Chronicle on Cuba - August 2006

Highlights

Domestic Affairs: In a message to the nation, the Cuban government says that information about Fidel Castro’s health condition is a state secret. Under the current situation, leaders of Cuban opposition urge caution and restraint. Public “acts of rejection” against dissidents take place on several spots of the island. Fidel Castro recovers from intestinal surgery, Cuban high-ranking officials say. Ramiro Valdés is named Minister of Communications and Information Science.

Economy: Iran and Cuba discuss avenues for bolstering bilateral cooperation in the technical and industrial fields. Cuban authorities announce the island has left behind a serious draught period. Cuba cannot fulfill its goal in house building. Cuban Finance Minister visits Vietnam and China.

Exile Community: The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) makes a call for a “non violent” political transition in Cuba. The Democracy Movement urges the US government to let Cuban-Americans come to the island to help with a political transition. The Cuban Committee for Democracy favours dialogue with Raul Castro.

Foreign Affairs: During Carlos Uribe’s assumption to the presidency of Colombia, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage meets with high dignitaries and with the secretary general of the Organization of American States.  Cuba presents a final draft declaration to the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement in New York to be discussed at the 14th Summit of NAM in September in Havana. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez visits Fidel Castro in Havana. Costa Rican president Oscar Arias urges the Ibero-American countries to support a transition toward democracy in Cuba.

Security: After the announcement of Fidel Castro's transfer of power to his brother Raúl,
Cuban Armed Forces mobilize and call up its military reserves.

US-Cuba Relations: The US president George W. Bush says his government is actively monitoring the situation in Cuba and expresses the US commitment to supporting transition toward democracy in Cuba. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes Washington's second appeal in three days aimed at preventing a mass exodus from Cuba to Florida. Michael Parmly, the chief of the US diplomatic mission in Havana, attends a concert in tribute to Fidel Castro on his birthday. Raul Castro says that Cuba would be willing to “normalize relations on an equal plane” with the United States.