Chronicle on Cuba - March 2006

Domestic Affairs

March 1: This year Cuban television will reach 11.2 million inhabitants, thus eliminating the so-called "silent zones" particularly in the mountain regions. This will be possible with the installation of satellite receptors and parabolic antennas in video rooms and other social centers that the national network does not reach. The Cuban Ministry for Information and Communication informed that the platform will allow Cuban TV and radio signals to be received in Latin America, Caribbean countries, and part of North America. The modern technology will favor four national TV channels and Cubavision Internacional, in additon to seven Cuban national radio stations. (Prensa Latina, 1/3/06)

March 1: The Cuban film “Roble de olor” (“Scent of Oak”), directed by Rigoberto Lopez, was recently awarded the Dikalo Grand Prix at the Pan-African Film Festival that took place in Cannes, France. The film is a co-production of Cuba with France and Spain, starring Jorge Perugorria and Lia Chapman. “Roble de olor” was the first fiction film produced by Lopez, who wrote the script along with Cuban writer Eugenio Hernandez. (AIN, 1/3/06)

March 2: Former consul-general of Cuba in Mexico and retired Cuban intelligence officer, Pedro Aníbal Riera Escalante, was detained for several hours by the State Security service who warned him that he would face new charges if he persisted in his denunciations before the press and international institutions. The former Cuban official - who served a 5-year prison term until April, 2005 - denounced the Mexican authorities before the OAS Inter-American Human Rights Commission for allegedly abducting him on the street and turning him over to the Cuban government on October 4, 2000. (El Nuevo Herald, 2/3/06)

March 2: Members of the “Rapid Response Brigades” (Brigadas de Respuesta Rápida) organized by the Cuban authorities gathered across from the house of opposition leader Martha Beatriz Roque in order to prevent any access to or exit from her residence. Three accredited diplomats from different countries on their way to visit Roque were harassed by the demonstrators as they approached the building. (Netfor Cuba, 4/3/06)

March 2: Replacing computers by enhanced hardware at lower cost is one of the advantages of a recycling method gaining momentum in Cuba. The president of Cuba's Electronics and Technology Marketing (COPEXTEL), Fernando Sordo, said the technique allows for the renovation of computers every three to four years. This practice means less investment to replace components, so that the island's computer availability can be broadened by the use of recycled computers added to the purchase of new ones, he explained. COPEXTEL is a main Cuban supplier of mostly China-made computers to schools, hospitals and social programs in the island. (Prensa Latina, 2/3/06)

March 5: Fidel Castro spoke with the Cuban baseball team that will represent the island at the World Baseball Classic (WBC), during a ceremony held in Havana. For close to two hours, Castro spoke with the players; the coaching staff; management from the Cuban Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER). The Cuban leader said that this is the most difficult tournament ever for the island’s baseball and that the Cuban people are well aware of this. At the same time, he pointed out that there is a lot of confidence in the quality and dedication of the country’s players. "We are confident in your abilities, honor and resolve." (Granma, 6/3/06)

March 5: The Cuban regime has created a 30,000-strong contingent of men and women to carry out highly sensitive political missions that cannot be postponed, from the control of fuel sales to the replacement of incandescent light bulbs throughout the country. Many average Cubans regard these so-called “social workers” with suspicion and apathy, alienated by the power and authority they exercise with the support of the police force. "What arose as an idea to provide occupation for delinquent youths has evolved into a highly suitable instrument for the plans of the government," said activist Elizardo Sánchez, president of the illegal Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN). (El Nuevo Herald, 5/3/06)

March 6: Cuba’s healthcare accomplishments is the main topic of discussion at the 9th International Seminar on Primary Healthcare taking place at Havana’s Convention Center from March 6-8. Since 1983, Cuba has fulfilled indicators established by the World Healthcare Organization (WHO) under the “Healthcare for All” strategy. The event gathered some 1,000 delegates from 21 countries, as well as United Nations officials and international figures in the field. Cuba’s experience on healthcare primary attention was the topic of a conference delivered by the Minister of Public Health, Jose Ramon Balaguer, at the opening ceremony. Balaguer announced that during 2006 Cuba has reduced its infant mortality to 5,2 after having achieved 6,2 in 2005. (AIN, AFP, 6/3/06)

March 6: According to local media, film director Enrique Pineda Barnet, who helmed the film "La Bella del Alhambra," was honored with the 2006 National Lifetime-Achievement Film Award for his life’s work devoted to the seventh art. (AFP, 6/3/06)

March 6: T he wife of jailed dissident Hector Palacios, Gisela Delgado, divulged the contents of a letter addressed to Fidel Castro, Pope Benedict XVI and heads of "democratic governments" and international humanitarian organizations. It notified them of her husband's serious health problems. "I'm speaking out about the grave risk to my husband's life," Delgado said in the letter, which explains that Palacios has recently suffered a transient ischemic attack and currently is battling high blood pressure and poor circulation. The 64-year-old Palacios was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the Spring of 2003, one of 75 dissidents to receive lengthy prison terms in summary trials. (EFE, Acción Democrática, 6/3/06)

March 6: More than 1,478,000 Cuban students are examining central topics to be discussed at the 4th Congress of the Jose Marti Pioneers’ Organization (OPJM). Participants will hold discussions on studies and on the defense of the revolution, as the main duties of Cuban children. “From now on, all Cuban pioneers know our Congress has just started”, asserted Miriam Janet Martin, leader of the OPJM, in the act held in Havana. Martin said that children ranging between 6 and 14 years from over 12,000 schools would meet on matters related to the Congress call. (Prensa Latina, 6/3/06)

March 7: Computer sciences are to become a powerful scientific, economic and political force for Cuba, said Fidel Castro during the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the networks’ central hub at Palacio Central de la Computacion, a large computer training facility that for years was a well-known department store in town. The event also celebrated the establishment of 300 new Youth Computer Clubs throughout the nation. Castro highlighted the advances achieved in the program since its inception. He noted that the program makes it possible for some 200,000 young persons to train in computers and communications by means of 50 different courses being taught, including several for senior citizens and people with disabilities. (Granma, 8/3/06)

March 8: The Jose Marti Anti-Imperialist Plaza in Havana was the venue for the main Cuban rally on International Women’s Day. A large delegation from the Cuban Women’s Federation, family members of victims of terrorist acts against the island, and relatives of the Cuban Five participated at the event. The rally was televised live on local Cuban TV and Cubavision International, as well as broadcast by local and short wave radio stations. International Women’s Day has been marked by anti-war protests, and the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) – with some four million members – is joining in that campaign.  In Cuba, “we have many achievements to celebrate; this has been an important year for Cuban women,” affirmed Yolanda Ferrer, general secretary of the FMC, citing advances in the economy, the energy revolution, the battle to end illegalities and corruption, and other campaigns to strengthen the Revolution that are part of the Battle of Ideas. (Granma International, 8/3/06)

March 8: A Cuban dissident who has been on a hunger strike for 36 days to demand unfettered Internet access is refusing medication and his health is deteriorating rapidly, fellow dissidents said. Guillermo Fariñas, a 41-year-old psychologist, went on a hunger strike on January 31 to press Cuba's Communist authorities to respect his right to freedom of information and allow him Internet access, which is controlled by the government. Fariñas was moved to a hospital in his hometown of Santa Clara, in central Cuba, where he is being kept on an IV drip. Cuba, like China, controls access to the Internet. Direct access to the world wide web is generally only available to government-approved individuals, but passwords can be purchased on the black market. The postal service offers an e-mail service, but users can only surf Cuban Web sites. International web sites run by exile groups are routinely blocked by Cuba's state-run servers. Fariña's hunger strike has alarmed other opposition activists. Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya urged him to end his protest. "We call on authorities to respect his rights, agree to his petition immediately, and save his life," Paya said. [Llamamiento para salvar la vida de Fariñas] (Reuters, 8/3/06)

March 8: Cuba became a member of the World Organization of General and Family Doctors due to the island's results in Primary Health Assistance. Adolfo Rubinstein, president for the Ibero American region of the international institution made the announcement during his intervention at the 9th International Seminar on Primary Health Assistance underway in Havana's Convention Center. (AIN, 8/3/06)

March 8: Cubans celebrated the triumph of the Cuban team at their debut in the World Baseball Classic, after a tense game with Panama that paralyzed the country’s work places, parks and other public places for five hours of good ball. (Prensa Latina, 8/3/06)

March 8: Cuban authorities have stepped up their campaign against illegal antennas and satellite-TV dishes, equipment sought by many in a country that tries to keep tight control of what people may watch, listen to or read. The official daily Juventud Rebelde published a lengthy article in which it denounced the practice of illegally accessing international TV signals and emphasized the risks being run by those who commit this type of crime. "The attempt and practice of encouraging the spread of channels having notable anti-Cuban propaganda is taking on a political connotation in our country, since they serve the (US) empire in its plans to annihilate the Cuban nation," the paper said. The "alienating programming" that is offered on US television channels "is an affront to the thirst for knowledge and the general improvement that Cubans get nowadays through truly educational programs," said Juventud Rebelde. In addition, the illegal distribution of TV signals "has become a lucrative business for a group of people ... (and) brings with it the diversion of resources" from state enterprises, the daily said. Despite the warnings and prohibitions, thousands of Cubans have illegal antennas and satellite dishes camouflaged in the most surprising ways in homes, on balconies, roofs, backyards and gardens. Dozens of people can access a single receiver, and many run cables hundreds of meters (yards) in length from a neighbor's satellite dish to their own televisions, a form of neighborhood sharing popularly known as a "spider web." (EFE, 8/3/06)

March 9: International medical collaboration, challenges and sustainability were important issues on the table at the 9th International Seminar on Primary Health Care taking place in Havana. Cuban experts are discussing their experiences in medical education for primary health care, as colleagues from Mexico and Venezuela are analyzing how family doctors work in their respective countries. Dr. Maria Matilde Serrano, expert of Cuba’s Medical Collaboration Central Unit, told the press that the island currently has over 29,000 collaborators in 69 countries. (Prensa Latina, 9/3/06)

March 9: The illegal Christian Movement of Liberation (MCL) announced that Cuban journalist Juan Carlos Herrera, one of 75 dissidents sentenced to prison terms of up to 28 years, has been on a hunger strike since last March 4th. Herrera, who is serving 20 years at the Kilo 8 prison facility in Camagüey, went on a hunger strike to protest the subhuman conditions of his confinement, the lack of medical assistance, as well as the physical and verbal abuse he endures there. (EFE, 10/3/06)

March 11: Cooperation in healthcare is one of Cuba’s main foreign goals, and “we have the human capital, willpower and wish to cooperate with all the peoples in the world”, Fidel Castro said. In the closing speech of the 9th International Seminar on Primary Health Care, the Cuban leader referred to thousands of Cuban doctors who are helping poor people and victims of natural disasters worldwide. Fidel Castro highlighted Cuba's breakthroughs in rehabilitation and physiotherapy, as he recalled the first family doctors trained 20 years ago. He invited participants to hold the next Seminar on Primary Health Care in Havana in two years. (Prensa Latina, 11/3/06)

March 13: Cuban university students convened the 8 th Congress of the University Students Federation (FEU). "Starting today we face a new challenge ahead; to commit ourselves to new quests amidst criticism, commitment and action. We will also voice our dissatisfactions, dreams and our way of viewing and accepting the new society we want," stated FEU President Carlos Lage Codorniu, when convening the congress from the steps of the University of Havana. Yenny Gonzalez, a third year major in Social Communication, told Granma that, "The Congress will be a reflection on these times". On hand for the event were the Minister for Higher Education, Fernando Vecino Alegret; Julio Martinez Ramirez, leader of the UJC Young Communist Organization, and former members of the March 13th Revolutionary Directorate, led by Faure Chomon Mediavilla, Commander of the Rebel Army. (Granma, 13/3/06)

March 13: The representative of the Public International Laymen’s Association, Rolando Garrido said in Bogotá that the Catholic Church has gained important spaces in Cuba in the wake of Pope John Paul II’s 1998 visit to the island. Garrido claimed that "following the Pope’s visit in 1998, small but very important steps are being taken to open the doors of the Catholic Church to the Cuban people." Garrido was in the Colombian capital, attending the 1 st Meeting of the Ecclesiatic Movements and New Communities of Latin America, as representative of Cuban laypeople. (Notimex, 13/3/06)

March 14: According to a Fire Department spokesperson, extensive damage but no human casualties were the results of a major fire at Cuba’s oldest pharmacy, located in Havana’s historic core. Department of the Interior experts will determine the causes of the incident at the historical Johnson building, where the drug store and pharmacy by the same name used to be located. (Notimex, 14/3/06)

March 15: Cuba says it has developed a treatment for the Hepatitis C virus that would contribute to a long-term cure of liver damage caused by the disease. The Havana-based Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology said the product is a combination of Alpha-2B interferon and Rivairina, developed in the country. The combination of these two formulas allows for an increased therapeutic response in people suffering from chronic hepatitis. Clinical trials of the product were carried out at the National Gastroenterology Institute in Cuba. (Radio Jamaica, 16/3/06)

March 16: Two centers to treat ophthalmic disorders are near completion in Ciego de Avila, Cuba. The installations -to benefit Cuban patients as well- are now being equipped with technology that will be followed by future improvements to join the international program Operation Miracle. (Prensa Latina, 16/3/06)

March 16: Cuba hopes to host some portion of future World Baseball Classic editions, an idea that sits fine with the Major League Baseball, but also an idea that could face many obstacles. "Hosting games in the next event is the maximum ambition that any country that loves baseball could have," said Higinio Velez, manager of Cuba's national team. "We want to be a part of the tournament, and I think Cuba would be an ideal place because it already has experience organizing baseball events," added Velez. Velez said the World Baseball Classic has been such a successful tournament that it should be held every two years instead of every four. Organizers do not object to Cuban aspirations, although the second World Baseball Classic isn't scheduled until 2009. "I think Cuba could host games in the next edition, although not the games in the last rounds, but I don't see why it couldn't host the first round games," said Gene Orza, executive vice president of the Major League Players Association. (ESPN, 16/3/06)

March 16: Cuban Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer officially opened an advanced provincial genetics center in the eastern city of Guantanamo. Alongside Luis Torres, the First Secretary of the Communist Party in the province, Balaguer spoke to the center’s personnel, which are made up of 37 workers – 90 percent of whom are women, of which five are specialists. The group will assist families, couples, women and children with genetic risks and offer pregnant women various basic blood tests. (AIN, 17/3/06)

March 17: The Christian Liberation Movement under Cuban opposition leader Oswaldo Paya, called on the United Nations, human-rights organizations, the international community and the Cuban people to demand the release of Cuba's imprisoned dissidents. "They have already unjustly served three years in jail in inhuman conditions. Today marks three years of suffering for them and their families, and each day that passes makes the outrage that much greater," said a statement signed by Paya and other members of the group. The Christian Liberation Movement said that the prisoners had "worked peacefully and openly for the respect of human rights and peaceful changes in Cuban society." At the same time the opposition group decried the "subhuman conditions" in which the Cuban prisoners are living, and said that most of the political prisoners "suffer many serious illnesses that they caught or were made worse by the poor hygiene, deficient medical attention, lack of running water, overcrowding, verbal abuse and often physical abuse." "It is first of all up to the Cuban people to demand freedom for these prisoners who did nothing more than defend the rights of the Cubans themselves," he said. He also considered that the United Nations and organizations like the Commission on Human Rights and the international community "ought to demand directly and without ambiguities the liberation of Cuba's peaceful political prisoners." (EFE, 17/3/06)

March 17: Fidel Castro congratulated the Cuban baseball team for its efforts so far in the 1st World Baseball Classic (WBC), said manager Higinio Velez in a press conference. The Olympic champions faced teams stacked with US Major League players in Rounds 1 and 2 of the WBC, while playing in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Now, they face off with the Dominican Republic in a one-game semifinals match in San Diego, California. Velez told reporters that before leaving for Puerto Rico the Cuban players met with Fidel Castro, who loves baseball and is considered to be their leading fan. “Before we left for the Classic, he got together with us, bid us farewell and did not demand that we win this tournament,” said Velez in San Diego. “He just asked us to play good ball, do our best as a baseball team, and show the world the kind of baseball we play in Cuba." (Periódico 26, 18/3/06)

March 17: Three years after the harshest crackdown on dissent in decades, human-rights conditions in Cuba have deteriorated as authorities intensify a campaign to disrupt and intimidate the island's small opposition movement, according to dissidents, diplomats and political analysts. Elizardo Sanchez, an opposition activist who heads the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said the number of political prisoners in Cuba increased from 306 in early 2005 to 333 in early 2006. Sanchez said that about 100 pro-government crowd actions, known in Cuba as "acts of repudiation," and other attacks have occurred against opposition figures since July 2005. "The situation with civil and political rights has worsened in the past three years," said Sanchez. "And what's most worrying for us is that it seems the situation is going to get even worse." Diplomats and experts say it is unlikely Fidel Castro will ease the pressure on opposition activists as the 79-year-old leader tries to boost revolutionary fever and tighten control to ensure the government's survival after his death. Cuban officials defend the island's human-rights record by saying they provide universal education, health care and other services. They portray the acts of repudiation as spontaneous outpourings of support for a system they describe as the world's most democratic and fair. (Chicago Tribune, 17/3/06)

March 17: A Cuba television series that explores the relationship between HIV/AIDS and human sexuality through several fictional stories has sparked discussion and controversy on the Communist-ruled island. The series titled "La cara oculta de la luna" (The Dark Side of the Moon), which was first broadcast in January on state-run television, has generated a flood of responses from viewers, some of which have been published in Juventud Rebelde, a leading official daily. Each of the five stories has a similar didactic component, warning viewers about HIV/AIDS and urging them to engage in more responsible sexual behavior as the best means to prevent further spread of the scourge, screenwriter Freddy Dominguez told the press. "Each story has elements (designed) to make an impact," said Dominguez, who referred in particular to one involving a bisexual who infects his wife with the disease. He called the problem explored in that story "the most taboo" of all. According to figures from the National Center for the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 6,910 people were infected with the AIDS virus through January, out of population of 11 million. (EFE, 17/3/06)

March 18: Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic 3-1 to reach the championship game of the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Cuba will face Japan, a winner over South Korea in the second semifinal. At Petco Park in San Diego, California, chants of ''Cuba! Cuba!'' began in the late innings from the crowd of 41,268 for a squad with no major leaguers. ''We really went at it hard like professionals,'' Dominican manager Manny Acta said. ''They deserve the credit. I'd rather give them credit than make excuses.'' (The New York Times, 19/3/06)

March 18: Thirty "Ladies in White'' marched through the streets of Havana to demand the release of dissidents jailed three years ago by Fidel Castro’s communist government. The women, who dress in white and march in silent protest, are relatives of 75 dissidents jailed in 2003 in a crackdown on mounting opposition to Castro's rule. Fifteen were freed last year on medical parole, but 60 are still behind bars. "We are calling for freedom for all political prisoners,'' said Laura Pollan, leader of the group that last year won the Sakharov prize, the European Union's top human rights award. The women, wives and mothers of the jailed men, carried gladioli and banners that said "Amnesty'' on their one-hour demonstration through central Havana. For three years, members of the group have marched silently every Sunday after mass at a Catholic church to demand the release of their loved ones. ``We have created this space despite great difficulties and repression,'' said Miriam Leiva, wife of economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, who was freed last year on medical parole. She said the telephone of the house they met at was ''mysteriously'' cut off the day before. (Reuters, AP, 18/3/06)

March 18: The Cuban authorities threatened to prevent a rosary prayer for the political prisoners to be said at the Parochial Temple of Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba. Graciela González, Municipal Communist Party Secretary for Religious Affairs called Father Francisco Sanabria Encizo to warn him that the rosary prayer was considered to be a counterrevolutionary act and that he would be held accountable should he go ahead with it. The authorities installed speakers across from the temple and started playing loud music that made it nearly impossible to hear the prayer when it began. They also set up a boxing ring for the members of the local boxing club to spar in, which created an atmosphere of hostility directed at exiting Church-goers. (Cubanet, 23/3/06)

March 20: The Ladies in White, a group of women relatives of 75 dissidents jailed by Cuban authorities in March 2003, commemorated three years of the incarceration of their beloved ones by marching for the second time in three days through the streets of Havana. The peaceful demonstration this time ended in front of the Cuban Attorney General’s office where the women released two white doves as they sang religious hymns, and asked for the liberation of the dissidents. Although Cuban authorities seemed to have not interfered in the demonstration, Miriam Leiva, the Ladies in White’s spokeswoman, said that Cuban State Security agents harassed several women who live in other provinces in order to prevent them from participating in Havana’s demonstrations. (El Nuevo Herald, 21/3/03)

March 20: The Cubans surprised a lot of people just by reaching the World Baseball Classic final. So while Japan won the championship game 10-6, the fact that Cuba made it so far showed fans back home that this team -- which has lost top stars to defection in recent years -- could compete against rosters loaded with major leaguers. ''Reaching the gold medal game wasn't a gift from anyone,'' Cuban manager Higinio Velez said. ''Cuba was even included in the toughest group, the group of death.'' ''I think this Classic is historic because it demonstrated that not only the players from the paid major leagues can carry the supremacy. We've demonstrated that what matters is sacrifice, human values and the effort you give on the field,'' Cuban outfielder Frederich Cepeda said. ''This is a well-deserved second place. We're not satisfied, but we're happy with our performance.'' It was such an honor for them to take part that Cuban officials have hinted they would like to be considered as a host for the next WBC three years from now. (The New York Times, 21/3/06)

March 21: Havana went all out to welcome home the Cuban baseball team returning from the World Baseball Classic, where they defied all predictions with their spectacular performance. Following the official reception at the Jose Marti International Airport, the athletes received the applause and cheers of fans representing all of Cuba as they paraded in an open-air jeep caravan through the main streets of the capital. Afterwards, an official welcoming ceremony awaited them at the packed Ciudad Deportiva Sports Arena, headed by Fidel Castro. In a highpoint of the welcoming, the Cuban leader received from team captain and shortstop Eduardo Paret the flag the team had defended with dignity in Puerto Rico and San Diego. Fidel Castro had also personally greeted the players upon their entrance to the indoor stadium. (Granma, 21/3/06)

March 21: Thousands of foreign medical students are residing with Cuban families since the mass arrivals depleted existing state-run lodging capacity and classrooms. Jorge Gonzalez, chair of the Committee for Public Health and Sports of the Assembly of the Peoples' Power, said that more than 2,000 students are staying at private homes in Holguin and Cienfuegos. Thousands enjoy similar hospitality nationwide with new schools making up the state-run program for the universalization of the universities. (Prensa Latina, 21/3/06)

March 21: Employment, retirement and health care for a happy old age are issues of the 2nd Congress on Social Security taking place at Havana´s Conference Center. Increased life expectancy in Cuba until 77 years old and birth-rate reduction have caused the aging of the population on a national level. Last year, Cuba raised workers’ salaries, social security benefits and public assistance, benefiting over 5 million people, as well as minimum wages from 100 to 225 pesos monthly, benefiting more than 1,600,000 people. The island´s social security covers one hundred percent of its population and these increases are carried out by the Cuban government, in spite of the almost 50 years of US economic, commercial and financial blockade. Among these actions are priority care and insertion into society of people with disabilities but able to work. (Trabajadores, 21/3/06)

March 21: According to statistics of the National Program for the Prevention and Control of Smoking (Programa Nacional de Prevención y Control del Tabaquismo) released by the official daily Granma, 69 % of all Cuban children are second hand cigarrete or cigar smokers. In Granma’s section “Talking about Laws”, the Program’s experts made a call “to respect the right of the no-smokers to breathe fresh air”. They issued dramatic statistics about the rate of smokers in Cuba. Two million, 18 %, out of 11.2 million inhabitants smoke cigarettes or cigars. Smoking is the cause of 30% of the deaths by cancer reported in the country. Two of each ten Cubans began smoking between 17-19 years of age, and a 40% began between 12-16 years, Granma said. (AFP, 22/3/06)

March 21: In observing International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination the space called “Color Cubano”, sponsored by the National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba (UNEAC), honored distinguished figures for their contribution to the study, disclosure and promotion of Cuba’s ethnic roots. Receiving certificates from “Color Cubano” for their efforts were: Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban Parliament; Esteban Lazo, member of the Communist Party Political Bureau; US religious leader Louis Farrakhan; academic Esteban Morales; Nicolas Hernandez Guillen, president of the Nicolas Guillen Foundation; Barbara Oliva, main promoter of the La California project; and National Literature Award winner Angel Augier. Coinciding with the observance of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was the opening of the Ethnographic Hall, which shows the icons and attributes of the spiritual culture of Cubans of African descent. (Granma, 22/3/06)

March 22: Joe Kehoskie, an agent who has helped 15 Cuban players defect to the major leagues, says that people who expected to see wholesale defections of Cuban players at the World Baseball Classic were being unrealistic. What's more, the team that lost 10-6 to Japan in the championship final was not as good as it could have been -- something to keep in mind for 2009. "That was a solid team, but not the best they could have sent over," Kehoskie said in a telephone interview from Miami. "That was, I guess, a “Moneyball” team -- lots of guys in their late 20s and 30s with okay power who get on base. They had a lot of loyalists (…) but the pool of players is much deeper than what they brought over." (The Globe and Mail, 22/3/06)

March 22: Considered as “the eyes and ears” of the Cuban authorities, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution are developing a National Exercise of Vigilance throughout the island. The purpose of the exercise is to reinforce alertness in the population against illegal activities. This type of exercise is organized three times a year “to detect deficiencies in the system of vigilance and also to protect labor centers and official enterprises”. Miguel Marrero, a member of the CDR’s secretariat said that, “with this exercise we will check out how the popular revolutionary vigilance brigades are working in each block of the country”. (EFE, 23/3/06)

March 23: Different signs claiming “Liberty for the 75”and “Down Fidel Castro”, appeared in different public places of the eastern towns of Palmarito, Mella, San Luis, Alto Songo, La Maya, and the cities of Santiago de Cuba and Palma Soriano. The signs provoked an increase of the repression against the dissident movement in that eastern province. “Acts of repudiation” were organized by members of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and of the Communist Party in front of the houses of several dissidents. (Cubanet, 29/3/06)

March 23: Cuban retirees and pensioners added their voices to the growing national clamor against the Bush administration’s so-called Plan to Assist a Free Cuba, during a demonstration held at the Jose Marti Anti-imperialist Plaza. A pronouncement was read asking, "Who is supporting the US president in his quest to dismantle one of the most prized conquests of the revolution like the social security in our country, where no one is left unprotected?" Antonio Leon del Monte read the document, approved as a special resolution during the recently concluded Second Conference on Social Security, in the presence of Esteban Lazo and Juan Carlos Robinson, both members of the Communist Party’s political bureau. Labor and Social Security Minister Alfredo Morales said that the most recent raise in pensions and salaries cost more than 4.26 billion pesos and came during a year when Cuba was financially stressed by damage caused by a hurricanes, high oil prices and the more than 45-year economic, financial and commercial blockade by the US. (Granma, 23/3/06)

March 23: Pio Leyva, a singer and composer in the Buena Vista Social Club band of veteran Cuban musicians, died of a heart attack. He was 88. Leyva, who won a bongo contest at the age of six and made his singing debut in 1932, had suffered a stroke on March 18 and died five days later in hospital, his daughter Rosalia said. The colorful improviser of traditional Cuban ``son'' music was the latest of the famed band's stars to pass away. Leyva, born in 1917 in Moron in central Cuba, had a deep, country voice and was well known by the 1950s for singing in the bands of Cuban greats Benny More and Bebo Valdes. (The New York Times, 23/3/06)

March 23: Cuban dissident Vladimiro Roca denounced an “act of repudiation” organized by Cuban authorities in front of his home in Nuevo Vedado, Havana. Over one hundred persons gathered in front of Roca’s shouting slogans against “the enemies of the revolution”. Roca, who is also leader of the dissident coalition All United (Todos Unidos), told the press that the night before he decided to cancel a regular meeting he was having the next day with members of his organization when he saw some fifty people surrounding his house and preventing people to get in or outside the house. However, Roca couldn’t get in contact with dissidents who traveled from Santa Clara -- 275 kilometers from Havana--, who had to return when they reached the mob in front of Roca’s. In February, the illegal Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (Comisión Cubana de Derechos Humanos y Reconciliación Nacional) denounced a new wave of repression organized by Cuban authorities against the dissident movement. (EFE, AFP, 23/3/06)

March 25: Cuban Yusnier Viera became the new Guinness Record holder for the fastest mental calculation. In a public demonstration, Rivera, a young math professor at Havana's University Math and Computer School, explained how he broke two world records. The new Guinness calculator whiz has been invited to the November 2006 International Mathematics Olympiads in Germany. (Prensa Latina, 25/3/06)

March 27: Havana became a giant art gallery with the opening of the 9th Biennial Fine Arts Exhibition. Running until April 27, t he works of more than 230 artists from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, Oceania and North America can be seen in diverse spaces of the Cuban capital, with a central venue at the Morro-Cabana Fortress, where some 90 artists are presenting their work on the theme of urban dynamics in today’s societies. Several venues have been set up for the exhibit, including the Wilfredo Lam Gallery, the Cuba Pavilion and other galleries and institutions around the city. (CAN, Prensa Latina, Granma, 27/3/06)

March 27: A group of moderate dissident organizations invited the Cuban government, the dissident movement, and Cuban exile organizations to have a dialogue about the future in Cuba. In a statement given to the press, the Progressive Arch ( Arco Progresista) said that it has invited officials from the Council of State –headed by Fidel Castro--, from the National Assembly of the People’s Power and from the Communist Party to a dialogue. “Yor presence will fulfill our expectatives”, the statement said. The event, under the title of “A Journey of Reflexion. Dialogue Among Cubans”, has been called for November in Havana. (AFP, 27/3/06)

March 27: Knee prosthesis surgery, a French procedure first used in Cuba at the Frank Pais International Orthopedic Complex in Havana, will soon be used in other provinces. Hospital Director Prof. Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras said the service, now at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Clinic, will extend to Santiago de Cuba, Villa Clara, Camaguey, Holguin and Cienfuegos. (Prensa Latina, 27/3/06)

March 27: Cuban independent journalist, Lamaciel Gutiérrez Romero, was released under parole. Lamaciel, who worked for the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana, was imprisoned last October under charges of disobedience and resistance to the authorities. She is the wife of political prisoner, Rolando Jiménez Posadas, who has been in jail for over three years accused of possessing “enemy propaganda”. (Cubanet, 27/3/06)

March 28: Painters, sculptors and other artists from around the world explore the dynamics of urban culture during the monthlong 9th Biennial of Havana. Iranian Shirin Neshat, considered one of the most emblematic artists of the Islamic world, exhibits a collection of videos dealing with social and gender conflicts, drawing inspiration from his own culture. The public will get the chance to study the work of US photographer Spencer Tunick, who traveled earlier this month to Caracas to photograph thousands of Venezuelans posing in the nude on a major thoroughfare. Tunick, who delights in juxtaposing privacy with public space, has organized more than 75 such photographs of nude gatherings in the Americas and Europe over more than a decade. Also participating in the biennial are a collection of Cuban artists, including Agustin Bejarano, Luis Enrique Camejo and Tania Bruguera. (AP, 28/3/06)

March 28: Italian researcher and philosopher Gianni Vattimo won over the hearts of those gathered to hear his conference at Havana’s Higher Arts Institute (ISA) where he confessed to feel like a Cuban citizen. Vattimo was awarded the diploma by the arts institute for his writing that has made him one of the important philosophers of our time. Vattimo is in Cuba attending the 9 th Biennial Visual Arts Festival and was accompanied at his conference by Culture Minister Abel Prieto. (Granma, 29/3/06)

March 28: Juan de Dios Hernández Ruiz, who became the auxiliary bishop of Havana on January 14, is a 57-year-old Jesuit priest from Holguín in eastern Cuba. “I love this country and I love Jesus Christ and the church,” he said. “These are the three loves that define my life.” “At any given moment, a religious institution anywhere might find itself facing direct or indirect forms of repression. But when faith is culture, even in Cuba, which has faced enormous problems in holding onto its enormous reserve of Christianity, faith endures despite all of these difficulties”, he said. “Without a doubt, religious freedom was directly and sometimes violently infringed upon for many years in Cuba. There were times when it was very difficult for people to attend church. Thank God, there are fewer such problems today: Direct challenges by state institutions to the very right to religion have all but disappeared. We are free to publicly express our faith, and every diocese today has some kind of newsletter or magazine. This is what gives us hope that times are indeed changing.” (National Catholic Reporter, 31/3/06)

March 29: Traffic accidents involving bicycles, one of the main modes of transportation in this fuel-strapped nation, killed more than 200 Cubans last year, authorities said. Cyclists were involved in 1,689 accidents in 2005, while the first two months of this year saw 24 bike-riders killed and 242 injured in road mishaps, the official daily Granma reported. Cubans began resorting to two-wheeled transport in the 1990s, due to the dwindling supply of road-worthy cars as well as to shortages of fuel. Studies by the national medical examiner's office found that 15 percent of the cyclists killed die on the spot, and another 45 percent succumb to their injuries within 24 hours of the accident, often as a result of head trauma. Helmet use is very rare among Cuban cyclists. Roughly 80 percent of killed or injured cyclists are male, with 45 percent of victims between the ages of 16 and 30. The main infractions committed by Cuban cyclists are failing to respect traffic signals, not paying attention, traveling in the wrong direction on one-way thoroughfares, cycling under the influence of alcohol and not having lights on their bikes, according to police. (EFE, 29/3/06)

March 29: The Cuban High Institute for the Arts (ISA) conferred the Doctor Honoris Causa on renowned French architect Jean Nouvel, one of the world celebrities attending the 9th Havana Biennial. In the activity held at the ISA headquarters, Nouvel said the award honored him and highly praised its meaning. "I am receiving this honorific title on behalf of the hundreds of people who have contributed to my work," he stated. Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto, who presided over the activity, described Jean Nouvel as "an indispensable figure of contemporary culture." (Prensa Latina, 30/3/06)

March 29: Imprisoned dissident Juan Carlos Herrera is recovering in a Camaguey hospital in eastern Cuba after ending a three-and-a-half-week hunger strike during which he sewed his lips shut, his wife announced. Herrera, 39 and a reporter for the non-officially-recognized Libre Oriental news agency, began his hunger strike on March 4 to demand that he be transferred from his condition of confinement in Camaguey's Kilo 8 prison, where he is serving a 20-year sentence for dissident activities. Herrera is one of the 75 Cuban opposition figures who were sentenced in the spring of 2003. Meanwhile, Guillermo Fariñas, a psychologist and director of the independent Cubanacan Press agency, is in serious but stable condition after a 56-day hunger strike he began to demand free access to the Internet. (EFE, 29/3/06)

March 30: A Cuban painter living in Paris donated pieces of his private collection of African Art to a museum in his hometown. Lorenzo Padilla donated to the Matanzas’ Art Museum over 200 pieces of African Art that he had kept for over 50 years. The pieces are “authentic works linked to the Yoruba culture and to other African religious cultures from Nigeria, Mali, and Ghana”, Cuban AIN agency reported. The donation is valued at three million dollars. (AFP, 30/3/06)

March 30: Living Cuban boxing legend Teofilo Stevenson, considered to be the best amateur heavyweight ever, goes back to the international ring arena but as supervisor of referees. The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) decision recognizes the prestige of Stevenson, who won three World and Olympic titles in his career. Stevenson will make his debut as technical superviser at the Under-19 World Boxing Championship to be hosted by the Moroccan city of Agadir next September. (Prensa Latina, 30/3/06)

March 31: In Cuba mental health is a people's right. The general secretary for the Psychiatric Association for Latin America and the Caribbean, Dr. Miguel Angel Valdez Mier, said that in the island's 169 municipalities there are qualified services being provided with the objective of offering a better quality of life for the public. The Psychiatric Association chief, who is also head of psychiatric services at Havana's Ameijeiras Brothers Hospital, participated in the First Regional Congress of the World Psychiatric Association underway in the Cuban capital's International Convention Center, along with some 500 delegates from 20 nations. (CNA, 31/3/06)

March 31: Cuba has completed the automation of its national network of eight meteorological radars, which guarantees the immediate detection and monitoring of any tropical cyclone representing potential danger to the island. In statements to Granma newspaper, the chief of Weather Forecast Department at the Cuban Institute of Meteorology, Dr. Jose Rubiera, pointed out that Cuba has also a modern system to present the weather forecast on TV. According to Dr. Maritza Ballester, researcher at the Weather Forecast Center, the coming hurricane season will be very active: some 17 tropical storms are expected to hit the Caribbean area and 9 of them could reach the category of hurricane. (CAN, 31/3/06)