Chronicle on Cuba - August 2005

Security

August 2: Fidel Castro presided over the graduation ceremony of the Venezuelan military in Havana, in which he highlighted the timely value of the Bolivarian Revolution. The Cuban leader spoke at the "Libertador Simón Bolívar" Venezuelan Army Academy´s 46th graduation ceremony, whose graduate officers elected him their patron. In the closing speech, he stressed the Bolivarian revolution has arrived at just the right moment to contribute to the second and definitive independence of Latin America, as Simón Bolívar dreamed. The ceremony took place at the Council of State where the statesman personally delivered the diplomas to each of the 75 graduates. By decision of the Cuban Council of State, the Venezuelan graduates, presided over by director of the military academy, Brigadier General Carlos Antonio Centeno Mena, received the Combat Brotherhood Medal. Castro was presented with a replica of a Venezuelan Navy submarine and batons used by the generals of that country, and then left with the Venezuelan military delegation, who were accompanied by close family members. (Prensa Latina, 3/8/05)

August 8: A delegation of high-ranking Venezuelan military officers, the second one in a week, arrived in Havana, where it will remain until August 15, informed the Ministry of the Armed forces of Cuba (FAR). The delegation from the Air War College was led by Division General Roger Cordero Lara, general commander of the Venezuelan Air Force. (AFP, 8/8/05)

August 8: Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez said that the US government, which "won't stop caressing the idea of invading Cuba or invading Venezuela," should be warned of the consequences. "If someday they get the crazy idea of coming to invade us, we'll make them bite the dust defending the freedom of our land," Chávez said to applause. He spoke during the opening ceremony of a world youth festival bringing together student delegations from across the world and convened under the slogan "Against Imperialism and War." The Venezuelan leader said "socialism is the only path," and told the students the collective goal is to "save a world threatened by the voracity of US imperialism." (AP, 9/8/05)

August 11: Fidel Castro welcomed in the Palace of the Revolution the delegation of the Air War College of Venezuela, made up of officers who graduated from that institution's 35th Air Force High Command and Staff Officer Program, who are currently visiting the island. (Granma, AFP, 12/8/05)

August 21: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro extolled the work of the Venezuelan army servicemen who built a community in Sandino, a community in Cuba´s most western province of Pinar del Rio, for families affected by recent hurricanes. Hugo Chavez met with the young soldiers and army high raking officers before the "Alo Presidente" television program he traditionally hosts live in Venezuela, but this time was broadcast from Sandino together with Fidel Castro. Members of the Simon Bolivar international rescue brigade and humanitarian aid built 150 houses, which had been donated by Venezuela, in collaboration with workers and people from Sandino. The delegation accompanying Chavez was composed of ministers and top military officers, a police commissioner and the chiefs of the Army and the Navy. (Prensa Latina, 22/8/05)

August 21: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who often accuses Washington of plotting to overthrow his populist government, said Venezuela would come to Cuba's defense if the United States invaded the communist-run island. Chavez spoke for five hours on his weekly Venezuelan television show broadcast live from the town of Sandino, 160 miles west of Havana in westernmost Cuba, where Venezuelan troops built 150 prefabricated houses after Hurricane Ivan last September. "We want peace (…) We will do everything humanly possible to avoid an imperialist aggression. But if it occurs to some madman, he will find these young men (Venezuelan soldiers) and us in command defending the independence and sovereignty of this land,'' Chavez said. (The New York Times, 21/8/05)