Chronicle on Cuba - July 2006

Domestic Affairs

July 1: The First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, Fidel Castro, presided over the 5th Plenary Meeting of the organization’s Central Committee. The participants delved into different issues related to the Party’s organization, national defence, the incorporation of new members to the Central Committee, and other subjects related to the country’s development and the international situation. In several interventions during the meeting and in his closing remarks, Castro said the Revolution is committed to facing the serious challenges stemming from the complicated international situation and its own deficiencies. The president noted the decisive role that the Party must play in the current battle being waged by the nation and how it needs to be strengthened more than ever. "More than ever we need to strengthen the party...given the decisive role it must play in this battle," Castro said. With a standing ovation, the Plenary unanimously adopted the ideas presented by the Second Secretary of the Party Raul Castro on June 14, on the occasion of the 45th Anniversary of the Western Army, and in particular when he stated: “The Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution is one and only one, and only the Communist Party, the institution that groups the revolutionary vanguard and guarantees Cubans unity during all times, can be the dignified heir of the trust deposited by the people in its leader. We are working for that, and that’s how it will be, the rest is pure speculation”. (Granma, EFE, 4/7/06)

July 1: The Cuban Communist Party leadership announced that it had resurrected its secretariat, a policy-implementing group that was abolished 15 years ago, officially for financial reasons. Tapped for the new board: long time party stalwarts who represent a younger generation of Fidel Castro's revolution. The move underscores the Cuban government's desire to strengthen ruling institutions for a future when a government currently so dependent on the 79-year-old Castro is no longer possible. Several of the new secretariat members were provincial leaders who were replaced in May. Experts say that was, in fact, the preparation of a promotion of new leaders. ''They are reorganizing,'' said Alcibiades Hidalgo, a former Cuban diplomat and chief of staff to Defense Minister Raú:l Castro. ``This is not a purge. They are preparing a party that has been asleep for 15 years.'' The party's newspaper, Granma, said Castro presided over the meeting and will head the secretariat along with his brother, Raúl. One of the 10 other new members is José R. Machado Ventura, 75, right-hand man to Raúl Castro. The others include three women: María del Carmen Concepción González, party first secretary in Pinar del Río province; Mercedes López Acea, first secretary in Cienfuegos; and Lina Pedraza Rodríguez, ex-minister of audits and oversight. But while many of the new members are in their 50s and considerably younger than the Castro brothers, experts noted that they also are longtime party favorites. ''They are not the youngest generation,'' Hidalgo said. ``They have a lot of experience and are not at all inclined to changes.'' Domingo Amuchastegui, a former Cuban intelligence officer who defected in 1994, said the new committee members represent the ''middle generation'' -- people born into the revolution and tapped for leadership positions since their youth. ''These are people with a definite mind-set,'' he said. ``The idea is to strengthen the party and offer a message of institutionalism, that Cuba is not going to replace one “caudillo” for another.'' (The Miami Herald, 6/7/07)

July 3: Only 21 Cuban males have exerted the right to subsidies to take care of their children, although the domestic law ensures any parent to exercise them. The information was provided by Labour and Social Security Ministry’s Lawyer Amalay Lam, who has warned of Cuban men’s male chauvinism despite achievements in gender equality. It is very hard to see Cuban males washing diapers, preparing pacifiers, cradling his child or helping him/her in physiological needs while his wife is working, she said. Under the social security regime, mothers and fathers are granted monetary benefits for over a year to attend to children, irrespective of their being adopted or blood kids. (Prensa Latina, 3/7/06)

July 5: The number of Cuban political prisoners dropped to 316 from 333 in the first six months of this year, but the government stepped up extrajudicial harassment of opponents, the island's main rights group said. "The slight decline (…) appears to reflect a change in the form of political repression," the nongovernmental Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said in a report. The illegal but tolerated group charged the government was organizing supporters to surround and intimidate dissidents at home and on the street, arresting opponents for brief periods of time, increasing visits by security officials and firings from state jobs, among other tactics. "There is a decline in numbers of prisoners, but it is irrelevant because it is still more than 300," commission President Elizardo Sanchez told the press. "Without a doubt the government has changed its tactics. They are resorting more to other methods besides prison." The Commission’s report said even harder times were ahead for civil liberties on the Communist-ruled island. [Alto número de presos politicos] (Reuters, EFE, 5/7/06)

July 5: Cuban dissident leader Oswaldo Paya talked about different actions implemented by his organization, in spite of systematic repression by Cuban authorities against the dissident movement. In an article published in The Washington Post, Paya explained the different initiatives that his Christian Liberation Movement has undergone since the Varela Project in 2002. “In March 2003, dozens of leaders of Cuba's Varela Project and other human rights defenders were detained, subjected to summary trials, condemned to many years in prison and confined in the most inhumane and cruel conditions. In this way the regime attempted to suppress the rebirth of the Cuban Spring initiated by thousands of Cubans who overcame a debilitating culture of fear by including their names, addresses and identification numbers in the text of the Varela Project, a document later presented to the National Assembly asking for a referendum on its human rights principles”. Paya said that on May 10 2006 the CLM presented the Program for All Cubans (Programa Todos Cubanos). “It is the product of the National Dialogue and contains proposals for a number of endeavors, including modification of the constitution, a new electoral law, a new law of associations and a plan for changes titled 'Cuba First.'” “The editing of this document was done by Cubans, completely within Cuba”, Paya added. (The Washington Post, 5/7/06)

July 5: A severe rainstorm lashed the Cuban capital with hail and winds of up to 108 kilometers (67 miles) per hour, causing flooding, knocking down telephone polls and paralyzing traffic in several parts of the city. The downpour flooded two tunnels linking downtown Havana with its western zone, halted traffic, and tore down branches - and even trees - all over the city. "There are reports that the strong winds in some municipalities of the capital knocked down trees and damaged roofs and windows," said the weather institute in a report on its Web page. (EFE, 5/6/07)

July 6: More than 1.3 million Cuban students will be mobilized this summer to undertake tasks linked to a drive against corruption and the so-called energy revolution promoted by Fidel Castro. "The organization is aiming to make this its most important mobilization yet," said the first secretary of the Young Communist League, Julio Martínez. Students from universities, as well as from middle and elementary schools "will participate along with social workers in approximately 20 special tasks chosen by the revolution within the framework of an on-going campaign to fight illegal activities, corruption and promote energy-saving.” (AFP, 6/7/06)  

July 6: The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), headed by Elizardo Sánchez, and the National Coordination of Political Prisoners, headed by Aida Valdés, agree in the assessment that police pressure is likely to heat up in the months leading up to the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, to take place in Havana September 11-16. "Now we're seeing signs that the government may be about to tighten the thumbscrews by stepping up 'pre-emptive' repression to prevent incidents and social unrest during the Summit," said a CCDHRN report. The CCDHRN warned that "barring a miracle, the international community should prepare, at least in the short term, to receive nothing but bad news in the areas of civil, political and economic rights in Cuba." (IPS, 6/7/06)

July 6: A growing list of international artists and intellectuals are planning to travel to Cuba in August to fete Fidel Castro on his 80th birthday, organizers said. "It's like throwing a birthday party for a friend, a tribute from one brother to another," said Santiago Guayasamin, grandson of the late Ecuadorean painter Oswaldo Guayasamin, whose foundation is sponsoring the celebration of the Cuban leader. South African folk singer Miriam Makeba and Argentine musicians Cesar Issela, Piero and Victor Heredia will be among those performing a concert held in Havana in Castro's honor. They will be joined by Cuban singers Silvio Rodriguez and Omara Portuondo, organizers said. Beginning three days before Castro's August 13 birthday, the celebration will also include an academic conference on Cuba including former Ecuadorean President Rodrigo Borja, former Sandinista rebel leader Tomas Borge of Nicaragua and Hebe Bonafini of Argentina's Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. (AP, 6/7/06)

July 6: Trade union activist and independent librarian Lázaro González Adán, imprisoned without due process in the Cerámica Roja penitentiary of Camagüey since October, 2004, will have to face new charges for allegedly causing bodily harm on another prisoner who attacked him. This is not the first time that González Adán has been assaulted in the 21 months he has been confined with common criminals. (Cubanet, 6/7/06)

July 7: It's been a slow process, but "religious repression has been diminishing little by little" in Cuba, said Cardinal Jaime Orteg` Alamino of Havana, Cuba. Starting in the 1980s "there was an evolution on the part of the government" increasing church-state communication and "the tension began to diminish," the cardinal said in an interview with The Tidings, newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which appeared June 30. The cardinal was in Los Angeles in June to attend the spring meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and to visit with Cuban-Americans in the area. The limits placed by the communist government on the church now do not involve being able to worship, he said. They involve not being able to have Catholic schools or teach religion in public schools, he said. There is also limited access to the state-controlled media, the cardinal said. "Slowly we are achieving more," he said. "But we don't have customary access to communications media." (CNS, July 7/6/06)

July 7: Six months aftdr being returned to Cuba from US custody, the group of so-called "Bridge Rafters" have no choice but to wait amid uncertainty, anxiety and economic hardship for authorities on the island to decide their fate.  The 15 would-be emigrants were repatriated on January 9 by US authorities, one week after they landed on the support pylons of an abandoned bridge just off the Florida coast. But, a federal judge ruled February 28, however, that the rafters were eligible to stay in the United States under the existing policy and asked the US government to help them return.  Cuban authorities have not yet issued the exit visas and the "rafters" have no option but to wait amid a precarious economic situation, they said. Since presenting their request for exit permits on March 28, the 14 rafters have frequented the immigration office in the west-central city of Matanzas in search of "some news."  “When they saw that we were going every day, they met with all of us and told us that all the papers were in order and they were only awaiting an order from Havana and they said they would call us by phone when it arrived," said "Bridge Rafter" Elisabeth Hernandez.  "They told us that ours is a special case," said Ernesto Hernandez, another "Bridge Rafter."  (EFE, 7/7/06)

July 10: Alexander Santos Hernández, Cuban Liberal Movement (CLM) coordinator for the eastern provinces was sentenced to four years in prison following charges for his alleged involvement in a dangerous crime. Santos was a victim of an “act of repudiation” in Gíbara, in the Holguín province, during which he was beaten and humiliated by a rabble organized by forces of the Cuban secret police. His wife Milisa Aballe Ricardo, an independent reporter affiliated with the “Youths Without Censorship” news agency, was also arrested. The Gíbara political police also detained Juan Ramón Claro Infante and Jesús Ramsés, municipal CLM delegate in that city. They were all threatened with lengthy prison terms and "worse" if they maintained their positions against the government of Fidel Castro. (Cubanet, 10/6/07)

July 12: Fidel Castro, who turns 80 in August, is an "extraordinarily healthy" man who continues to work very hard every day, parliamentary speaker Ricardo Alarcon said. 
"Fidel Castro has been given this privilege: he is an extraordinarily healthy man," Alarcon told the press in an interview. "He has always been and remains healthy, although it angers George W. Bush."  Alarcon rejected as "completely unfounded" rumors that surfaced recently in Venezuela about the death of the Cuban leader. "These jokes surface from time to time and collapse," the speaker joked. "There have bedn so many of them that I believe that when it really happens, nobody will believe it." (AFP, 12/7/06)

July 12: The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs), widely regarded as the "eyes and ears of the Cuban revolution,” initiated a “neighborhood watch" exercise that includes a mobilization against corruption and illegal activities. Miguel Marrero, a member of the National Secretariat of the CDRs in charge of neighborhood watch oversight, told local media outlets that the exercise entails implementing measures against corruption and illegal activities in residential areas as well as the business sector.
(EFE, 12/7/06)

July 14: The 20th Latin American Meeting of Educational Mathematics (RELME), gathering 500 academicians, researchers and professors from 14 Latin American countries and Spain, concluded in the eastern Buban city of Camagüey. The educators explored ways to make mathematics, one of the world’s more complex disciplines both to teach and learn, attractive to students. (Prensa Latina, 14/7/06)

July 14: The application of modern technology for early detection of neoplastic diseases has allowed Cuba to attain remarkable results in fighting breast cancer, the main malignant illness affecting women worldwide. Hundreds of mammography studies on Cuban women have resulted in early diagnose of neoplastic mammary glands, allowing to make timely therapeutic decisions including surgery, chemo and radiotherapy. The preventive work begins at the office of the community family doctor, with suggestions for breast self-examination. Other actions to fight breast cancer include the clinical follow-up of women with previous cases of the illness in the family, along with recommendations for a healthy diet. (Prensa Latin`, 14/7/06)

July 16: The architectural barriers for differently disabled people have been eliminated in Havana´s 19 municipalities, as a contribution to social integration of those people and uplifting their self-esteem. Osvaldo Hidalgo Dominguez, president of the Cuban Association of Physical and Motor Disabled People (ACLIFIM) in that territory, told the press that conditions have been created to allow access of those people to health, education, commercial, food, cultural, and recreational centers. (Prensa Latina, 16/7/06)

July 16: For years 4,000 homes in Manzanillo, in eastern Cuba, have depended on wells. For a great part of the families the clock turned back to the time of having to use buckets. But, finally, the days of water have arrived with the construction of the aqueduct. Manuel Garcia, director of Aqueduct and Sewage system, gave the details to the press: “The pnpulation of Manzanillo grew a lot. Today it has over 105,000 residents. We had an aqueduct in 1940, built for a much smaller urban population. The pumping of 90 liters per second allowed cycles of water to be supplied through the network, that lasted between 15 and 20 days. Now that the work has finished, we can deliver 500 liters per second, 300 from the wells of Cayo Redondo and 200 from Cuentas Claras”. “The investment was more than 14 million pesos and 3.7 million in hard currency”, Garcia added. “We provide a service 24 hours a day to 70 percent of the public; and the rest, in the high area of the city receives water from Cuentas Claras. It comes every three days to them, because there are three deep wells. They were very old. When the first one collapsed, we decided to transfer the three. Two of them need a pump motor, and the other pump houses." (Periodico 26, 16/7/06)

July 16: Cuba celebrated Children’s Day at youth pioneer camps, plazas, parks, video parlors and Youth Computer Clubs. The purpose was to offer a diverse range of cultural, sports, recreational and educational activities so that the nation’s kids could both learn and have fun at the same time, said Miriam Yanet Martin, national president of Jose Marti Pioneers Organization (OPJM). The main event was held at Ernesto (Che) Guevara Pioneer Center, where the youth and their parents played, sang, and enjoyed a variety of delicacies. People could buy books and dance to the beats of the group Moncada, Also sponsored by the OPJM this weekend was the Gala of Youth Singing, held at the National Theater of Cuba. Festival activities were also held at pediatric hospitals and children's homes. (Granma, 17/7/06)

July 17: Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas, who shortly will reach the six-month mark of a hunger strike, will leave the hospital and return home if the doctors treating him continue to keep him isolated, his mother - Alicia Hernandez - told the press. Fariñas, a 43-year-old psychologist who heads the independent Cubanacan Press news agency, began his hunger strike on January 31 to demand unrestricted access to the Internet. The dissident, who has carried out 20 hunger strikes since 1995, is in "serious but stable" condition in an isolated room in the intensive care unit of the Arnaldo Milian Castro Hospital in Santa Clara, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Havana. Fariñas decided to refuse to accept intravenous nourishment and said he would request to be released from the facility voluntarily and go home if the doctors did not lift the isolation imposed upon him and transfer him to a room where he could receive visitors, albeit remaining separated from them by glass, his mother said. (EFE, 17/7/06)

July 17: Melba Santana Ariz, wife of Alfredo Batista Domínguez, who was imprisoned following the notorious Trial of the 75, denounced being subject to harassment and threats by a highly dangerous ex-convict manipulated by the Cuban State Security police. “I am making the Cuban authorities responsible for what could happen to me and my children," Melba Santana told the independent press. (Cubanet, 17/7/06)

July 18: Reporters Without Borders reiterated its support for two independent journalists, Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez and Oscar Mario González Pérez, who have been held without trial since their arrests one week apart a year ago. Guerra was a regular contributor to the US-based Radio Martí and the Nueva Prensa Cubana and Payolibre websites until his arrest on 13 July 2005. He was also a member of a news centre operated by La Corriente Martiana, a patriotic group. “The plight of Guerra and González suggests that the Cuban authorities apparently no longer need a court’s permission to throw journalists in prison,” Reporters Without Borders said. “In the absence of any charges against these journalists and in view of their state of health, we call for their immediate release and that of the 20 journalists who have been imprisoned since March 2003. We also call for the release of their colleague, Armando Betancourt, who has been held without any official reason being given since 23 May of this year,” Reporters Without Borders added. González’s wife, Mirtha Wong, told Reporters Without Borders that her husband is currently being held in the prison known as “1580” in San Miguel de Padrón, in Havana province. Aged 62, he is in the “FD” section of the prison reserved for those for whom there is a “Falta de Documentación,” meaning a “lack of documentation.” The prison authorities say they are unaware of the charges against him. (RWB Press Release, 18/7/06)

July 19: Cuba has maintained its second place position at the 20th Central American and Caribbean Games by winning 28 gold medals so far, a number surpassed only by Mexico. Cuba has won the greatest number of medals so far in weight lifting, as it concluded the third day of competitions with four gold medals, three silvers and two bronze awards. (ACN, 19/7/06)

July 19: The Fifth International Congress on Special Education met in Havana. Teachers, researchers, scientists, relatives and students of Pedagogy were given a warm welcome to the event by students with special educational needs. The Congress, dedicated to promoting social development, includes topics such as diagnosis and methodologies, both in education and for the incorporation of the student into the workforce and society. (Granma, 19/7/06)

July 20: Latin America's rumour mill perennially buzzes with stories that Fidel Castro has died, but the 79-year-old communist firebrand says he gets a kick out of it. "I die just about every day," said Castro in an interview with Venezuelan state television, in reference to the rumours. "But it's really a lot of fun for me, and it makes me feel healthier." Castro spoke on Venezuelan television at a meeting of the South American trade bloc Mercosur, held in Cordoba, Argentina. Rumours surfaced that the Cuban leader had passed away, but faded when they turned out to be based on idle speculation broadcast by a Venezuelan radio station. (Reuters, 21/7/06)

July 20: Cuban dissident leader, Oswaldo Paya, denounced to the press a series of acts of harassment against him and his family by dozens of people who have been demonstrating for weeks in front of his home in Havana. Since July 9, Paya said, demonstrations began with people shouting and showing posters that said, “In a country under siege, dissidents are considered traitors”. "These policemen, agents, and well known “esbirros” from the Cerro municipality in Havana have been threatening my family and my neighbours”, Paya said. “And they will continue”, he added in a communiqué handed to the press. (AFP, 20/7/06) 

July 20: Cuban citizen Angel Enrique Fernández Rivero, 41, was detained by the police for having a tattoo that says “Down with Fidel”, “Murderer”. Angel Enrique had gone to a cafeteria at the beach in 16th street in Miramar, Havana, when a man saw his tattoo. This man showed Angel an ID from the Ministry of the Interior and called a patrol that took Angel to Villa Marista, the secret police headquarters. Angel has been detained under the alleged crime of “contempt of authority”. (Cubanet, 20/7/06)

July 23: Fidel Castro and his delegation returned home to Cuba after attending the 30th Southern Common Market (Mercosur) Summit in Cordoba, Argentina. (Periódico 26, 24/7/06)

July 24: Cuba had to pay 4 million dollars for satellite Internet access in 2005, 25 per cent more than an underwater cable access would have cost, Cuban officials claimed. The embargo that Washington imposed on Cuba in 1962 precludes use by the communist island nation of an underwater optic fibre cable that runs near its territory. Roberto Santiesteban, of Cuba's Telecommunications Company (ETECSA), who revealed the discrepancy to reporters, said Cuba was also at a disadvantage because cable connections give faster and better Internet quality. The country has had Internet for ten years. The regime led by Fidel Castrn has prioritized the web's 'social' use and limited access by individuals, claiming insufficient bandwidth. (DPA, 24/7/06)

July 26: Fidel Castro joked about his age - he's about to turn 80 - and told thousands gathered in Bayamo, Granma province, to commemorate the beginning of the Cuban Revolution that he has no plans to still be leading this island nation when he reaches the century mark. Wearing his traditional olive-drab uniform, Castro, whose birthday is August 13, came to Bayamo, in eastern Cuba, to mark the 53rd anniversary of his attack on the Moncada army barracks. "Let the little neighbors to the north be unworried, I don't intend to still be exercising my office until I'm 100," Castro quipped in the course of a 2 1/2 hour speech that he delivered while standing. He also mentioned the tumble he took in October 2004 during a public event in the city of Santa Clara, noting that he continues to undergo rehabilitation for the injuries he suffered to his leg and arm. "It will soon be two years since my elegant fall," Castro said. "What would have become of me without a therapist to make me walk and use the arm, perhaps with not so much punch as in other times? But I still have my left, which is a very symbolic arm." The aging strongman devoted most of the substance of his address to extolling the social programs of the revolution, which he credited with helping to raise Cubans' life expectancy to 77 years, a longevity comparable to that of residents in much-wealthier countries. (EFE, 26/7/06)

July 26: Fidel Castro criticized the US role in the Middle East conflicts and its policy toward Latin America, where, he said, new “revolutions” are arising that Washington “won’t be able to destroy”. During the inauguration of one of the largest power-generator system in the island, in the north-eastern province of Holguin, Castro referred to the “revolutions” of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia. Castro highlighted that “new revolutions are emerging” and warned that, “the US will not be able to destroy them”. The Cuban leader made a call to the Venezuelans to gain all the votes required to safeguard the “Bolivarian revolution” headed by Hugo Chavez. “You talk about ten million votes, and you will have all the votes you want if you are able to educate the Venezuelan people, if you are able to develop the people’s conscience”, Castro said to a group of Venezuelans attending the ceremony. (EFE, AFP, 7/06)

July 27: A Cuban dissident group announced the creation of a Commission against "apartheid" practices in Cuba to document cases of discrimination and denounce them before national authorities and international institutions. In a communiqué released in Havana, the Commission denounced that "‘segregation’ according to nationality, color, disagreement with the official party line or actions independent from State policy is manifest among Cubans at different occasions and from diverse perspectives.” The Commission is led by opposition activist Moisés Leonardo Rodríguez Valdés. (EFE, 27/7/06)

July 27: Five Cuban boxers led by Olympic and World Champ Guillermo Rigondeaux won gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia. With other victories in Track and Field, Taekwondo and Ping Pong, Cuba harvested 19 gold medals, ratifying its first place position with a total of 104 gold medals, way ahead Mexico now, with 85. (ACN, 28/7/06)

July 28: More than 600 new cases of dengue fever have been recorded in the Havana municipalities of El Cerro, Centro Habana, and Arroyo Naranjo, employdes of the Public Health department said. Authorities have been meeting with physicians and nurses to
appraise them of the situation. They have also ordered a clean up campaign in Old Havana, presumably to eliminate breeding areas for the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector for the disease. The last outbreak of dengue in the Cuban capital was in January
2002. (Cubanet, 28/7/06)

July 31: Fidel Castro underwent complicated intestinal surgery for internal bleeding and relinquished power for the first time in 47 years, placing his younger brother, Raul, “provionally” in charge of the island nation, according to a statement read on Cuban television.  The news came in a statement read on state television by his secretary Carlos Valenciaga. The message said Castro's condition was apparently due to stress from a heavy work schedule during recent trips to Argentina and eastern Cuba. He dhd not appear on the broadcast. His brother, 75, also will assume full control of the armed forces and the Communist Party.  Describing his condition as a "health accident," Castro said he was temporarily relinquishing his presidency to Raul, who is Cuba's defense minister and Castro's designated successor. Castro's statement did not say when his surgery took place. [Proclama de Fidel Castro] (Chicago Tribune, AP, EFE, Reuters, 31,1/7,8/06)

July 31: Martha Beatriz Roque, a leading Cuban government opponent in Havana, said she believed Castro must be gravely ill to have stepped aside — even temporarily. "No one knows if he'll even be alive December 2 when he's supposed to celebrate his birthday," she said in a telephone interview. She said opposition members worried they could be targeted for repression during a government change — espdcially if authorities fear civil unrest. (AP, 31/7/06)