Chronicle on Cuba - August 2006

Foreign Affairs

August 1: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close anti-American ally of Fidel Castro, said he was worried about the health of the Cuban leader, who has undergone surgery for intestinal bleeding. "With my heart, I wish that President Fidel Castro will quickly recover to always stay with us," Chavez said at a meeting of Vietnamese businesses during an official visit to Hanoi. He then raised his fist and shouted: "Long live Fidel Castro!" Chavez said Venezuelan officials had contacted Havana the moment they heard news that Castro had undergone surgery and provisionally handed over power to his brother Raul, his designated successor. "In regards to a government leader, such an announcement is a concern," Chavez said. "We have contacted comrade Castro's office in Havana and after receiving the news directly we left the hotel with our concern lessened.  "Doctors prescribed that an absolute rest for several weeks must be taken," said Chavez, who was speaking on the last of his two-day visit to Vietnam. (Reuters, 1/8/06) 

August 1: Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message of good wishes to Cuban leader Fidel Castro following his operation to treat an acute intestinal problem. On behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Chinese government, the Chinese people and himself, Hu, also General Secretary of the CCP's Central Committee, offered his sincere condolence to Castro and wished him a quick recovery. (Xinhua, 1/8/06)

August 1: Bolivian President Evo Morales sent a letter to his counterpart and political ally Fidel Castro hoping for Castro’s fast recovery. “We are sure that with the strength that you have always showed us, you will overcome this critical moment, and will continue struggling from the antimperialist trench”, Morales wrote. (AP, 1/8/06)
August 1: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a long-time friend of Castro, said in Brasilia Cubans alone should decide on a possible presidential successor. "The succession process is a decision the Cuban people will have to make," Lula told reporters, adding Castro may recover and "the situation may not be as bad as it appears."  (Reuters, 1/8/06)

August 2: The European Union forwarded a short and terse get well wish to recovering Fidel Castro, adding however, it hadn't yet made any plans for dealing with a post-Castro Cuba.  "There are no plans," said EU spokesman Pietro Petrucci. "We wish that President Fidel Castro and Cuban democracy (have) a quick recovery, that's all we can say." (AP, 1/8/06)

August 2: Cuba turned back at least four foreign journalists who tried to enter the island to cover Fidel Castro's health crisis and has been denying or not replying to other foreign media's requests for reporter visas. The four -- three from US media and a South American -- were on a commercial flight from Panama to Cuba but were turned back at the Havana airport and were forced to take the return flight to Panama, one of the journalists said. Cuba also has been denying or not replying to foreign media requests for journalists to cover the story of Castro's surrender of power, officially temporary, after he underwent surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding. (The Miami Herald, 2/8/06)

August 2: Canada's policy of diplomacy and engagement with Cuba is not likely to change under Stephen Harper's government, even as Fidel Castro's continued leadership of the tiny Caribbean country is in doubt, experts say. Harper may be ideologically inclined against Castro's Communist regime, but changing Canada's long-standing diplomatic relations with Cuba to better align with US policy would be risky, said Hal Klepak, a Cuban expert and history professor at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. ``For Harper, it would be a no-gainer,'' Klepak said from Havana. ``(Former prime minister Lester B.) Pearson was keen as mustard to please the Americans on Cuba, but made no headway. The Mulroney government came in with the same idea, and once again ran up against public opinion.''  John Kirk, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, expects Ottawa's traditional stance on Cuba will continue because it can also be held out as an example of a Canadian policy independent from the US. (Canadian Press, 3/8/06)

August 2: Cuba accused Israel of being a “terrorist state” for its attacks against Lebanon. In an official note, the Cuban government accused the United States of being the military and economic support of Tel Aviv. It also accused the European Union of being Washington’s “lackeys”. “They have been accomplices of the Empire, with very seldom exceptions, promoting soft statements from the other side of the Atlantic”, the note said. [Declaración del MINREX] 

August 3: Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is underlining that Canada has its own mind about how to deal with Cuba. It was the first official comment the Canadian government has made on the situation there since Fidel Castro became ill and signed power over to his younger brother Raul. "Canada has always taken a sovereign, independent position vis-a-vis our relations with Cuba, and we'll continue to do so," MacKay said at the Conservative caucus meeting. "One of the goals that countries do share is to see a functioning democracy in Cuba." MacKay said that all that's left to do now is wait to see what unfolds. "Everyone is waiting in anticipation to see whether the health of Mr. Castro will improve. Many countries now are waiting to see if there will be some sort of mass exodus from Cuba, there's no way to predict if that will happen at all." (Canadian Press, 4/8/06)

August 3: At a moment in Cuban history -- with long-time strongman Fidel Castro in a sickbed and transferring his power to his brother -- foreign journalists are being shut out of the Communist island. Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported that more than 150 foreign journalists trying to enter Cuba with tourist visas have been turned away at the Havana airport since the government announced Castro had internal bleeding and faced "complicated surgery." Journalists need a work visa to work legally in Cuba, and a spokesman of the government-controlled International Press Center told dpa there would be no exceptions. Like many countries, the communist state, which has a tight control on news and information, demands that foreign media seek proper journalists visas and accreditations. "Whoever violates these rules, either intentionally or not, will be barred from entering the country," the state news agency Prensa Latina reported. (AP, Reuters, 4/8/06)

August 3: The New York City-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged Cuba to let foreign journalists into the country. "We call on Cuban authorities to let journalists do their work without harassment or obstruction," Americas program coordinator Carlos Lauria said in a statement. "It is critical that foreign journalists be allowed into Cuba to report the news on the handover of power by Castro, a story of global importance. We are also troubled by reports that Cuba is denying requests for journalists' visas." (CPJ Press Release, 4/8/06)

August 3: The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) wished Fidel Castro a speedy recovery calling him "a friend of all the poor developing countries striving for a better life for their peoples." In a letter sent to Havana from CARICOM headquarters, the Caribbean governments also expressed their confidence in General Raul Castro’s ability to take on the new responsibilities, reported the Jamaica Observer. "President Fidel Castro, our friend, will be in our prayers," reads the letter sent by Denzil Douglas, the prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis and current CARICOM chair. (Granma, 4/8/06)

August 3: Panama's Anti Corruption Prosecutor Mercedes De Leon ordered trial of several ex officials for possible participation in terrorist Luis Posada Carriles illegal departure from the country. In a statement to La Prensa daily, De Leon said that Posada Carriles departure from Panama "was made in such a way it could be considered a crime." De Leon asked for the opening of criminal charges against ex Justice Minister Arnulfo Escalona, ex National Police Chief Carlos Bares, and ex Migration Deputy Javier Tapia. The Public Ministry official noted the loss of the document in which ex Minister of Government and Justice Hector Aleman sent his opinion for the pardon given the terrorists. De Leon s decision was taken after a comprehensive investigation requested by Panama's Twelfth Penal Court. (Prensa Latina, 4/8/06)

August 4: The Spanish government reiterated its wishes of a speedy recovery for Fidel Castro, who announced that he must rest following surgery. Spanish Government Vice President Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told Spain’s National Radio from Peru that the Executive hoped for a quick recovery of Castro. She also ratified that the Cubans are the ones to decide about their future. (Prensa Latina, 4/8/06)

August 4: The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement expressing its most energetic condemnation of the "cowardly, despicable and criminal Israeli attack on July 30 against the Lebanese village of Qana," which resulted in at least 60 civilian casualties. The Foreign Ministry statement, published by Granma newspaper, says that the barbaric act of state terrorism, in which 34 children including 15 with mental and physical disabilities were killed, is part of the aggression launched by Israel against Lebanon over the last 23 days. (ACN, 4/8/06)

August 4: Guatemalan President Oscar Berger and Cuban Public Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer opened a modern ophthalmologic hospital, the first of its kind in Central America. The eye care center, located in the northern municipality of San Cristobal, Verapaz, was named after the Cuban patriot Jose Joaquin Palma, a revolutionary that fought in the island’s wars of independence from Spanish colonial rule and who lived in Guatemala during different periods of his life. "I want to convey to the Government and the people of Cuba my most sincere gratitude for the medical aid," President Berger said in his speech. (Granma, 5/8/06)

August 5: The Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo reported that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had been informed by Cuban authorities that Castro had cancer and might not be able to return to office. "Cuban authorities told the president and the Workers Party (PT) that the dictator has cancer and that even if he recovers he might not return to power," the newspaper reported, without revealing its sources. Folha de Sao Paulo said that "word from Havana received confidentially indicates that Castro is very ill." Lula was deeply moved and asked his supporters to keep quiet about the matter, according to the daily. The Brazilian government later denied that it had been informed by Havana about Castro's health. "The president of the republic, who is following the situation of the Cuban president's health through the Foreign Ministry, was at no time informed by Cuban authorities or any other source about the supposed diagnosis," Brazilian presidential spokesman Andre Singer said in a communique. (EFE, 5/8/06)

August 5: Panamanian First Lady Vivian Fernandez de Torrijos visited Havana’s modern Ramon Pando Ferrer Ophthalmology Institute. Fernandez toured the premises and chatted with workers and patients. She took time to speak with several Panamanians awaiting eye surgery at the center. The eye care facility has been entrusted with the scientific supervision of Operation Miracle, an eye surgery program that is helping millions of poor Latin Americans recover their sight. From late 2005 to date, more than 3,000 low income Panamanians have received free eye operations in Cuba. The Panamanian first lady spoke highly of the program and said she was grateful for its contribution. (Prensa Latina, 5/8/06)

August 5: Former Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega joined other revolutionaries and leftists in wishing Fidel Castro well, traveling to Havana to offer his support while Cuban officials said the leader is recuperating well after intestinal surgery. ``I am sure that we will soon have Fidel resuming his functions and leading his people,'' Ortega, a leader of the Sandinista revolution and current presidential candidate in Nicaragua, told Cuban state media after arriving in Havana. (AP, 7/8/06)
August 5: Colombia's largest rebel group also expressed its solidarity with Fidel Castro. "We hope you'll recover in the shortest time possible," the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia said in a statement.  (AP, 7/8/06)

August 6: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Fidel Castro was out of bed and talking following his surgery.  "How are you, Fidel?" Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program, suggesting he believed the Cuban leader was watching. "We have reliable information of your quick and notable recuperation." "Fidel Castro, a hug for you, friend and comrade, and I know you are getting better," he added. Speaking by phone with Bolivian President Evo Morales later during the program, Chavez said Castro was bouncing back quickly. "This morning I learned that he's very well, that he is already getting out of bed, he's talking more than he should -- because he talks a lot, you know. He has sent us greetings," Chavez said. (AP, 7/8/06)

August 7: Malaysia's prime minister wished Castro a swift recovery and said he looks forward to seeing him at a summit in Havana next month. "I am pleased to hear your operation has been successful and that you are responding well to medical treatment," Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a statement carried by Malaysia's national news agency, Bernama, from the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Abdullah said he hopes to meet with Castro during a meeting of leaders of mainly developing countries of the Nonaligned Movement that Cuba is hosting September 11 through 16. Malaysia has held the rotating chairmanship of the 116-member Non-Aligned Movement since 2003, and is to hand over the reins to Cuba next month. (AP, 7/8/06)

August 7: Cuba's allies urged the United States not to interfere with the communist country during Fidel Castro's absence from power. "We demand that the government of the United States respects Cuba's sovereignty," said a letter released at a news conference in Havana by 400 leftist intellectuals and human rights activists. "We must prevent a new aggression at all costs." The letter was signed by Latin American leftists and numerous Nobel Peace laureates, including former Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and activist Rigoberta Menchu of Guatemala. (AP, 8/8/06)

August 7: Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage met in Bogota here with the Prince of Asturias Felipe de Borbón, and the heads of state of Chile, Michelle Bachelet; Paraguay, Nicanor Duarte; Ecuador, Alfredo Palacio; and the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández. Lage also met with the vice presidents of Venezuela, José Vicente Rangel and Bolivia, Alvaro García Linera; the secretaries of the Ibero-American Summit, Enrique Iglesias, and the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza.  All these public figures were in Bogotá for the inauguration of re-elected Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, beginning his second term (2006-2010). (Granma International, 8/8/06)

August 7: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe voiced concern with the health condition of Fidel Castro and wished him a speedy healing. At the interview Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, who attended President Uribe's re-election ceremony, Lage said Fidel is having a satisfactory recovery and will soon reassume his duties as statesman. (Prensa Latina, 8/8/06)

August 7: The president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, cancelled a scheduled meeting with Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage in Colombia. The Costa Rican leader had declared that during the conversation with Lage he would send Raúl Castro the message that if he were to inherit power, he should look for a "transition." "Obviously, (Lage) had been informed of what I wanted to speak to him about because he said he would not discuss this topic, so I cancelled the meeting,” said Arias. (EFE, 8/8/06)

August 8: Cuban and Algerian sports authorities will sign in Havana an action program for the years 2006-2007. Yahia Giudoun, Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports, arrived to Havana and will carry out a broad program on the island culminating with the signing of the accord. (CAN, 8/8/06)

August 8: The press freedom and journalists' rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) asked for a "gesture of mercy" for reporters in Cuba from Raul Castro, who has exercised power provisionally there since the sudden serious illness of his brother Fidel last week. In a communique, the Paris-based RSF said it was waiting for a "gesture of mercy" from Raul Castro regarding the 23 journalists imprisoned on the Communist island since the anti-opposition crackdown in 2003, adding that it was "urgent" for the provisional leader to react on the matter. RSF also noted that the Cuban regime is the second largest jailer of journalists in the world, after China. (EFE, 8/8/06)

August 8: Sandinista leader and former Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said that Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who last week relinquished power temporarily while recovering from surgery, "is already active" and taking a hand in official matters.
Ortega, his leftist party's candidate for president in Nicaragua's November 5 election, said Castro has been talking to friends on the telephone. Speaking by phone from Havana to a Managua radio station owned by one of his sons, the Sandinista leader gave no indication as to when Castro will appear again in public. Some anticipate an appearance by the long-time Cuban autocrat on Sunday, which will be his 80th birthday. "One must take into account that he (Castro) was subjected to an operation for which anyone needs a period of recuperation. "The important thing is that he is in a gradual process of re-establishment, of recovery," the Nicaraguan said. (EFE, 8/8/06)

August 9: Caribbean leaders, even from nations that had Cold War differences with Cuba, sent get-well-soon messages to Castro. ''We pray for President Castro and we wish him God's blessings,'' said Prime Minister Kenny Anthony of St. Lucia. The friendly relations stem in part from small-state admiration for Castro's defiance of the United States, which also has strong ties throughout the region. But there's also gratitude for Cuban assistance, in medical care and education, to Caribbean nations despite the communist government's financial struggles. ''Cuba has been a long-standing friend to the entire Caribbean,'' said Barry Collymore, spokesman for Grenadan Prime Minister Keith Mitchell. (AP, 9/8/06)

August 9: Brazilian intellectual and theologist Frei Betto asserted he is flying to Cuba to join its people in prayers for the swift recovery of Fidel Castro. The author of “Fidel and Religion” said he wants to be with the Cuban people to pray for the health of Fidel. He added that all Latin Americans should mobilize against the new US menaces on the island and its intentions to increase violations of its sovereignty. (Prensa Latina, 9/8/06)

August 9: Hollywood actor Benicio del Toro, Oscar winner of the best supporting role in Steven Soderbergh's film Traffic, demanded respect for Cuba's sovereignty. Del Toro, of Puerto Rican nationality, joined his voice to over 2,500 academics and artists from dozens of countries that reject US interference in the Caribbean island's affairs. This film star visited Havana several years ago along with cinema director Soderbergh and producers of Traffic on the occasion of the premiere of this movie in the island. (Prensa Latina, 9/8/06)

August 9: Archbishop Giulio Einaudi, who was apostolic nuncio in Cuba from 1980 to 1988, said that a political transition could take place on the island nation without recourse to violence. Speaking to the Chilean daily El Mercurio, the archbishop explained, “A non-violent transition is possible, depending on how this matter is handled. Personally I think it can take place through normal channels after so many years of revolution.” “If the international community will approach Cuba through dialogue, the situation can evolve in a very positive way,” he stated. He also referred to the transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul, saying he “should be capable of leading the country towards peaceful and normal progress.” The interim leader’s “limitation could also be its strength,” Archbishop Einaudi continued, “as he was at Fidel’s side during all these years. Thus he knows the situation completely. It depends on how he will handle matters in this period of transition, which we don’t know yet if it will be one of transition. It depends greatly on him and precisely on the powers he may choose to employ.” Nevertheless the archbishop said it was too early to talk of a post-Fidel period. “We cannot say that a truly post-Castro era has begun, as it is possible he will improve and return,” he maintained. (CWNews.com, 10/8/06)

August 9: Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said that Cubans should decide who will rule the island once Fidel Castro is no longer in power. "After 47 years, wouldn't it be more convenient to see what the Cuban people want?" asked Arias, who received the Nobel Peace Prize as president in 1987 for his work as a mediator in Central America's civil wars. (The Washington Post, 10/8/06)

August 10: Through the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC), former Czech president Václav Havel and former Spanish prime minister José Maria Aznar have called upon the international community to continue to exert pressure on Fidel Castro’s regime until "truly democratic changes" take place in the island. For the ICDC, Fidel Castro’s transfer of power to his brother Raúl does not represent a "significant transformation" of the totalitarian rule that Cubans live under. (Europa Press, 10/8/06)

August 10: Mexican conservative leader Felipe Calderón sent Fidel Castro a letter wishing him a speedy recovery. In a press release, his office informed that Calderón personally delivered a letter with his best wishes at the Cuban embassy. (AP, 15/8/06)

August 10: In what appeared to be one of his usual rhetorical flourishes, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said that Fidel Castro was in a ``great battle for life.''  ''From here, let's pray to God for Fidel and his recovery, and he's fighting a great battle,'' Chavez said in a televised speech from the eastern state of Anzoategui. Chavez said he had received a message from Castro ''that filled me with more optimism, with more faith.'' ''Among other things Fidel told me (...) 'I keep saying Chavez, God help Chavez and his friends,''' Chavez said. ''I wrote to him in my own handwriting last night, in the early morning, to send it with the messenger who was returning immediately: 'You are fighting a great battle every day, all these nights,''' Chavez said. In a reference to the US, Chavez said that “transition in Cuba will begin when Raul handles back power to Fidel”. Chavez spoke near the end of his speech as if Castro were listening. ''Get better, Fidel. It's an order. I never give you an order. Now I'm giving you one,'' Chavez said. ''Get better, an order. I know you're disciplined.'' (The New York Times, El Nuevo Herald, 11/8/06)

August 10: While President Hugo Chávez's account of receiving a message from Fidel Castro -- and sending another back -- underlined his standing as a virtual protégé of the aged Cuban leader, Caracas was rife with speculation about an alleged cooling of the usually warm relations. The rumors were sparked by the fact that shortly after Castro's surgery, Chávez appointed his brother Adán, who had been ambassador to Havana, as minister of the presidency -- in effect, his chief of staff. No replacement for Adán has yet been appointed. Some media commentators in Caracas have suggested that Adán's withdrawal might somehow indicate a cooling of relations, which have revolved around the personal rapport and shared political objectives of Chávez and Fidel Castro. This version seemed to be bolstered by the fact that Chávez learned of Castro's health crisis from television while on an official visit to Vietnam, and that none of his public statements suggest he has spoken directly to the Cuban leader. Alberto Garrido, author of several books on Chávez, cautioned against reading too much into the few known facts. ''Chávez's relationship with Castro grew without Adán,'' he says, and the appointment of Adán to the Cabinet is part of a domestic agenda and not directly linked to the relationship with Havana. ''A much more hard-line phase [of Chávez rule] is beginning,'' Garrido argues, ``and Chávez needs a reliable and radical team around him.'' But according to Américo Martín, a veteran of Venezuela's Cuban-backed guerrilla groups of the 1960s and author of a new book on Cuba, Chávez and Raúl Castro hold different views on the future of the island. (The Miami Herald, 11/8/06)

August 12: Intellectuals linked to the Network in Defense of Humankind (RIDH) met in Havana to coordinate actions and reflect on the most pressing problems in today’s world. The meeting, held at Casa de las Americas, one of the institutions linked to the RIDH, was presided over by Italian journalist Gianni Mina, Brazilian theologian Frei Betto and Belgian philosopher Francois Houtart, among other thinkers and writers. In the new situation, new players like strikers, indigenous movements, the unemployed and the landless people, have emerged, interacting with intellectuals and politicians, Cuban poet Roberto Fernandez Retamar recalled. For his part, Francois Houtart called on the popular forces to move from collective awareness to united actions against the lies of the hegemonic forces. Cuban Reverend Raul Suarez spoke about the existence of an ecumenical section within the Network of networks, saying that the incorporation of religious people into the defense of humankind agrees with Jesus postulates. (Prensa Latina, 12/8/06)

August 13: Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadienyad expressed that his country is ready to assist in the medical treatment of Fidel Castro. In a phone conversation with Cuban acting president Raúl Castro, Ahmadienyad also offered Iran’s help in the celebration of the Non Aligned Countries Summit to be held next September in Havana.
 (IRNA, 14/8/06)

August 13: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez traveled to Havana to meet ailing Fidel Castro.  Cuba's Communist daily Granma published new pictures of Castro showing him on his 80th birthday together with his brother Raul and Chavez. In a photograph, Raul Castro is shown embracing Chavez when he arrived in Havana. It was the younger Castro's debut appearance as acting Cuban president. "An Unforgettable Afternoon Among Brothers," Granma said of the afternoon visit by Chavez, who is Castro's closest friend and political ally in Latin America. (AP, 14/8/06)

August 14: The leader of the communist government of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, sent a message of solidarity to Fidel Castro, who turned 80 on Sunday, August 13. In the message, Kim reaffirmed to Castro his country’s support and solidarity towards Cuba. "We extend you our deeply heart-felt congratulations on your 80th birthday," said Kim, according to Pyongyang’s state-run news agency. (AP, 15/8/06)

August 14: Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage rejected untruths spread by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, and cleared up reasons why he had recently suspended a meeting with Arias in Colombia. In an open letter to Arias, Lage explained the initiative of that encounter, to be held on the swearing in of Colombian leader Alvaro Uribe, had from the beginning come from the government of Costa Rica. Lage said it was not in Cuba s interests to agree to the meeting, knowing Costa Rica’s position against Cuba, but had accepted it as a gesture of courtesy. He added the Costa Rican embassy in Colombia said the motive of the request was to re-establish diplomatic relations between Cuba and Costa Rica, which had not been requested by Cuba. Lage’s note points out that shortly before the meeting Arias was quoted by the media as saying he wanted to direct a message to Raul Castro with disrespectful and intrusive demands. (AFP, Prensa Latina, 14/8/06)

August 15: Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias dismissed  an insult proffered by Cuba's vice president and reiterated his desire to see democratic change on the Communist-ruled island. "I have many defects, but I'm no liar," Arias told reporters in response to Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage's characterization of him as "a liar." "I plead for, and have always done so, I haven't changed my mind, for a regime change and not for a monarchical succession" in Cuba, said Arias, who won the 1987 Nobel Prize for his efforts to end civil wars in Central America. In an open letter to Arias, published in Havana and San Jose, Lage responded to a statement by the Costa Rican president who said he had suspended a meeting with Cuban officials scheduled for last week in Colombia because they imposed limits on what subjects could be discussed. "The initiative for the meeting had always come from his government; Cuba never asked for it and it wasn't you or any of your officials who suspended the meeting because 'they tried to limit the agenda.' It was me who did it," Lage said. (EFE, 15/8/06)

August 15: Carlos Rodríguez and his girlfriend, Johan Mary Jiménez, two Cuban physicians who defected from Venezuela to Colombia, said that Cuban doctors working abroad do not have an easy life. Rodríguez, 30, and Jiménez, 28, were working in the town of Lagunillas, near Venezuela's northwestern border with Colombia. Like many Cuban medical personnel, they went to Venezuela with the hope of saving a little money, or at least returning home with some consumer goods hard to find on the island. ''Cubans look for a way to change their lives,'' Rodríguez said. ``Going to another country to work was one way to do that.'' The couple said they each received the equivalent of about $200 a month as salary. The Venezuelan government provided them with separate housing and the state oil company, PDVSA, subsidized their food. Cuban officials monitor them closely, Rodríguez and Jiménez told the press. They could not speak with the media, and there were regular ''code reds'' -- alerts for unspecified reasons during which they couldn't leave home. Although it was promoted as a way to help poor people who had minor illnesses, aches, pains and infections, Rodríguez and Jiménez said their Cuban supervisor made it clear that they also had to campaign for Chávez in the lead up to a 2004 recall referendum, which Chávez won handily. The Cuban medical personnel also provided the Venezuelans with Cuban medicines. Rodríguez, who was part of the team that distributed the medicine to neighborhoods, said ''boxes and boxes and boxes'' arrived weekly from Cuba via military aircraft. Whether Cuba donated the medicines, or the Venezuelan government paid for them, was impossible to establish. Since the Venezuelan program was launched, Cubans on the island have complained about a significant drop in the number of doctors there and the already low supplies of medicines there. ''I was worried about all this medicine leaving Cuba,'' Jiménez said. ``What about the Cubans?'' (The Miami Herald, 15/8/06)

August 15: The fourteenth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) could be the first major international meeting to be held in Havana without the active participation of Fidel Castro, a staunch defender of this bloc of developing countries, which he presided over a quarter of a century ago. "Like any international organisation, the NAM is merely a reflection of the real world, which logically is very different now than it was in 1979," the last time Cuba hosted the summit, Cuban deputy foreign minister Abelardo Moreno said in an interview with the press. He said one of the challenges facing the NAM is to work with the "characteristics and positions that exist today" in that changed international context, and to become "a vital organisation, with clout, that really exercises the influence it should have." The non-aligned countries currently make up nearly two-thirds of the members of the United Nations, which in Moreno's view makes them a force with real potential. "The UN is one of the NAM's main forums of action, and this should continue to be the case," he added. The NAM's membership includes 53 countries in Africa, 38 in Asia, 24 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and one in Europe (Belarus). "So far, our overall impression is that at least 50 heads of state or government will be attending the summit," he said. (IPS, 15/8/06)

August 16: Cuba presented the Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) with a draft final declaration to be discussed at the 14th Summit of this body in September. A Cuban Foreign Ministry source confirmed to Prensa Latina that the document has been handed over to representatives of the member countries at the UN headquarters in New York by Abelardo Moreno, deputy minister of foreign affairs on the island. According to Prensa Latina, the NAM summit will focus on the Middle East crisis, especially the situation in Lebanon. The draft addresses “Washington threats to Iran and Venezuela, as well as the increasing of the embargo against Cuba”.  According to traditional NAM practice, the proposal is first reviewed by the Bureau, in charge of coordinating activities and the positions of the states represented in the movement. The draft declaration was prepared by Cuba as the host nation for the upcoming meeting of heads of state and government of the Non-Aligned Movement and the country to assume the presidency of the group for the second time in its history. (Granma International, AFP, 16/8/07)

August 16: With Fidel Castro apparently on the mend but still ceding power to his brother Raul, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) says now is the time for newspapers around the hemisphere to urge the immediate release of some two dozen imprisoned journalists, and an end to government harassment of the tiny independent press on the island. IAPA is suggesting newspapers to publish the commentary simultaneously on August 18. "Given recent developments in Cuba (…) the situation has worsened for the independent press in that country," IAPA President Diana M. Daniels, general counsel and corporate secretary of The Washington Post Co., wrote in the "Dear Colleagues" letter to IAPA members. "We believe this is the time to heighten our pressure for the immediate release of the jailed journalists, most of whom are suffering from chronic health problems and abuse in the prisons," wrote Daniels and Gonzalo Marroquín, director of the Guatemala City daily Prensa Libre. IAPA listed the imprisoned journalists, who are serving terms ranging from one to 27 years, as the following: Ricardo González Alfonso; Víctor Rolando Arroyo; Normando Hernández González, Julio César Gálvez; Adolfo Fernández Sainz; Omar Rodríguez Saludes; Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez; Mijaíl Barzaga Lugo; Pedro Arguelles Morán; Pablo Pacheco Avila; Alejandro González Raga; Alfredo Pulido López; Fabio Prieto Llorente; Iván Hernández Carrillo; José Luis García Paneque; Juan Carlos Herrera; Miguel Galván Gutiérrez; José Ubaldo Izquierdo; Omar Ruiz Hernández; José Gabriel Ramón Castillo; Léster Luis González Pentó Alfredo Felipe Fuentes; José Manuel Caraballo Bravo; and Oscar Mario González. (Editor & Publisher, 16/8/06)
August 16: When receiving Cuban Finance Minister Georgina Barreiro in Hanoi, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung expressed his confidence in Fidel Castro’s full recovery. The prime minister said the hope, that Fidel will soon return to lead the country, is shared by the other leaders of the State, Government, and Communist Party. It was also announced that Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, who assumed the position a month and a half ago, will visit Cuba very soon, which will contribute to strengthen the ties of friendship and brotherhood between both nations. (Prensa Latina, 16/8/06)
August 17: Many of the international aid teams that descended on Indonesia after the 27 May earthquake in Java, have packed up and gone home. But a medical team from Cuba has proved so popular that locals have asked it to stay on for another six months. More than two months after the quake, the 135-strong Cuban team sees up to 1,000 patients a day at two field hospitals set up in the earthquake zone, 30km (18 miles) from Jogyakarta. Nearby, there are crushed houses and rubble - ugly reminders of the earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people and destroyed 100,000 homes.  The Cubans are the last hope for many Indonesians given the scant primary health care services provided by the government in Jakarta.  The two Cuban hospitals in Java are fully-equipped with X-ray machines, laboratories, operating rooms and specialists to handle the broken bones and other injuries common to earthquake victims. (BBC, 18/8/06)

August 17: A presidential candidate backed by Venezuela's major opposition parties pledged that, if elected, his government would remain independent of both US and Cuban influence. Manuel Rosales, the popular governor of Zulia state, said Venezuela's foreign policy has been skewed by President Hugo Chavez's antipathy for Washington and his close friendship with Fidel Castro. ''We don't have to depend on either the (US) empire or the bearded one,'' Rosales said, alluding to Castro. (AP, 17/8/06)

August 17: Bolivia's health minister filed a complaint with the Cuban Embassy after a Cuban doctor barred journalists from entering the hospital where he works, saying the facility is his country's territory. "I immediately contacted the Cuban ambassador (Rafael Dausa) to lodge my protest, because, if there was this type of response, it is not appropriate," Nila Heredia told Radio Panamericana. The Cuban doctor, who was not identified, refused to allow a journalist with ATB television to enter the Chacaltaya hospital, located in the city of El Alto near La Paz, to investigate an alleged case of medical malpractice affecting an elderly man. According to several news reports, the physician responded that the hospital is "Cuban territory" after the reporter demanded the right to enter the facility on the grounds that it is part of Bolivia. A contingent of 1,700 medical professionals from Cuba were invited to Bolivia earlier this year - initially to provide emergency assistance to flood victims - by socialist President Evo Morales. The presence of the Cubans - who work at 15 hospitals equipped and remodeled with Havana's support, including Chacaltaya - has been criticized by Bolivian physicians, who accuse them of taking work away from local doctors. (EFE, 18/8/06)

August 20: Yolexi Cordero Guerrero, a Cuban doctor with the Cuban Medical Brigade providing medical services in Honduras, was murdered along with two Hondurans in a Tegucigalpa neighborhood. According to police sources, preliminary investigations indicate that the murder was planned. (Notimex, 20/8/06)

August 20: The OAS General Secretary, Chilean José Miguel Insulza, said that a possible return of Cuba to the Organization of American States (OAS) might come to fruition in the medium term, although the issue must be raised by the organization’s members. Insulza affirmed that, in any case, a possible reincorporation of Cuba to the OAS would not take place within days or months. "Everybody wants to discuss the topic, but I am going to let the member countries take the initiative,” added the official. "I would like for Cuba to return (to the OAS), but it is difficult because I believe there is no will on the part of Cuba to do so nor is it willing to implement the changes required within the framework of the Inter-American Democratic Charter," said Insulza. (Reuters, 20/8/06)

August 20: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for a round of applause in honor of Fidel Castro during his weekly radio and TV show, urging Castro to get better and saying he has been like a father. Chavez paused to wish Castro well during a six-hour edition of "Hello President" dedicated to the inauguration of a children's cardiology hospital. "I imagine you must be happy watching 'Hello President' and seeing how the Bolivarian Revolution is advancing, following the example of the Cuban Revolution," Chavez said, referring to his socialist movement named after South American independence hero Simon Bolivar. "You should feel proud to be the father of the Cuban Revolution," Chavez said, urging a round of applause from the audience seated under an awning outside the hospital. "Bravo, Fidel! Bravo, father of us all, the revolutionaries of this continent."  (AP, 20/8/06)

August 20: Cuba granted Zambian newspaper “The Post” a permanent bureau status in Havana. With the signing of a permanent accreditation valid up to April 2007, what remains now is for The Post to find office space and accommodation. The Post bureau once in full operation will be among other international media organisations operating in Cuba such as CNN and Latin American agencies including the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela supported Telesur. The Post has also applied to open a bureau in Venezuela and was only awaiting feedback from Caracas. (The Post, 21/8/06)

Agust 21: The Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez assured that the video in which Carlos Ahumada says that the panistas must take part in an alleged plot against Andrés Manuel López Obrador originated in Cuba, although not necessarily from the government of Fidel Castro. In a telephone interview, the Foreign Affairs Secretary emphasized that if that were the case, "it would be an extremely irregular situation" that would constitute a violation of Mexican sovereignty. (Notimex, 21/8/06) 

August 21: Bolivian President Evo Morales signed a call to respect Cuba's sovereignty, adding his name to nearly 13,000 personalities from around the world demanding that the United States put an end to its subversive plans against the island. The text entitled "The Sovereignty of Cuba Must be Respected" calls to stop the US aggression against Cuba, emphasizing the Bush administration's "transition" plan against Cuba. (Radio Cadena Agramonte, 21/8/06)

August 22: One of 12 Cuban rafters rescued near the Mexican coast on August 18 after being adrift for 26 days, died in the Tampico Naval Hospital. A Public Information Ministry official informed that Cuban citizen Fidel Domínguez Rivera, 23, died from dehydration and a severe leg infection. (Notimex, 22/8/06)

August 22: Mexico still awaits a response from the Cuban authorities to a proposal to discuss the "alarming issue" of the lack of a migratory agreement between two countries. A Mexican diplomatic source said that a formal offer had been made in two occasions, "without any response as of yet on the part of the Cuban authorities." (Notimex, 23/8/06) 

August 23: Polish ex-President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who helped negotiate a peaceful end to Ukraine's "Orange Revolution", has offered to mediate talks between the Cuban government and Cuban opposition leaders. Polish media reported Kwasniewski was organising what he called a "round table" of international figures to travel to Cuba next year to hold a dialogue on that country's future. "Talks on this subject are in progress (…) and some monitoring of whether it will be possible," Kwasniewski was quoted as saying by local news agency PAP. "It is still far from finalised." There was no immediate indication whether the Cuban government would be interested in outside mediation. (Reuters, 23/8/06) 

August 24: Ambassador Ruben Perez Valdes and staff members of the Cuban embassy in Pyongyang engaged in friendship work at the Korea-Cuba Friendship Factory with Ra Sok-ju as its manager on the occasion of the month for solidarity with the Cuban people. After being briefed on the history of the factory in front of the monument to the on-site instructions of President Kim Il-sung and leader Kim Jong-il, they helped employees of the factory in maize-harvesting and mowing. (KCNA, 24/8/06)

August 24: Pakistan and Cuba have a vast scope of improving their bilateral, trade, economic and cultural relations and were heading in that direction, ambassador to Pakistan Gustavo Machin Gomez said. The Cuban ambassador, the first to Islamabad after the reopening of its embassy, said the two countries have long standing diplomatic ties that will be taken to a higher level. The medical team from Cuba, which helped the people following 8 October earthquake in North West Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir (Pakistani-administered Kashmir) played the important role of introducing Cuba in Pakistan and establishing "strong bonds of friendship", he said. "I come here with clear goals to strengthen, enhance, promote, boost, foster and encourage bilateral relations between the two countries." The ambassador said increased political, economic activities and war against terrorism have projected South Asia in the world. 
"I feel proud to represent Cuba in Pakistan among the friends," he added. (APP, 24/8/06) 

August 25: Cuba announced Miguel Pereira Hernández as its new ambassador to China. Previous to this post, Pereira Hernández was director for Asia and Oceania, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, an official note published in official daily Granma said. (EFE, 25/8/06)

August 27: Acting President Raul Castro received a Syrian delegation, state media said August 29, as the younger brother of ailing leader Fidel Castro began taking on a leadership role for the summit of nonaligned nations to be hosted by Cuba in September. The younger Castro met with the delegation led by Syrian Information Minister Mouhsen Bilal, which confirmed President Bashar Assad will attend the mid-September gathering in Havana, the Communist Party daily Granma said. The group gave Raul Castro, the defense minister and No. 2 man in the communist-led government, a message from Assad wishing his older brother a speedy recovery and affirming Syria's solidarity with the island nation amid "a toughening of threats and aggressions by the Bush administration toward Cuba," the newspaper said. Granma said Raul Castro assured the Syrians that Cuba was ready to host a successful gathering for scores of heads of state and government as his country takes over the chairmanship of the Nonaligned Movement from Malaysia. Accompanying Raul Castro in his meeting with the Syrian minister were Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, member of the Communist Party Secretariat. (AP, Granma, 29/8/06)

August 28: The Ladies in White, a group comprising relatives of jailed dissidents, appealed to leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement to press the Cuban government for the release of political prisoners during next month's summit in Havana. The group said the Communist regime in Havana could show progress on the human rights front by "immediately and unconditionally freeing" the 60 dissidents who remain behind bars more than three years after being arrested and sentenced in a harsh crackdown. The Ladies also urged the Non-Aligned governments to ask Cuba to guarantee that it will not re-arrest a dozen of the "Group of 75" who have been released from custody on medical grounds. "They are innocent, as all they did was try to exercise their freedom of expression. Equally, some 300 existing peaceful political prisoners should be freed," the organization said. Honored last year by the European Parliament with the Sakharov Prize for human-rights activism, the Ladies in White is made up of wives, mother, sisters and other female kin of the members of the Group of 75. (EFE, 28/8/06)

August 28: Costa Rican president Oscar Arias urged the Ibero-American countries to support a transition toward democracy in Cuba. In an op-ed published in the Spanish daily El Pais, the Central American president said that current crisis in Cuba, due to Fidel Castro’s illness, should allow a discussion about Cuba’s future in which the Ibero-American community of nations should participate. "The first and most urgent goal to struggle for in all multilateral forums should be the lifting of the embargo”, Arias said. He explained that the second goal should be a commitment by all Ibero-American nations to exert pressure on the US to close the Guantanamo naval base, and to return it to Cuba’s sovereignty. "A decisive support of all Ibero-American nations to these two goals should constitute a reasonable basis to request from the Cuban government clear signs of democratic opening”, Arias highlighted. Similar op-eds by Arias were published in Costa Rican daily La Nacion and in the American Miami Herald. (Notimex, Reuters, 28/8/06)

August 28: A Cuban technician in optometry, member of the Cuban medical brigade working in Bolivia, defected. In an interview with a local TV channel, Condeval Sosa Martínez, 26, said he doesn’t want to return to Cuba. Sosa Martínez said that he took that decision because in his country he expends all his salary to go towards buying food. He earns the equivalent to $16 dollars. “I have no options of future or hope to prosper there”, he added. This is the second member of the Cuban brigade that has defected in the Andean nation. (EFE, 28/8/06)

August 29: Some 500 Pakistani youths will be the first citizens from that country to study medicine in Havana under scholarships offered by the island. The Pakistani youths will leave for Cuba sometime this year after their selection is completed by a higher education and health commission in Pakistan, according to Qatar's The Peninsula on-line daily. Havana offered Pakistan the scholarships while a Cuban medical contingent worked in the earthquake-affected areas of that country's administered Kashmir region and its North West Frontier Province, said Cuban Ambassador to Pakistan Gustavo Machin. (ACN, 29/8/06)

August 30: Yang Jiechi, China’s vice minister of Foreign Affairs, will lead the official delegation to Havana’s Non Aligned Summit in September. "China is a developing country, and an observer at NAM”, the vice minister said. (EFE, 30/8/06)