Chronicle on Cuba - June 2006

Highlights:

Domestic Affairs: Cuba’s provincial and local government leaders hold discussions about various aspects of people’s quality of life. Raul Castro says the Communist Party will remain in control of Cuba if there is a leadership change. A leading member of the Cuban Communist Party is sentenced to 12 years in prison for corruption. Moderate dissidents in Cuba urge the government of Fidel Castro to declare a legal moratorium on executions.

Economy: Cuba declares an end to the daily blackouts. Cuba's sugar industry doesn’t make its harvest goals this year. Thousands of professors and students from the University of Havana will be participating in the control and distribution of fuel in the island’s capital.

Exile Community: A former board member of the Cuban American National Foundation says he and other CANF leaders created a paramilitary group to do away with Fidel Castro, a claim denied by CANF’s spokesman. The Spanish Socialist Party invites CANF and other Latin American parties to a seminar on the future of the region.

Foreign Affairs: Members of the Bolivian medical association stage a strike to protest the use of Cuban doctors in government programs. OAS Secretary General says the members of the OAS should create a channel for dialogue with Cuba. European Union member-states maintain their current position of  “critical dialogue” with Cuba. Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque reiterates that Cuba is committed to the revitalization of the Non Aligned Movement.

Security: Bolivia’s and Venezuela’s presidents say that if anyone invades Cuba they are ready to take arms in defence of the island.