Chronicle on Cuba - May 2005

Security

May 3: Cuba has disclosed that its military engineers took part in the widening of the famous Ho Chi Minh Trail in the midst of Vietnam's war with the United States. An interview with retired Cuban colonel Roberto León in the official paper Rebel Youth opens up an episode touted as one of the greatest secrets of the 1965-1975 war. León says he led a team of 23 Cuban military engineers and about 50 Vietnamese nationals in work on the trail over seven months. (Radio Habana Cuba, 3/5/05)

May 4: The head of the Brazilian intelligence agency dismissed rumors about some of his agents being trained in Cuba. Mauro Marcelo de Lima, Director of the Intelligence Agency of Brazil (ABIN) said that a recent trip to Cuba was in line with a strategy to strengthen ties with sister agencies in the region and not an effort to outsource the training of his agents. He pointed that the Brazilian intelligence services have not had ties to their Cuban counterparts for 50 years. (AP, 4/5/05)

May 4: North Korea and Cuba held senior-level military talks in Pyongyang and exchanged views on boosting friendly relations and issues of mutual concern, the North Korean Central News Agency said. The KCNA said the discussions proceeded in "a friendly atmosphere," but it did not provide further information except for the names of the chief delegates of the talks. North Korea was represented by General Ri Myong-su, while the Cuban delegation was led by Lt. General Leonardo Andollo Valdés, vice-chief of its general staff and director of the operations department. (Yonhap, 4/5/05)

May 6: Fidel Castro once again addressed the nation in a special appearance at Havana's International Convention Center during which he spoke of the very special relationship enjoyed by Havana and Caracas and warned that any US attack on Venezuela would ignite the entire continent. The United States campaign against Chávez, noted Fidel Castro, includes making every effort to prevent Venezuela from buying even light arms with which to defend itself. Venezuela, he added, has every right to protect itself against a possible aggressor -especially given the history of the United States in Latin America and the number of nations it has invaded and its policy of pre-emptive attack. An attack on Venezuela would ignite the entire continent, warned Fidel Castro. The intention of the White House is clear, he added - to provoke a war that would lead to Venezuela's rich oil fields. (Radio Habana Cuba, 6/5/05)

May 11: Cuba carried out military exercises in the western region, as part of troops' regular training, according to a press release from the Revolutionary Armed Forces. The communiqué says that for that reason, troops will be deployed in the region and explosions will be heard in some areas in the provinces of Havana and the City of Havana. (Prensa Latina, 11/5/05)

May 10: Vice-Marshal of the Korean People's Army Kim Yong-chun, member of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) National Defense Commission and chief of the KPA General Staff, met and had a friendly talk with the delegation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba headed by Lt-Gen Leonardo Andollo Valdés, vice-chief of the General Staff and director of the Operations Department of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. (KCNA, 11/5/05)

May 13: Cuba's Armed Revolutionary Forces Minister, Army General Raul Castro, rated as successful the military drills in the western region, which he attended along with other top-ranking chiefs, Granma daily reported. The two-day maneuvers allowed practicing new ideas in the military theater of operations, the daily noted. "I feel very happy for having corroborated our real capabilities and how much we have advanced. I am convinced the enemy can be defeated," Granma quoted Raul Castro as saying. (Prensa Latina, 13/5/05)