation to be held in Moscow in 2005. (Radio Habana Cuba, 16/12/04)

December 16: Mr. Ruppert Missick Jr., a senior journalist of the Bahamas Tribune, gave confirmation on the number of Cuban nationals that were returned to the island from a detention center in the Bahamas. He confirmed that Immigration Authorities repatriated 28 of the 62 Cubans detained in the Carmichael Road Detention Center in Nassau. It was also confirmed that 3 of the 6 women were sent back to Cuba, among them was Eida Caballero and her two small children. Yanelys Acosta González, an activist with the Cuban Pro Human Rights Party affiliated to the Andrei Sajarov Foundation is one of the women that remain in the center along with three men, among them her husband Jesús Montes de Oca Martija, an activist with the same organization. (Puente Informativo, 16/12/04)

December 15: A Cuban doctor, denied permission to travel to Buenos Aires to visit relatives there, sought refuge in the Argentine Embassy in Havana, according to a newspaper report. Embassy officials declined to confirm that the woman, Dr. Hilda Molina, was inside the embassy. While the Argentine government remained silent about the case, the prominent Argentine daily La Nacion reported that Molina, a brain surgeon, entered the embassy with her 84-year-old mother and has yet to come out. (AP, 16/12/04)

December 15: During a communion held at the San Antonio parish, in Placetas, the Apostolic Nuncio to Cuba, Monsignor Luigi Bonazzi, said the Cuban crisis should be solved by way of the truth, without violence, accusations and condemnation. Bonazzi made a reference to Cuban political prisoners as “those who without having committed any crime are sent to prison because they make those in power uncomfortable”, in an allusion to the biblical passage where John the Baptist is cast to prison by King Herod. (Cubanet, 15/12/04)

December 16: A prominent Cuban doctor returned home after an overnight stay at the Argentine Embassy that raised tensions between the two nations amid reports she was seeking political asylum. Dr. Hilda Molina, 61, denied she had sought refuge at the embassy, telling reporters at her home in Havana that she wanted Argentina's help arranging a teleconference with her son, an exile living in the South American country. "I was discussing something that didn't have anything to with political asylum," said Molina, a brain surgeon who has held top government posts in Cuba. She said she ended up staying overnight because her 84-year-old mother, who had accompanied her to the embassy, fell ill while they were there. (AP, 17/12/04)

December 17: The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Cienfuegos, Cuba, sought a 10-year prison sentence for Mexican citizens Lino Ruiz Delgado and José Carlos Prieto Santiago, charged with human trafficking, according to the Embassy of Mexico in Cuba. Under the same charges were tried three Cuban citizens : Alexis Cepero Lima (resident of Cancún, Mexico) and siblings Nelson and Niurka Hernández Lorenzo (residents of Cienfuegos), added a note. (Notimex, 22/12/04)

December 19: Six men and two women from Cuba arrived on Honduras' Atlantic coast in a small boat as part of an attempt to reach the United States, authorities said. Police spokesman Porfirio Escobar said the group, originally from Camaguey province, was being held temporarily at a police station in La Ceiba. (AP, 20/12/04)

December 20: The Under Secretary for Latin-American Affairs at Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Darío Alessandro, has been appointed Ambassador to Cuba, said official sources. Alessandro will replace Raúl Taleb, one of the Argentinean officials criticized over the diplomatic handling of the case of Cuban doctor Hilda Molina. (EFE, 20/12/04)

December 20: A group of 32 French members of Parliament recommended Spanish authorities to “closely monitor” and put “all pressure” in its relations with Cuba in favour of the release of more political dissidents on the island. The group, led by Vice-President of the National Assembly, Yves Bur, expressed in a communiqué concern for the “lack of news” about the prisoners they sponsor, after the release of 13 of the 75 dissidents sentenced to harsh prison terms in April 2003. (EFE, 20/12/04)

December 22: At least 90 Cuban rafters have washed up on Honduras' Caribbean coast in the last days, almost one-half the number that have arrived so far this year, a migration official in Tegucigalpa told the press. Eight immigrants arrived on December 19 at the port city of La Ceiba and 82 others came ashore days later at different points along the coast, Population and Migration Policy Office advisor Carlos Sanchez said. (EFE, 22/12/04)

December 22: Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, said that the European Union (EU) should change its policy of imposing diplomatic sanctions against Cuba. The EU has to correct its policy, as it stands as a huge mistake in developing bilateral relations, he told the press. According to Perez Roque, Cuba is “closely following the process currently taking place at the European Community," referring to discussions the EU 25 foreign ministers are scheduled to hold in January to decide on future links with the island. (Prensa Latina, 23/12/04)

December 22: Speaking at the Cuban parliament’s ordinary sessions, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque described the main challenges for Cuba´s foreign policy in 2005, adding the country will continue strengthening economic relations with countries such as China, Venezuela, Russia and Vietnam. (Prensa Latina, 23/12/04)

December 22: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque reiterated in Havana the sense of solidarity that dominates the island's foreign policy towards African nations and the country's commitment to strengthen bilateral ties with that continent. The statements were made during the Cuban official's talks with the Executive Secretary of the Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Mohamed Chambas. (Radio Habana Cuba, 22/12/04)

December 22: Argentinean President, Néstor Kirchner, and his Foreign Minister, Rafael Bielsa, met with Spanish Ambassador in Buenos Aires, Carmelo Angulo Barturén, to try and find a solution to the case of Cuban dissident Hilda Molina, who has requested permission from Cuban authorities to travel to Argentina or a third country to get together with her family during the Christmas holiday season. (Europa Press, 22/12/04)

December 23: The Council of State of the Republic of Cuba has appointed Raul Roa Kouri as its new ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the Holy See, according to an official note. Before his appointment, Roa Kouri was chairman of the Cuban National Commission for the UN Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO). Cuba and the Vatican City established diplomatic relations on June 7, 1935. (Prensa Latina, 23/12/04)

December 24: The Argentinean government warned that the likely solution to the case of Cuban doctor Hilda Molina would not be achieved by “putting pressure” on the regime of Fidel Castro. “This case has to be solved through dialogue, respecting each country’s idiosyncrasies and without exerting pressure or insulting their governments”, said Argentinean Cabinet Chief, Alberto Fernández. (EFE, 25/12/04)

December 24: Cuba´s National Assembly issued a statement that calls the documents signed by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez “founders of a new era for Latin America and the Caribbean”. Since Castro came to power in 1959 every year receives a name. The National Assembly decided to name 2005 as “Year of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas”, in support of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's "Bolivarian Revolution”. Cuban parliament also described Hugo Chávez’ initiative, ALBA, as an alternative to the US supported Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). A resolution supporting ALBA said the treaty would fulfill "Bolivar's and Marti's dream of an (internally) supportive subregion joined in social justice, the human self-fulfillment of its residents, the defense of its culture and the conquest of an honorable position." (Prensa Latina, EFE, 24/12/04)

December 27: One reputed Colombian capo is eluding capture being held in Cuba on a charge of using a false passport. Havana has been slow to move on the charge against Hernando Gómez, and Colombian authorities say they have no news on their request for his extradition to Bogotá to face charges. Some of Gómez's associates have told the press that they suspect that Gómez may have bribed his way into an extended stay in Cuba so he could avoid a Colombian prison and later possible extradition to the United States. Cuba's top anti-drug official, Gen. Jesús Becerra, told reporters in October that Gómez was ''in transit'' when he was captured there in early July and did not intend to use Cuba to ship drugs. Gómez is charged with carrying false documents, a relatively minor crime. There has been no official word on what jail he is being held in, or even whether he has been brought to trial and sentenced. Associates of Gómez say that his wife and top lieutenants have been allowed to visit him in Cuba. (The Miami Herald, 27/12/04)

December 27: Fidel Castro has sent messages of condolences to Asian countries affected by deadly tidal waves, and urged the international community to provide swift aid. He expressed "the deep shock of our people and government before these tragic events," and expressed "the deepest condolences to the people of those nations and particularly the relatives" of the thousands of fatal victims. The messages were sent to the leaders of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the official Granma daily said. (AFP, 27/12/04)

December 27: Two boats carrying 28 Cubans refugees arrived in Honduras, authorities announced. Apparently hoping to use the country as a stepping stone to the United States, the refugees were staying in police offices on the island of Roatan, 400 kilometers north of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. "We fled out the country because of the bad economic situation," said Reinaldo Guerrero, 35, of Vertiente, Cuba, in a televised interview. "It was a hard trip, but worthwhile (…) We just want to work in the United States." The new arrivals were from Camagüey province. (AP, 27/12/04)

December 28: Liberal activists from the UCD (Democratic Centre Union) demonstrated in front of the Cuban embassy in Buenos Aires, demanding that neurosurgeon Hilda Molina must be allowed to visit Argentina. Their demonstration also called for the release of the dissidents imprisoned in Cuba. With the slogan "We Argentines mobilize for freedom in Cuba," Buenos Aires Province Liberal Youth, Buenos Aires Province New UCD and Capital UCD Revival assembled in front of the Cuban embassy in the Belgrano sector of Buenos Aires. (BBC, 29/12/04)

December 29: F rance is “watching very closely” the situation of Cuban prisoners of the so-called “Group of 75”, says Foreign Minister Michel Barnier in a letter to a group of wives of jailed dissidents. Yolanda Huerga, wife of ex-prisoner Manuel Vázquez Portal, said Barnier’s letter is a reply to a message sent by the wives to the European Union foreign ministers last November. (EFE, 30/12/04)

December 29: Roberto Quiñones, the son of Cuban doctor Hilda Molina, has described his meeting with Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa as "very productive", since he obtained a commitment from the government that it would "exhaust all diplomatic channels" to reunite him with his mother. "Speaking both for himself and in the name of President Nestor Kirchner, Bielsa confirmed to us that we should remain calm, because they are not going to leave us alone in this," Quiñones said. He was referring to the negotiations with Cuba concerning Molina's request that she be allowed to visit her grandchildren who live in Argentina. (BBC, 29/12/04)

December 29: The Cuba in Transition Spanish Association (Asociación Española Cuba en Transición -AECT) criticized that one of its members, Spanish businessman Ricardo Carreras, was detained and interrogated in Santiago de Cuba for more than four hours the morning of December 20 by State Security agents. According to the organization, the agents did not allow Carreras to contact the Spanish Embassy. (Europa Press, 29/12/04)

December 30: A Cuban sports delegation has returned from a visit to Caracas where it exchanged experiences with Cubans offering their services in Venezuela. The President of the Cuban Sports Institute, Humberto Rodriguez, headed the delegation which met with Venezuelan Deputy Sports Minister, Eduardo Alvarez. (Radio Habana Cuba, 30/12/04)