Chronicle on Cuba - June 2006

Foreign Affairs

June 1: The 14,000 members of the Bolivian medical association staged a strike to protest the use of Cuban doctors in government programs instead of out-of-work local physicians. Association head Fernando Arandia said that his group does not reject the idea of international aid to this impoverished country, but seeks to highlight what it claims are hidden costs associated with the presence of some 600 Cuban doctors. The Cuban contingent arrived in Bolivia in February, two weeks after socialist Evo Morales was sworn-in as Bolivia's first Indian president, and came in response to La Paz's request for emergency help to cope with the medical needs of flood victims. The local medical association says that, contrary to statements from their country's health ministry and the Cuban Embassy, the Bolivian government is paying the cost of food, lodging and transportation for the doctors sent by Havana. In conjunction with their strike, physicians in the capital offered treatment to the poor free of charge. (EFE, 1/6/06)

June 1: Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Gergana Gruncharova and her Cuban counterpart Eumelio Caballero signed in Havana on May 31 an intergovernmental programme for cooperation in education, science and culture in 2006-2008, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a press release. The document was signed during bilateral political consultations in the Cuban capital. Gruncharova also conferred with acting Foreign Minister Manuel Aguilera de la Paz and with Deputy Minister of Investments and International Economic Cooperation Ricardo Guerrero, who is also co-chairman of the intergovernmental commission for economic and trade cooperation. (BBC, 2/6/06)

June 1: Cuban and Venezuelan ambassadors to Argentina denounced US acts of aggression against their countries, while emphasizing that regional cooperation processes underway between their two nations and Bolivia are being consolidated. As the main topic of a forum held in Buenos Aires, participants discussed the need for Latin American integration to be able to face American domination over the region, read a Prensa Latina news agency report. (ACN, 1/6/06)

June 1: The former Cuban consul general in Mexico, Pedro Riera Escalante, accused the Spanish government of ambivalence with regards to the protection of human rights for refusing to grant him a visa as a political refugee. Riera, a retired intelligence officer who served a five-year sentence in a Cuban prison, requested humanitarian refuge for him and his wife, Loyda Castilla, from the Spanish Embassy in Havana last December. However, he has not yet received a positive response to his plea. (El Nuevo Herald, 1/6/06)

June 1: Health Minister Horace Dalley says the Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Programme will not be suspended despite concerns raised by local opthalmologists about the standard of care offered by the Cubans. According to local eye doctors, several persons have returned to the island with serious problems. But the Health Minister says more than 2,000 poor people have benefited from surgical treatment and post-operative care since the programme began nine months ago. However, the Health Minister says he has requested that a full investigation be carried out regarding the complications reported. (AP, 1/6/06)

June 2: Visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque expressed his country's condolences to the tens of thousands of victims of Indonesia's devastating earthquake. 
Perez Roque also invited Indonesia's president to attend a summit of the Nonaligned Movement in September in Havana. "Unfortunately my visit here is at the same time as the earthquake," he told a news conference. "President Fidel Castro asked me to convey to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the people of Indonesia our deepest condolences." (AP, 2/6/06)

June 3: A Cuban medical team arrived at Solo airport, on the Indonesian island of Java, to attend to the thousands of victims of a devastating earthquake. More than six thousand people were killed and tens of thousands have been injured. The team comprises of 135 health care professionals, among them hospital staff and specialist physicians, the majority of whom also took part in the aid to Pakistan after the October 8, 2005, earthquake. (Granma, 3/6/06)

June 3: More than 100 Nicaraguans with eye problems will travel to Cuba to undergo free surgery, said the special attorney for citizen participation, Reverend Sixto Ulloa. Ulloa said that eye surgeries performed on the Nicaraguans are part of the regional cooperation program promoted by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela. (AP, 4/6/06)

June 3: The members of the Organization of American States (OAS) should create a channel for dialogue with Cuba, which could help the island in a transition after Fidel Castro, said the OAS secretary general, José Miguel Insulza. “Many people like to talk about the possibility of a future transition in Cuba,” said the secretary general before leaving for the Dominican Republic where the next OAS general assembly will take place. “Well, if that’s the case, only those who have some type of contact with all Cuban sides will be able to play an important role. And certainly the OAS does not have those relations,” he indicated. “Many people say that we should plan the transition, that we should get involved in the human rights issues. But that implies some type of contact with the government,” he added. “I can speak with the Cubans in Miami who will likely have a role to play. But I will lack legitimacy if I cannot speak with others also,” he added. (Reuters, 3/6/06)

June 4: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says that he will maintain excellent relations with his counterparts in Cuba, Fidel Castro and Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. One week after having been reelected with an overwhelming majority, 62%, Uribe told the daily El Tiempo: "I am grateful to Castro on behalf of the Colombian people," the AP reported. "He has helped us a lot on all issues regarding South America, and Latin America in general, and on the issue of peace," and that is why relations with Cuba are "transparent, clear and friendly," Uribe said in a statement. (Granma, 4/6/06)

June 4: Syrian Vice President Farouk al–Shara reviewed together with the Chief of the
Foreign Relations Bureau of the Central Committee of Cuba’s Communist Party, Fernando Remires de Estenoz, the recent developments in international and regional arenas and the ongoing tension due to the US policy of hegemony. During the meeting, Shara and Eastonz stressed the significance of boosting bilateral relations between Syria and Cuba in all fields and activating the role of the Non Aligned Movement role on the occasion of the summit next September in Havana. (SANA, 4/6/06)

June 5: The official Cuban Communist Party newspaper defended the "Operation Miracle," a health-care initiative being carried out by Cuba and Venezuela, against the "selfish and rich ophthalmologists" who oppose the program. Granma said the health-care program was initially launched by Cuba and later joined by Venezuela, providing free eye surgery, especially for cataracts, to the poor and helping some 250,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Despite the great emphasis it places on people and solidarity, it paradoxically brings out opponents among those who hate and spurn, especially among the ranks of those selfish and rich ophthalmologists who charge thousands of dollars for just one operation," Granma said. Several days ago, Dr. Albert Lue, head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Jamaica's Kingston Public Hospital, tried to "cast doubt on the high level of qualifications of our specialists, their surgical ability and the technology they use" after conducting a survey of patients treated in Cuba, Granma said. (EFE, 5/6/06)

June 5: Participants in the Alternative Summit of the Peoples presented a resolution of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution to the Cuban Embassy in Santo Domingo. The 50-member delegation included members of more than 50 political, social, cultural and non-governmental organizations, as well as notables from the Dominican Republic and other countries attending the alternative to the ongoing OAS Summit. (Prensa Latina, 5/6/06)

June 5: Mali National Assembly President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita described as “fabulous” the Cuban medical cooperation benefiting his people. His official visit to the island responds to an invitation by his Cuban homologue, Ricardo Alarcon. “It is a sin and a sign of ingratitude not to recognize what has been done thanks to the Cuban doctors supporting the Malian people,” said the congressman in his interview with Sergio Corrieri, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, (ICAP). (Prensa Latina, 5/6/06)

June 5: At its meeting in Moscow, Russia, the global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations, issued a series of resolutions condemning the violence against and murder of journalists, including special resolutions calling for the improvement of conditions of the press and of journalists in Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela. (PR Noticias, 6/6/06)

June 6: Cuba and Syria rejected their inclusion on a US list of countries that do not do enough to combat human trafficking. "Of course we are against human trafficking. It seems to me the United States has too many lists, publishes all these lists to mask the failure of its policy in the world," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad told the press. Mekdad, on an official visit to Cuba, said the United States should treat trafficking "with great respect, with the goal of solving it, and not stick a finger in others' sore spots." His Cuban counterpart Marcos Rodriguez said it was a sign of arrogance that Washington "presumes the right to judge other countries" on issues like terrorism and human trafficking. (AFP, 6/6/06)

June 6: The Czech Republic has reservations about the text of a EU resolution on Cuba, now being drafted for the meeting of EU foreign ministers, as it is against the current policy of "critical dialogue" with the Cuban regime and for the toughening of the EU stance, diplomatic sources disclosed to CTK. "We are proposing certain changes in the text and we are continuing with the talks," Jan Vytopil, the spokesman for the Czech diplomatic office at the EU, told the press. (CTK, 6/6/06)

June 6: Members of the National College of Journalists of Venezuela, Anzoátegui chapter, took a position against the Cuban minister of Culture, Abel Prieto, who during a speech while on a visit in Venezuela, said that the work of the mass media in the South American country is “garbage”. “Calling the programs produced or published in the media by Venezuelan social communicators garbage and mediocre, is an expression of the interventionism of pro-Castro imperialism”, they said in a statement. (El Nuevo Día, 6/6/06)

June 7: Human rights concerns were the focus of talks on the final day of a meeting of the Organization of American States. The president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Evelio Fernandez, noted ongoing violence by leftist rebels in Colombia, lack of security in Haiti and the jailing of political dissidents in Cuba. The United States Ambassador to OAS, John Maisto, took note of conditions in Cuba, such as as continued restrictions on freedom of expression and failures in the justice system. “For 47 years, the people of Cuba have lived under a dictatorship that has shown time and again that beneath its rhetoric there is no respect for the fundamental rights of the individual," said John Maisto. Maisto also drew comparisons between Cuba and the current government in Venezuela. (VOA, 7/6/06)

June 7: Immigration authorities detained eleven Cuban rafters after their craft ended up at the Mexican island of Cozumel. Another member of the group managed to flee, said the police. (AFP, 8/6/06)

June 7: Cuba will strive to defend the adoption of an action plan at the summit of Non-Aligned Movement countries (NAM) to be held in Havana in September. This plan should translate the movement’s far-reaching decisions into concrete deeds, a diplomatic source indicated. According to sources from the Cuban Chancellery, the island’s stance is in line with the drafted Final Document presented by Malaysia, the current president, and approved in the ministerial preparatory meeting recently held in Putrajaya. The document is to be submitted to delegations of the 116 NAM country members, 60 of which will be represented by heads of State and Government, at the 14th summit in Havana, September 11-16. As it is customary, Cuba will assume the presidency of the movement for a three-year mandate. (Prensa Latina, 7/6/06)

June 7: The ambassadors of the EU member-states reached an “agreement” to maintain their current position of  “critical dialogue” with Cuba, although they also agreed on considering what should be their mid and long term “strategy” toward the island, according to community sources. The Political and Security Committee (PSC)-- formed by ambassadors of the 25 member-states, and which deals with relevant foreign and  security issues-- agreed on the wording of the text that the ministers of foreign affairs of the EU will ratify when they formally revise their common position towards Fidel Castro’s regime. (EFE, 8/6/06)

June 12: Cuba denounced to the UN the US attempts to strengthen its economic, political and social control on Puerto Rico by hindering its right to self-determination. Cuban Ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca submitted the draft resolution to the UN Decolonization Committee on Puerto Rico’s case and highlighted its importance; confirmed by the massive attendance and the number of speakers on the agenda. The diplomat said the UN has made its opposition clear throughout 30 years with 24 resolutions, which so far have been fruitless due to the US determination to ignore them. (Prensa Latina, 12/6/06)

June 12: The Czech Republic appealed to its European Union partners to get tough with Cuba, saying Europe's dealings with Havana have failed to generate significant democratic change. Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda brought up the issue of EU-Cuba relations at a monthly EU foreign ministers' meeting. Officials said the Czech Republic also planned to raise the issue at a meeting of the 25 EU leaders in Brussels, Belgium, later in the week. Support within the EU for a tougher stance on Cuba is strongest in the eight eastern European nations that joined the bloc in 2004 and where memories of the legacy of communism are still fresh. The Netherlands and Sweden also favor a tougher stance, but Spain is among countries that oppose it, officials said. (AP, 12/6/06)

June 12: EU foreign ministers have slammed the Cuban government for its deteriorating human rights record saying the bloc should agree on a longer term strategy on its relations with the "island of freedom." Meeting in Luxembourg, the ministers urged Havana to "unconditionally release all political prisoners," while lamenting the fact that the prisoner numbers have increased since last year. They also criticised "several dozen acts of violent harassment and intimidation, including acts of repudiation," noting that police and security forces took part in the acts. The statement is part of a regular evaluation of the island's civil liberties performance, following last year's withdrawal of bloc's diplomatic sanctions. The Dutch delegation argued that the EU should re-consider its policy on Cuba as there are no signs of political improvement after over a year of closer ties with officials - a point supported by several countries, particularly the Czech Republic. But in the declaration itself, the bloc stressed it would "welcome the resumption of a political dialogue with the Cuban authorities," while asking every EU "high-level visitor" to raise human rights concerns with the country's officials. (EUObserver, 12/6/06)

June 12: Walther Troger, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Commission of Sports for Everyone, is in Cuba to supervise arrangements of the 11th Congress of this organization. The world sports leader, who will stay five days on the island, was welcomed by Jose Ramon Fernandez, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Granma newspaper reported. (Prensa Latina, 12/6/06)

June 14: The official Cuban newspaper Granma criticized the financing granted by the president of the autonomous Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, of the conservative People’s Party (PP), to anti-government organizations. In an article titled “Madrid tiene su Moscoso” [Madrid has its Moscoso], Granma, official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, compares Aguirre with former Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso, who just before leaving power pardoned anti-Castro activist Luis Posada Carriles accused of multiple terrorist acts by Havana. Granma denounces that Aguirre granted a subsidy of 239,100 euros to the Fundación Hispano Cubana [Spanish Cuban Foundation (FHC)], an organization the Cuban newspaper calls a “creature of the CIA”. (EFE, 14/6/06)

June 14: A group of experts from the Cuban Civil Aeronautic Institute (IACC) is in Venezuela to advise the National Civil Aeronautic Institute (INAC), said the latter in a communiqué. During the meeting, Cuban technicians are to share their expertise in order to help complete an airport certification process under way in Venezuela. This move is intended to meet recommendations the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made during a recent visit to Venezuela, INAC said, as quoted by the Venezuelan official news agency ABN. (El Universal, 14/6/06)

June 14: Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque reiterated in Havana that Cuba is committed to the revitalization and strengthening of unity within the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), when it takes on the presidency of the 116-nation body in September.
"We will work for a world where peace, respect, cooperation and the right to development reign," said Perez Roque, who took part in an Internet forum in the Foreign Ministry as the island prepares to host the 16th NAM Summit. Before the forum began, Perez Roque chaired the presentation of the new web site created to give information about the summit in Havana. The foreign minister said the Non-Aligned Movement represents a great diversity of interests, national situations and priorities, but with common aspirations. Perez Roque recalled that Fidel Castro said NAM should also be a space to promote literacy, the training of health professionals and programs for efficient and rational energy use. (AP, Granma, 14/6/06)

June 15: Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage started a visit to Ecuador to attend the opening of two ophthalmologic hospitals with the island's equipment and physicians to provide surgery for patients with eye afflictions. According to diplomatic sources, Lage is expected to visit centers of social and cultural interest in this capital, meet with Ecuadorian authorities and attend along with President Alfredo Palacio the opening of the two ophthalmologic centers. One of these facilities, which has been working since May 29, is located in the city of Latacunga, capital of Cotopaxi province, and the second one is in Santa Elena canton, in Guayas province. (Prensa Latina, 15/6/06)

June 15: In Havana, the vice-president of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Carlos Correa, said Cuba is an example to the world of the integration of social and veterinary medical services in the prevention of the avian flu. Correa added that Cuba could collaborate in the diagnosis, combating and eradication of the influenza virus. (AFP, 15/6/06)

June 15: Cuba reiterated its complete support to Argentina in the dispute over sovereignty of the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands in statements by Cuban UN representative Rodrigo Malmierca to a special UN Committee for Decolonization. The UN Special Committee analyzed the Malvinas Islands topic in the presence of a numerous Argentine representation headed by Argentinean Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana. Malmierca noted that the UN Committee has given continuous work to this topic for more than 20 years and adopted 23 resolutions in this forum. (Prensa Latina, 15/6/06)

June 16: Russia has been invited to attend as an observer a summit of a movement that seeks to promote national independence and oppose colonialism and imperialism, Russia's foreign ministry said. The ministry said the invitation to attend a Havana summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which unites 100 nations, had been extended to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko by Cuban Ambassador to Russia Jorge Marti Martinez.  (RIA Novosti, 16/6/06)

June 16: Jamaican Minister of Health, Horace Dalley expressed a high level of satisfaction about the quality of ophthalmology care being offered to Jamaican and other Caribbean patients participating in the Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Project. However, he noted that there was need for greater collaboration between Jamaican and Cuban
ophthalmologists to further enhance the programme. The Minister made these remarks in a news interview following visits to the University Hospital in Cienfuegos and the Pasacaballo Health facility, during his first day of an official visit to Cuba. The Minister is accompanied by a six-member delegation. (Government of Jamaica, 18/6/06)

June 16: Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage attended the opening of a second eye clinic in Ecuador with Cuban staff and furnishings. The Cuban Vice President highlighted these centers´ smooth operations since their inauguration, which has included operating on 14,701 patients, including 401 in Latacunga, Cotopaxi province. Lage recalled that several hospitals have been opened in Latin America since Operation Miracle program was set in motion in 2004: Bolivia (6), Venezuela (1) and Ecuador (2). (Prensa Latina, 16/6/06)

June 19: Cuban and Chinese writers will sign a collaboration and exchange agreement for the first time in history, said the president of Cuba's National Union of Artists and Writers (UNEAC), Carlos Marti. Addressing the press at Jose Marti international airport, Marti said that a UNEAC delegation, which includes UNEAC executives Francisco López Sacha and Eduardo Heras León, was traveling to China to sign that deal. (Prensa Latina, 19/6/06)

June 19: Freedom House and Spanish based FRIDE have recently released the proceedings of the conference "Common goals, different strategies? Options for a transatlantic agenda on Cuba", held on November 8, 2006 in Brussels with support from USAID. The event sought to identify common ground for a transatlantic strategy of democracy promotion towards Cuba, and brought together policy-makers, activists, and academics from the European Union and the United States, such as Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry, USAID representative David Mutchler, the Head of the European Commission's Latin America Desk, Tomàs Duplà del Moral, and several Members of the European Parliament. [Conference Report] (Freedom House, 19/6/06)

June 19: Venezuelan justice re-opened the case against Henrique Capriles, the mayor of the municipality of Baruta in Caracas, accused of assault on the Cuban embassy in 2002 during the coup d'état against president Hugo Chávez. Capriles-- of the centre-right First Justice Party-- insisted that the trial be televised and said that “the most important witness they would call on would be Cuban ambassador, Germán Sánchez Otero”. (AFP, 19/6/06)

June 19: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced that Cuba has won the King Sejong Literacy Prize for developing the Yo Si Puedo (Yes I Can) literacy program. Cuban Ambassador to UNESCO Hector Hernandez Pardo said the award, given to the Latin American and Caribbean Pedagogic Institute of Cuba, is in recognition of a Cuban project especially developed to assist other countries. (Granma, 20/6/06)

June 19: A human rights official for the Organization of American States (OAS) has called on the Cuban government to stop restricting access to the Internet. In a statement, the OAS’s Ignacio Álvarez said he "observes with concern" that the Cuban legal system severely restricts the Cuban population's access to the Internet.  Álvarez said access to the Internet can strengthen democracy, contribute to a country's economic development, and "uphold the full exercise of freedom of expression." Álvarez, the OAS special rapporteur for freedom of expression, said the source of Cuba's restrictions for using the Internet lies in a government decree called "Access to the World Computer Network from Cuba."  But Álvarez said restricting such access to the Internet is "incompatible with the right to freedom of expression." Álvarez said a Cuban journalist, Guillermo Fariñas, has been on a hunger strike since January 31 in protest of restrictions on Internet access in Cuba. (Washington File, 20/6/06)

June 19: Despite having gained a seat on the new UN Human Rights Council, the Communist government of Cuba reiterated its refusal to allow a UN rights monitor to visit the island. Cuba will not cooperate with Christine Chanet, a French jurist named several years ago as the world body's human rights representative for Cuba, nor will it allow her to visit the island to carry out her mission, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said. "We will not have her visit Cuba because we do not accept that mandate," Perez Roque said in a press conference in Geneva, where he is taking part in the first session of the new United Nations Human Rights Council. (EFE, 20/6/06)

June 20: Cuba called on the European Union (EU) to end a ``silent complicity'' under which it said the bloc had allowed secret CIA flights to transport terror suspects to detention centres in Europe for interrogation. Cuba awaited a ``rectification to the silent complicity'' with which it said the EU had allowed hundreds of secret flights by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carrying ''kidnapped people and the establishment of clandestine prisons right on European soil, where prisoners are tortured and harassed,'' Perez said. ``So far, the European Union has hypocritically hindered the investigation and the clarification of these events,'' he added. (Reuters 20/6/06)

June 22: Lebanon's Economy and Trade Minister Sami Haddad will foster cooperation with Cuba in the spheres of culture, health, agriculture, biotechnology, sports, higher education and trade, the island's official sources reported. The Lebanese official will travel to Havana heading his country's delegation to the Third Joint Commission Session for Economic, Trade and Technical Collaboration. Cuba's Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration (MINVEC) Minister Marta Lomas will lead the island's delegation, whose aim is to enhance ties of cooperation with Lebanon. Haddad's agenda includes meeting with Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez and Economy and Planning Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez, among other officials from the island. (Prensa Latina, 22/6/06)

June 22: Honduras announced it will name its first ambassador to Cuba in 44 years, marking a new stage in the two countries' often tense relations. Honduras broke diplomatic relations with Havana in 1962, when Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States; it renewed formal relations with the island in January 2002, but did not name an ambassador for the next 4 1/2 years. Foreign Minister Milton Jimenez told reporters that a Honduran ambassador "will be named in January." Since 1998, some ties between the two countries - like medical services - have increased. (AP, 22/6/06)

June 22: In what could be an indication of warming relations between Israel and Cuba, Fidel Castro will take part this fall in a ceremony honoring Jews killed by the Nazis and their allies during World War II, the press reported. The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot said the Cuban leader planned to unveil a sculpture of a menorah in October at a Havana plaza in memory of the victims of the holocaust. The monument's creation was promoted by Eusebio Leal, who serves as historian of the city of Havana and is an expert on the history of Cuba's Jewish community, Israeli Pensioners Party leader and Cabinet Minister Rafi Eitan told the newspaper. Castro broke relations with Israel in 1973 during a conference of non-aligned nations in Libya as a show of solidarity with the Palestinians.
Israel, one of the main allies of the United States, has rebuffed several overtures from Cuban officials to restore relations, the newspaper said, adding that the countries have cooperated in the areas of agriculture and construction. Israel's interests in Cuba are handled by the Canadian Embassy. (EFE, 22/6/06)

June 23: Doctors in the Bolivian capital La Paz have staged a protest against an influx of Cuban medics offering free care in poor and rural parts of the country. The doctors, whose protest included offering free treatment themselves, say the Cubans take jobs away from unemployed Bolivian doctors. They want the Bolivian government to subsidise the national medical service, so it is free at the point of delivery. Deputy Health Minister Juan Alberto Nogales said Bolivia's health indices were among "the worst in Latin America, if not the world", and were a permanent preoccupation for the government. "In those places where we are supporting our Cuban colleagues there has never been a medical service," he said, rejecting the doctors' assertion that the Cubans were taking away jobs. (BBC, 23/6/06)

June 23: Fresh criticism by Cuba of the European Union, which it calls "a lackey" of the United States, marked another step in deterioration of relations between the island's Communist regime and the 25-nation bloc of democracies. In an editorial published in the official daily Granma, the Cuban government called “the alliance between the European Union and Bush, pathetic”. According to the editorial, “the European Union lacks of morality and authority to dictate conditions or impose decisions on Cuba”. “Lackeys have very little power”, it added. [Es muy poco el poder de los lacayos] (AFP, EFE, Reuters, 23/6/06) 

June 23: The Chamber of Deputies of Chile passed a draft agreement requesting that president Michelle Bachelet urge the Cuban regime to put an end to arrests for ideological reasons, and to release opponents of Fidel Castro from prison. The initiative presented by deputies of several political parties passed by 52 votes in favour, one against and 6 abstentions. (MartiNoticias, 23/6/06)

June 26: More than 80 legislators of the Latin-American Parliament (Parlatino) gathered in Cuba to discuss measures to prevent natural and health disasters, like the avian flu, and to promote the creation of a Latin-American court to settle environmental disputes. The First Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the “Situation of natural and health disasters in Latin American and Caribbean countries,” gathered 86 Parlatino deputies from 18 countries, including Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Paraguay and Venezuela, in Havana. In a letter, illegal Cuban opposition organizations urged the parliamentarians to mediate in favour of the activists who work so that the same diverse ideas they represent prevail on the island. (AFP, MartiNoticias, 26,27/6/06)

June 26: The Spanish Foreign Ministry had to intervene to persuade the regime of Fidel Castro to release Adam Mascaro Paya - nephew of the anti-Castro dissident Oswaldo Paya - who had been arrested on his arrival in Havana. The son of a Spanish man and a Cuban woman, Adam Mascaro Paya - who was born in Cuba and has lived in Spain for 25 years - possesses dual Cuban and Spanish nationality and travelled to Havana on his Cuban passport. The Cuban authorities, like those of other countries, do not accept dual nationality, so Mascaro Paya could only travel to the island with the Cuban passport, which, his relatives told the press, was perfectly in order because it had the mandatory stamp required by the Castro government. The same sources said that when he arrived at Havana airport, ready to visit his relatives as he had done on three other occasions, Oswaldo Paya's nephew - who does not carry out any kind of political activity - was arrested by police on the grounds that his documentation was not in order. The Foreign Ministry gave instructions to the Spanish embassy in Havana to investigate what was going on. The diplomatic representation's efforts with the Cuban Foreign Ministry brought results, and he was released next day after having been detained. (ABC, 28/6/06)

June 27: Cuban official daily Granma said that president Vicente Fox has been “the worst” of all Mexican presidents ever. In an article titled “Fox, the worst of them all,”   Granma said that “just a few days from knowing who will be the next president of Mexico, there are many hoping for a change in the direction of the country”. “It is hard to imagine six years worse for Mexico than the first six of the 21st century”, Granma said. “He came into power promising to refresh Mexican politics to the beat of his Coca Cola franchise. He arrived at Los Pinos presidential residence with his cowboy boots, trying to put a firm foot on shaky terrain. But one thing is handling a company and making campaign promises and another is the art of knowing how to make politics”, the article added about Fox presidency.

June 28: UN High Commissioner’s Special Representative, Christine Chanet, received a request to intervene in the case of the Cuban independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas, who has been on hunger strike for over four months in Cuba. Guillermo Estévez, director of Rescate Internacional, presented a letter to Chanet requesting the mediation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights with the Cuban authorities. Fariñas health condition is very delicate, but insists on maintaining the hunger strike in demand of free access to the use of Internet. (MartiNoticias, 28/6/06).

June 29: The new Chilean ambassador to Cuba, Jaime Tohá, former minister during Salvador Allende’s government (1970-1973), presented his credentials to Cuban authorities. Tohá substitutes Ambassador Celso Moreno, in the post since February 2004. (AFP, 29/6/06)

June 30: Cuba condemned the Israeli military aggression against the Gaza's Strip, saying that criminal act put the Middle East at risk of escalating violations that endanger international peace and security. At a statement published by Granma newspaper, the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry (MINREX) states "extreme concern" over the large-scale military operation started by Israel at daybreak June 28, 2006. Israel, notes the daily, has used as a pretext to launch its criminal aggression the detention of one of its soldiers by the Palestinian resistance. In June alone its army killed 52 Palestinians, including nine children, international organizations reported. [Declaración del MINREX] (Prensa Latina, 30/6/06)

June 30: Former Peruvian presidential candidate, Ollanta Humala, traveled to Cuba to go under surgical treatment due to gallbladder disorders. Peru’s former nationalist candidate had announced he would go under surgery in Lima, but a report from the press said Humala flew to Havana from Panama City. (El Comercio, 30/6/06)

June 30: Laos Prime Minister Bouasane Bouphavanh received the member of Cuba's Political Bureau Esteban Lazo Hernandez starting a friendly and work visit to the Indochinese nation. The leaders discussed traditional bilateral relations between the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party as well as on the tasks intended to encourage development carried out by both nations. Laos is the first stop of Lazo’s visit to several Asian countries. (Prensa Latina, 30/6/06)