Chronicle on Cuba - August 2006

US-Cuba Relations

August 1: After Fidel Castro temporarily ceded presidential power to brother Raúl Castro, Miami-Dade County officials activated their Emergency Operations Center. Miami Mayor Manny Diaz predicted that the next few days would be ``very tense.'' Coast Guard officials said they were on standby. ''We haven't mobilized anybody yet,'' said Miami Coast Guard spokesman Dana Warr. ``We're watching it just like everybody else.''  (The Miami Herald, 1/8/06)

August 1: In view of the Cuban situation after Fidel Castro ceded power to his brother Raul, the State Department said it would support a democratic transition in Cuba. "We believe that the Cuban people aspire and thirst for democracy," spokesman Sean McCormack said. The White House was ''monitoring the situation,'' a spokesman said. Without speculating on Castro's health, the spokesman said the administration will ``continue to work for the day of Cuba's freedom.''  Eric Watnik, a State Department spokesman, said: ''We are not in a position to comment on Fidel Castro's health.'' (AP, Reuters, The Miami Herald, 2/8/06)

August 1: Congressman José E. Serrano called on the Bush Administration to leave Cuba alone as that nation waits to see the outcome of Fidel Castro's delicate surgery. "Should Fidel Castro ultimately be unable to continue to lead Cuba, we must leave the transition to the Cubans," Serrano said. "The U.S. has no role to play in a post-Castro Cuban government. The Cubans themselves must make decisions about their future, free of threats and intervention from abroad”. "Unfortunately, I fear that the Bush administration will not take this approach and instead will seek to destabilize Cuba. This Administration has bungled so many foreign policy questions, that I have no doubt their instincts and actions will be incorrect on this matter as well”. (Press Release, 1/8/06) 

August 2: The Bush administration dismissed Raul Castro, suddenly the acting leader in Cuba, as no more than a "prison-keeper" as officials reviewed long-standing plans for the post-Fidel Castro era. "The fact that you have an autocrat handing power off to his brother does not mark an end to autocracy," White House spokesman Tony Snow said of the Castro brothers. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who was born in Cuba, addressed that issue at a news briefing without referring specifically to Venezuela. He said the US does not want to see anyone _"any third party _ stand in the way of the rights of the Cuban people to elect their government." He also rejected the Cuban government's suggestions that once the Castro era ends, Cuban- Americans will return to the island, reclaim the homes they abandoned and expel the current occupants."We are telling the Cuban people that that is just not true, "Gutierrez said. (AP, 2/8/06)
 
August 2: Miami's three Cuban-American congressional representatives said that the Bush administration is poised to roll out new policy initiatives to try to speed up a democratic transition in Cuba at a time when Raúl Castro is temporarily in power. The White House will announce the policy initiatives over the next few days, said US Representative Lincoln Díaz-Balart. He declined to provide details. ''There are going to be a series of announcements,'' Díaz-Balart said. ``We are not going to make them today.'' One possible change is that the United States may move to deny any type of entry into this country to people who commit violence or harassment against dissidents and pro-democracy activists on the island. Congressional representatives announced that the US government is keeping a list of names of people who violate human rights on the island. (The Miami Herald, 3/8/06)

August 2: The White House and Congress, caught unaware by Fidel Castro's illness, prepared for a possible showdown in Cuba as lawmakers drafted legislation that would give millions of dollars to dissidents who fight for democratic change. "The message will be, `The United States stands with you,'" Senator Bill Nelson (Democrat-Florida), one of the bill's authors, said in an interview. "Be ready to assert your independence." "The president's comment was that everybody was caught by surprise, and we'll have to wait and see" what US action is necessary, said Senator Robert Bennett (Republican-Utah), who discussed the developments with President Bush. "I think all of us can say we had no idea this was coming." "It's difficult for us to assess what the situation is," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. He cautioned Cubans against any mass exodus -- and Cuban-American exiles against returning to claim property they lost in Cuba. "Stay where you are. This is not a time for people to try to be getting in the water and going either way," Snow added. "We have talked about the importance, eventually, of finding an orderly and safe way for people to make transit between two places." (AP, 3/8/06)

August 2: Cuba, once a hot US tourist destination, is again whetting the appetites of leisure-related businesses in the United States after ailing Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother Raul this week before having surgery. But with Cuba's political future highly uncertain, no sign that a long-standing US trade embargo will end any time soon and the country's dilapidated infrastructure, major companies are not ready to start unveiling any investment plans. "This is the time if you have a specific plan on Cuba to take it off the shelf or out of the desk and dust it off," said Teo Babun, a Cuban-born, Miami-based business consultant on Cuba and the Caribbean. "Make your plans, but don't pack your bags and buy your ticket." Babun says Cuba is not an easy market, even for companies with extensive experience in Latin America. "Don't think that experience in itself will be sufficient to operate in a market like Cuba." He said he tells clients that they need to understand that what is occurring now in Cuba is a succession and not a transition, like when the Soviet bloc fell. The right business model would need to be found, and a knowledge base about opportunities would need to be built, Babun said. (Reuters, 2/8/06)

August 2: Coast Guard patrol boats repatriated 159 illegal Cubans to Bahia de Cabañas, Cuba, in seven repatriations during the month of July. The migrants were interdicted while attempting to enter the US illegally during the month of July, the Coast Guard said. Of the people intercepted, there were two significant groups. One group of 26 was interdicted on a go-fast vessel 44 miles south of Marquesas on July 10 while another group of 18 was picked up at sea by the Carnival cruise ship “Triumph”, 15 miles north of Havana, Cuba. (Sun Sentinel, 2/8/06)

August 2: Florida Governor Jeb Bush said that the authorities continue to monitor closely the evolution of Fidel Castro’s health and are readying contingency plans against a possible massive US-bound exodus from Cuba. Although he clarified that the authorities are not yet in a state of emergency, Jeb Bush said that they are keeping a close eye on what is happening there. "There is a massive migration plan coordinated with the federal government," said Bush. "I have asked the emergency operations center to coordinate with local officials and be prepared" for any contingency, he added. (AFP, 2/8/06)

August 2: In Washington, Cuban American Senator Mel Martínez said that if a massive US-bound migration from Cuba takes place, the Coast Guard and the Navy should intervene to restore order. "I believe that there would be tremendous losses of lives and it would also be a mess that, at this juncture in the history of the United States, could not be tolerated," said Martínez in a press conference. The US Coast Guard Service said that it was still business as usual for them. However, according to their spokesperson, Angela McArdle, contingency plans also "deal with the possibility of mass migration by sea." (AFP, 2/8/06)

August 3: An art exhibition of Cuban painter Manuel Lopez Oliva is attracting large crowds of artists, students, academics and even US politicians at the John Slade Ely House gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. Lopez Oliva said it is no exception that a Cuban visual artist exhibits in the United States. One of the characteristics of Cuban art today is its popularity, creating enriching ties worldwide. In the case of the US, he said, there has been a certain perseverance in the showing of Cuban painting, drawing and something of sculpture in museums and galleries of the US since 1942 and have become part of important collections in that country. (Prensa Latina, 3/8/06)

August 3: As Cuba appears on the brink of change, local churches are watching closely and contemplating their future role in the spiritual life of the island. Evangelical Christian groups say they are gearing up for a Castro-free Cuba. "We want to give a glass of water, a plate of food and the love of Jesus," said David Lema, associate director of theological education at the Florida Baptist Convention. "The convention would be on the front lines."  Lema said his organization was ready to deploy teams, similar to its hurricane response teams, to provide aid, build churches and teach the Gospel if communism fell in Cuba.  The Florida Baptist Convention has partnerships with Cuban churches, but Fidel Castro's government has imposed restrictions on fast-growing congregations, Lema and others say. (Sun Sentinel, 3/8/06)

August 3: Oswaldo Payá, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, said that Castro's transfer of power to his brother has had ''a real impact'' on average Cubans. ''It's a new situation, in which there is a possibility of the end of an era in Cuba,'' which leads to ''a variety of feelings, because there are many people who are identified with the government,'' he said. The climate on the streets is one of ''caution, and a certain silence,'' he said. Asked about the Bush administration's statements following Castro's announcement, Payá praised the US government for its ''caution'' and ''prudence'' so far.  But he said that statements such as those by Miami Republican Representative Lincoln Díaz-Balart, saying, ''The time has come in Cuba for a campaign of civil resistance, civil disobedience,'' and a recent Bush administration report from its Commission for Assistance for a Free Cuba, which outlines US plans for a post-Castro Cuba, can do more harm than good. ''We're in a very complex, very tense situation,'' Payá said. 'The US message should be to ratify that there is no such thing as a US threat on Cuba, that there is no intention to intervene. It should say, `Look, the Cuban process must be defined exclusively by the Cuban people.' ''  ``Now, the message should be of calm and non-intervention. These are very tense days in Cuba, and the most important thing is that there be peace, because there is a danger of [government] repression, and repression would bring about confrontation, and that could open up a process which nobody knows where it could end.'' In a separate telephone interview earlier this week, another well-known peaceful oppositionist, Vladimiro Roca, leader of Todos Unidos, said that the Bush administration and Cuban exile leaders ''should send a positive, non-threatening, reconciliation message'' to Cuba. (The Miami Herald, 3/8/06) 

August 3: At a time when Fidel Castro is ill and his brother-successor is mysteriously missing from public view, the Bush administration is admitting that it's in the dark on what's really going on in the island 90 miles from Key West. ''Our insight into the decision-making process of (…) this particular dictatorship isn't that great,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, three days after Castro ceded power to his brother. ''I don't think there are too many people outside that small core group of people who run Cuba who really know what is going on. I don't have an assessment for you on Fidel Castro's health,'' McCormack said. (The Miami Herald, 4/8/06)

August 3: US President George W. Bush offered "full and unconditional" support for a democratic transition in Cuba, urging Cubans "to work for democratic change." The comments were part of Bush's first public statement on the situation in Cuba since an ailing Fidel Castro, 79, provisionally handed power to his 75-year-old brother Raul. "The United States is absolutely committed to supporting the Cuban people's aspirations for democracy and freedom," Bush said in a written statement. "We will support you in your effort to build a transitional government in Cuba committed to democracy, and we will take note of those in the current Cuban regime who obstruct your desire for a free Cuba." [Statement by US President] (CNN, 3/8/06)

August 3: Cuba's state-run media derided US President George W. Bush's call for Cubans to push for democracy as "the epitome of delirium" and "hollow blathering."  Randy Alonso, a legislator and director of a nationally televised round-table discussion program, dismissed Bush's statement as "the epitome of delirium and dry inebriation."  Another panelist, Arleen Rodriguez, said the Bush statements were not new, just "threats and blustering," while Rogelio Polanco, director of the Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth) newspaper, described it as "tin pot rhetoric" and "hollow blathering." Referring to Cuban-American legislators pushing for measures to accelerate political transition on the island, panelist Reynaldo Taladrid affirmed that "going to Washington to ask to come in behind the Marines" is an act of "political cowardice." The official government paper, Granma, derided President Bush’s statement of support to the Cuban people, calling it “tin pot rhetoric.” (AFP, The New York Times, 3,4/8/06)

August 3: Caleb Charles McCarry, the Bush administration's point man on Cuba, does little to hide his disdain for Cuba's ailing and longtime leader, Fidel Castro. The feeling seems to be mutual. McCarry, whose job is to help instigate and oversee a transition to democracy in the communist stronghold, made his view clear in July when asked how he felt Castro was faring weeks shy of his 80th birthday on August 13. That was well before this week's announcement that Castro was hospitalized for an intestinal illness and had granted his brother, Raul, temporary control of the country. "Actually, I'm far more concerned about how the Cuban people are faring under this dictatorship," McCarry told reporters at the State Department. "Let us remember, this is an extremely repressive regime that seeks to stamp out dissent and independent thought at every turn." (AP, 4/8/06) 

August 3: After the surprising official announcement on the media that Fidel Castro would temporarily transfer power to his brother, the chief of the US Intelligence Service, John Negroponte ordered new research on Cuba. The US Intelligence Service has no independent means to determine the state of Castro's health. "It will be hard for the CIA to reassure the president that it knows exactly what is going to happen if Castro dies or remains incapacitated. They are only going to be able to obtain second or third hand information," said former CIA official Robert Baer. (Reuters, 4/8/06)

August 4: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Cubans should remain in their homeland to strive for "positive change" and that those of them "who desire peaceful democratic change can count on the support of the United States." She addressed the Cuban people in a message aired over the US government-funded Radio and Television Marti, which broadcasts to the Communist-ruled island from studios in Miami. "We in the United States are closely watching the events in Cuba. Much is changing there, yet one thing remains constant: America's commitment to supporting a future of freedom for Cuba, a future that will be defined by you - the Cuban people," the secretary said. "We encourage the Cuban people to work at home for positive change, and we stand ready to provide you with humanitarian assistance, as you begin to chart a new course for your country," Rice said, making Washington's second appeal in three days aimed at preventing a mass Florida-bound exodus from the island nation. [Message to the People of Cuba] (EFE, 4/8/06)

August 4: Cuban dissidents expressed their differences over recent statements by US President George W. Bush in which he urged inhabitants of the island to work for democratic change. Vladimiro Roca, a prominent dissident who heads the illegal organization All United, said Bush's statement was "a gesture of solidarity with the cause of democracy and Cuba and with the internal opposition." Roca said that the US government "is the only government that maintains a firm and consistent policy of support for democracy and for the movement toward democracy within Cuba." "It's the only government that acts in accordance with the principles it defends, very unlike some European governments that maintain a position of distance with regard to democracy and democratic change in Cuba," Roca said. Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, Castro comrade-in-arms turned opponent who heads the moderate dissident organization Cuban Change, was on the other side of the fence. He said Bush's statements "do not help in any way the internal dissident movement" on the island. "They are statements with overtones that completely (suggest) interference and of course can be framed within (the context of) science fiction," Menoyo told the press. But economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, one of the dissidents who forms part of the group of 75 independent journalists and democracy activists jailed in the spring of 2003 and who was released for health reasons, said he was very appreciative "of Bush's desire that there be democracy in Cuba." "I think that the United States can help a lot in that sense by making its policy toward Cuba more flexible, allowing greater contact between Cubans in exile and us," he added. (EFE, 5/8/06)

August 6: The United States pledged not to stoke political crisis in Cuba as Fidel Castro ails, but warned that the communist icon who has defied Washington for decades must not be replaced by a new dictator.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Cubans to stay on the island amid the political tumult but promised Washington would stand by them in a time of political transition. "We are not going to do anything to stoke a sense of crisis or a sense of instability in Cuba," Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "This is a transition period for the Cuban people, we are going to stand with them for the proposition that there should not simply be the end of one dictatorship and the imposition of another dictatorship," Rice said. She also renewed her appeal for Cubans to work for democratic change on the island, rather than leaving en masse for the United States as political uncertainty lingers. "The United States really feels very strongly that their future is at home and mass exodus is not to be expected nor would it be condoned," Rice said. (AFP, 6/8/06) 

August 7: President George W. Bush said the United States is in the dark about what has sidelined Fidel Castro, causing him to turn over power to his brother, Raul.  "Our desire is for the Cuban people to choose their own form of government," Bush said, specifying that he was talking about Cubans who live on the island and not those who have fled.  Regarding Fidel Castro's health, he said, "The only thing I know is what has been speculated, and this is that, on the one hand, he is very ill and, on the other hand, he is going to be coming out of hospital. I don't know." Bush said once the Cuban people have an opportunity to transform from a communist dictatorship to a difference type of society, "the Cuban people ought to decide. And once they decide to form a government, then Cuban-Americans can take an interest in that country and redress the issue of property confiscation." But he said the first thing that needs to happen is "the Cuban people need to decide the future of their country."  (AP, 7/8/06)

August 7: TV Martí broadcasts to Cuba have increased to a six-times-a-week schedule by using a private aircraft, officials said, setting in motion a key component of the Bush administration's plan to accelerate a transition to democracy on the communist-ruled island. The transmissions from the civilian aircraft, contracted by the US government and flying out of Key West, come as Fidel Castro remained out of the public eye since he underwent surgery.  The new flights are part of a $10 million allotment by Congress for an airborne broadcasting project that would make it more difficult for Havana to jam the US-funded TV Martí programs. (The Miami Herald, 7/8/06)

August 7: Cuban Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon warned that the United States would face "hell" if it meddled with the Caribbean island. Any invasion now would "become a hell for them from the first day," Alarcon said. "We will guarantee them total failure once again," he added in an interview from Havana with the Venezuela-based television station Telesur, in an apparent reference to the Bay of Pigs attack. "All those who have been dreaming (...) that something terrible would happen in Cuba, that people would take to the streets, that there would be great instability, the door slammed on them," National Assembly head Ricardo Alarcon said. They must have very swollen hands now," he said, speaking on Venezuela's Telesur network. (AP, National Post, 7/8/06)

August 7: Eager to unite Cuban families without triggering a massive boatlift bound for Florida, the Bush administration is reportedly considering plans to ease immigration rules to allow more Cubans, particularly doctors, to enter this country. "It sounds to me like what they're doing is they're making some gestures," said Philip Peters, vice president of the Lexington Institute, a Virginia-based think tank, and an expert on Cuba. "They're changing the policy in some marginal ways that are going to make it easier for some groups of Cubans to emigrate to the United States, but they're staying away ... from anything that would send the signal to Cubans that if they take to sea in a little boat they will be brought to the United States." Whatever changes are considered, the administration remains determined to stop a mass exodus. "There are no changes to the policy relating to Cuba at this time," said Jarrod Agen, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. Any change would be announced "at the appropriate time," he said. (Sun Sentinel, 8/8/06)

August 8: Drinks company Bacardi said it is relaunching the Havana Club rum brand in the United States after winning a 10-year legal battle with the Cuban government and France's Pernod Ricard. US patent authorities declared Cuba's registration of the trademark had expired. In a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, US courts ruled that the Cuban-French joint venture had no rights to the trademark in the United States, the Bacardi statement said. A decision from the Patent and Trademark Office dated Aug. 3 came after the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control denied a Cuban government agency a specific license, which was necessary to seek renewal of the trademark registration. (Reuters, 8/8/06)

August 8: Bolstered by Fidel Castro's surprise handoff of power, the Bush administration is preparing to ease some immigration rules for Cubans who want to live in the United States, focusing largely on reuniting families now separated by politics and the sea. The draft plans, still under debate, seek to discourage a mass migration from Cuba over choppy waters -- a journey that violates current immigration law and risks lives. But administration officials said they also hope the relaxed rules will prompt Cubans to push the Castro regime for official permission to head to the United States. "Taken together, they promote safe, legal and orderly migration, while they also support the Cuban people in their aspirations for a free and prosperous society," says a draft copy of Homeland Security Department talking points obtained by the press. The new rules are being considered three months before elections in which Florida's governorship and at least one US House seat in Florida are considered to be in play. Many Cuban immigrants live in the state. The Homeland Security Department oversees US immigration policy. (AP, 8/8/06)

August 9: Bacardi plans to fight for the rights to the Havana Club rum brand in global markets after a US trademark ruling helped it re-launch the brand in the US following a long dispute with the Cuban government and Pernod Ricard. The US patent and trademark office ruled that the Cuban government, which sells rum under the Havana Club brand name in partnership with Pernod Ricard in dozens of countries, could not claim any rights to the brand in the US because its registration of the brand had expired.  Bacardi claims that the ruling by the US trademark office means that it now owns the Havana Club brand, and that this will help it challenge the rights to the brand in globalmarkets. The company owns the brand in Kyrgyzstan, Croatia and Tajikistan; has rights pending in India, Nicaragua, the Bahamas and the US; and is challenging rights to the brand in Canada and Spain. The ruling comes after 10 years of acrimony between the Cuban government and Bacardi. The Havana Club brand was created by a Cuban family, the Arechabalas, in 1935, and was sold in the US until the 1950s. The family left the country during the Cuban Revolution under Fidel Castro in the 1960s, and sold the brand to Bacardi in the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, the Cuban government registered the Havana Club trademark in the US in 1976, and in 1993 formed a joint venture with Pernod Ricard to sell the brand internationally. It was not sold in the US due to the country's trade embargo with Cuba. Bacardi, whose Bacardi rum vies with Diageo's Smirnoff vodka as the top-selling spirit in the US, started selling rum under the Havana Club name in the US in 1995, and was sued by Cuba and Pernod Ricard. (Financial Times, 9/8/06)

August 9: United Fruit Co. lost thousands of acres of land when Fidel Castro's government in 1960 seized its Cuban operations. The company first tried to win back the property by providing ships to support Mr. Castro's ouster. Cuba's armed forces rebuffed the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. United Fruit, along with thousands of other companies and people that lost property, then asked for compensation. A U.S. commission in 1972 certified 5,911 such claims worth $1.85 billion. Those claims, accruing 6 percent interest and now valued between $7 billion and $8 billion, would have to be settled by a post-Castro government to ease trade and investment between the island nation and the US
"The claims cannot be ignored," said Robert Muse, a Washington lawyer who represents some of the largest corporate claimants against Cuba's 1960 expropriations. "The claims have to be resolved, or they will stymie renewed trade and investment with Cuba." United Fruit and its subsidiaries claimed millions of dollars in losses. The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, an independent agency within the Justice Department, certified a total payment due of $87.4 million, plus interest. "There has always been a hope that, post-Castro, this claim would translate into something of value, and Chiquita's position has consistently been that we expect the claim to be honored," said Michael Mitchell, spokesman for Chiquita Brands International, the Cincinnati company that subsumed United Fruit. (The Washington Times, 9/8/06)

August 9: TV satellite dishes are a "germ-filled stew" that receive subversive propaganda, Communist officials told Cubans as Washington increased transmissions of its TV Marti channel to the island while Fidel Castro recovers from surgery. The Communist Party daily Granma also alluded to Miami news programs and talk shows that have been filled in recent days with speculation about Castro's health and the island's future. The shows are received on illegal dishes, highly popular here among those who can afford them. "In the case of Cuba, a good part of the programming received this way has content that is destabilizing, interventionist, subversive and encourages, more and more, the carrying out of terrorist activities," Granma said. The US government scaled up transmissions by TV Marti, which features anti-Castro programming. TV Marti's stated objective is to break Cuba's "information blockade" by offering its own current affairs shows as alternatives to state television programming, the only thing Cubans receive if they don't have TV satellite dishes. (The Washington Post, 10/8/06)

August 10: The Cuban government lambasted a US appellate court decision denying a new trial to five men convicted in Miami, Florida, of being unregistered Cuban agents, saying it demonstrated Washington's "hate and vengeance." The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, with two judges dissenting, rejected the men's argument that pervasive community prejudice against the Cuban government and publicity surrounding the case prevented them from receiving a fair trail. In Havana, the Communist Party daily Granma noted the ruling coincides with recent events in Cuba, where Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul on July 31 after announcing he had undergone intestinal surgery. "All of these occur in an unusual way and at a time when Miami is calling for an end to a sovereign nation," Granma said. "This has been a political case from the beginning," Granma said, and demonstrates "hate and vengeance against the Cuban nation." (AP, 10/8/06)

August 10: Pernod Ricard is planning new legal action in the US alleging that Bacardi is misleading consumers by selling rum made in Puerto Rico in the US under the Havana Club brand name.  Bacardi recently started selling rum made in Puerto Rico under the Havana Club name in Florida. Havana Club cannot sell Cuban rum in the US due to a trade embargo. Pernod, which sells rum under the Havana Club brand in more than 60 countries globally, says it is not fair to consumers to sell rum under the Havana Club name that is not made in Cuba. The rum sold by Pernod and the Cuban government under the same brand name is made in Cuba. Bacardi says that rum, unlike champagne, has no geographic designation and that it has clearly stated where the rum is made.  (Financial Times, 10/8/06)

August 10: Global press advocacy groups are protesting the Cuban government's refusal to allow foreign journalists into the country to cover the announced illness of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. In an August 7 statement, the Miami-based Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) said Castro's health crisis led international news organizations to seek urgent entry into Cuba for their reporters.  But, the IAPA said, Cuban officials had denied entry into Cuba of at least four journalists for failing to get the necessary entry visa, which takes several weeks to obtain.  In addition, four other journalists from Europe, who had complied with Cuba's visa requirements, had their permission to enter the country revoked. The IAPA said that "regrettably, we are not surprised at the news blackout imposed by [Cuban] authorities who are incapable of making an exception and allowing reporters to cover the breaking news as occurs in other places, even at a time when their country is under scrutiny by the rest of world, wanting to know first-hand what is going on there." (Washington File, 10/8/06)

August 10: While the US eyes Fidel Castro's next move, scores of companies and thousands of people whose possessions were confiscated by Cuba after the 1959 revolution are waiting to negotiate payback for their expropriated assets. The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission certified 5,911 claims against Cuba totalling about $1.85 billion in 1972, when the US Justice Department's program expired. With interest, they could be worth some $7 billion today. About 30 US companies hold 57 percent of the claims' total value. Under the program, the US can negotiate for a payment on behalf of the claimants. But four decades after the claims were first registered, negotiations have never opened. "The claims were so large, and the hostility so great, that there has never really been an attempt to resolve the claims," said Robert Muse, a Washington-based attorney who represents two companies with large claims against Cuba, which he declined to name. (AP, 10/8/06)

August 11: If Fidel Castro died tomorrow, the US embargo against Cuba could not be lifted like any other — as President Bush undid by decree the 18-year trade sanctions against Libya in April or President Clinton lifted the 19-year ban against Vietnam in 1994. The door to trade with Cuba is bolted by numerous laws which, over the 46 years since the initial ban took effect, stripped much of the power of trade policy from the president and gave it to Congress. US companies are looking at Cuba's potential but few will discuss it openly, citing the current status of the embargo. But for US businesses eyeing the Cuban market — should the political situation on the island change — moving beyond the embargo will take nothing short of an act of Congress, according to John Kavulich, a senior policy adviser with the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. "No matter what happens in Cuba, a provision of the Libertad Act of 1996 precludes the US president from establishing normal economic and political relations with Cuba, as long as the government includes one of the Castro brothers," said Kavulich, whose New York-based group provides non-partisan commercial and economic information about Cuba. (AP, 11/8/06)

August 11: Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon criticized the US judiciary verdict of maintaining in prison five Cubans who the Cuban government considers as “anti-terrorist fighters”. The decision of the 11th Circuit of the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, of keeping the Cubans in prison occurred just a year after a panel of three judges from that court unanimously annulled the trial held in Miami almost eight years ago. The president of the National Peoples Power Assembly accused "the US government of inappropriate and painful behavior due to its cynical management and pressuring of the court that sentenced the Cuban Five in Miami." Referring to the legal steps against the Atlanta court’s verdict, Alarcon pointed out that such a decision requires a very careful analysis and it must be consulted with lawyers and the five Cubans imprisoned in that northern country. (Prensa Latina, 14/8/06)

August 11: The top US diplomat for Latin America said that while Washington lacks information on the health of Fidel Castro, the leader's decision to temporarily hand over power to his brother after undergoing surgery indicates the soon-to-be-octogenarian's condition is "serious." The assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, Thomas Shannon, told reporters that in the short term, Cubans may have to endure a period of "regime hardening". But he predicted that Fidel plans to pass his mantle on to Raul, now Cuba's defense minister and vice president, will ultimately fail. "The transfer won't work," the assistant secretary said. "Ultimately, there is no political figure inside of Cuba who matches Fidel Castro." Shannon said the United States will continue its efforts to foster a democratic transition in Cuba regardless of what happens with Fidel Castro. The man who has led Cuba without interruption since taking power in January 1959 announced on July 31 in a statement read over state television that he was "provisionally" transferring power to his brother while recuperating from surgery to stop intestinal bleeding. (EFE, 11/8/06)

August 11: The Bush administration unveiled its much-anticipated new immigration policy toward Cuba, quickening backlogged family visas, offering Cuban doctors who defect abroad easier access to the United States and denying visas to human rights violators. The government also pledged to alert exile families if relatives have been stopped at sea during interdiction operations -- often a major source of anguish for families who receive little or no information about loved ones held on Coast Guard cutters. The measures, contained in two separate written statements issued in Washington by the Department of Homeland Security and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, are the first concrete steps by the US government toward Cuba since Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother, Raúl, on July 31. They also constitute the first major modifications in how the Cuba-US migration accords are administered since the deal was brokered in 1994 as a way to end a rafter exodus. Under the accords, Cuba agreed to restrict illegal departures in exchange for about 20,000 annual visas for Cubans wishing to migrate to the United States. Repatriation of Cuban migrants interdicted at sea began in 1995. (The Miami Herald, 12/8/06)

August 12: Michael Parmly, the chief of the US diplomatic mission in Havana, attended a concert in tribute to the Cuban leader, who would turn 80 the next day. Parmly remained for several minutes among the thousands in the audience at a concert organized by Castro's supporters across from the US Interests Section in Havana. (Reuters, 12/8/06)

August 12: As Fidel Castro's health crisis raised hopes among Cuban exiles of a political transition on the island, some South Florida Christian groups began preparing to send humanitarian aid, missionaries and volunteers to help Cuban churches expand their influence in a post-Castro society. Catholic and Protestant leaders say they expect a political transformation, whenever that might occur, will open up opportunities for evangelism. ''We anticipate that any kind of change will start a tremendous growth cycle within the Cuban church,'' said Teo Babún, president of Evangelical Christian Humanitarian Outreach (Echo Cuba), a Miami organization that conducts humanitarian missions through churches in Cuba. Echo Cuba -- one of several US Protestant groups seeking to strengthen their foothold on the island -- has developed a plan to help Cuban churches and religious leaders take a leading role in restoring civil society. The group plans to equip Cuban church leaders to distribute supplies, coordinate volunteers and participate in forming a new government, Babún said. They have also contacted major Christian donors from around the world to contribute humanitarian aid to Cuba, he said. (The Miami Herald, 12/8/06)

August 14: A Cuban militant accused of masterminding the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner wants a federal judge to let him out of jail while the US government continues searching for a country where it can deport him. Luis Posada Carriles was ordered out of the United States last year. But an immigration judge said the government couldn't send him to Cuba, where he was born, or Venezuela, where he is a naturalized citizen, citing the possibility he could be tortured. So far, no other country has been found. Posada, a former CIA operative and a fervent foe of Fidel Castro, is accused by Cuba and Venezuela of plotting the jetliner bombing while living in Venezuela. He has denied involvement in the bombing, which killed 73 people. He was jailed last year on immigration charges after being accused of sneaking into Texas from Mexico in March 2005. Felipe D.J. Millan, an El Paso immigration attorney, said he and Posada's Miami lawyers will ask a federal judge to let Posada live with his family in Miami while he waits to be deported. Millan said the government has had plenty of time to find a country to take Posada and he doubts his 78-year-old client will ever leave the United States. "There is no foreseeable opportunity that he will be removed," he said. "He just wants to go home and die in peace." (AP, 14/8/06)

August 15: US Treasury officials have fined the Alliance of Baptists 34-thousand dollars after citing Birmingham's Baptist Church of the Covenant and all other churches for engaging in banned tourist activities while in Cuba for religious purposes. The group's executive director, Stan Hastey, said he plans to appeal the fine. The department's July fifth letter mentioned four other Baptist churches guilty of violations during trips to Cuba between 2003 and 2005. A letter last year notified the group its license to travel to Cuba was revoked and accused the Birmingham church delegation of not engaging in a full-time schedule of religious activities as required during a trip in March 2005. (AP, 15/8/06)

August 15: Twenty Cuban migrants came ashore in Southwest Florida, apparently aided by smugglers who brought them from Cuba in at least one small fishing boat, authorities said.  All 20 migrants -- 14 men, four women, a teenage girl and toddler boy -- and two suspected smugglers were taken to a US Border Patrol facility in Pembroke Pines, Border Patrol spokesman Steve McDonald said. Ten migrants were treated for dehydration at a hospital. The migrants told authorities they left Pinar Del Rio in western Cuba on August 13 and they thought they had landed in Miami. (AP, 16/8/06)

August 16: A Cuban-born US senator expressed optimism about the future of his homeland, but urged patience for political change. Senator Mel Martinez spoke at an event in Coral Gables, near Miami, more than two weeks after the announcement that Fidel Castro transferred power to his younger brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro. Senator Martinez, a Florida Republican who fled Cuba as a teenager, describes the current situation in Cuba as a moment of great change and opportunity. "What we're hoping is that there will be wise and future-thinking leadership that's going to think more about the people of Cuba and less about how they control power; that's going to think more about how they give people an opportunity for a better life, rather then 'how do we maintain what we got' in terms of the power structure that they have established," said Mel Martinez. He said political change on the island will take time. The legislator dismissed recently released photos of Mr. Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as a show, and accused Mr. Chavez of interfering in Cuba's affairs. "The Cuban people are very nationalistic people and they don't appreciate others interfering in what is a very Cuban process," he said. "Hugo Chavez should concentrate on his country, leave Cuba alone. He doesn't play a role in the future of Cuba. That should be a decision made by the Cuban people." (VOA, 16/8/06)

August 16: One week after its successful re-launch of Havana-Club rum in the United States, Bacardi USA reaffirmed its ownership of the brand and that its packaging does not mislead consumers. The company will vigorously defend its position in the wake of inaccurate allegations in a lawsuit filed by Pernod Ricard. Havana-Club rum was re-launched in the United States August 8 and is based on the original recipe created in Cuba. Havana-Club rum is an ultra-smooth, clear, premium spirit, distilled and finely crafted in Puerto Rico. The front of the bottle clearly states that Havana-Club is Puerto Rican rum and no where on its packaging does it claim it is produced in Cuba. Historically, in addition to being produced in Cuba, Havana-Club rum was made in Puerto Rico during World War II by the Arechabala company. (Bisiness Wire, 16/8/06)

August 16: Two men were charged with smuggling 20 Cuban migrants, including a pregnant woman and a 1-year-old boy, to southwest Florida, according to the US Attorney's Office. Noel Lopez, 32, and Juan Gonzalez-Hernandez, 38, both of Miami, were charged, Chief Assistant US Attorney Doug Molloy said. They both face up to 10 years in prison and a US$250,000. Collier County residents reported the Cubans coming ashore in a 25-foot (7-meter) boat. The migrants told authorities they left Pinar Del Rio in western Cuba on August 13 -- Fidel Castro's 80th birthday. (AP, 17/8/06)

August 15: The Cuban Parliament rejected the Atlanta Court decision disallowing a new trial for five Cubans imprisoned in the United States since September 1998. In an unprecedented decision in US legal history, the court denied a new trial and ordered to send again the case to the panel, to analyze other aspects, states the legislative body's declaration. "We call all parliaments of the world and groups of friendship in each legislative to speak out against this new maneuver that prolongs the imprisonment of these men," noted the text. [Declaración de la Asamblea Nacional] (Prensa Latina, 17/8/06)

August 16: The US Government considered that published photos of a recovering Fidel Castro in bed "prove that the transfer of power in Cuba already began, albeit in slow-motion.” During a teleconference with reporters from Argentina and Colombia, US Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, Thomas Shannon, said that the Cuban president "has not yet overcome his health crisis.” (EFE, 16/8/06)

August 17: US government officials in South Florida said that Cuban migrants have continued to leave the island since July 31 when Castro made his surprising announcement that he was turning over control to Raúl Castro while he recovers from surgery for an undefined ``intestinal crisis.'' Twenty Cuban migrants landed on Marco Island off South Florida's west coast perhaps an indication migrant smugglers may be steering away from the Florida Keys and South Florida's east coast, possibly because of stepped up US patrols in those areas. Border Patrol officials said it was too soon to say migrants had found a new route. Petty Officer James Judge, a US Coast Guard spokesman in Miami, said that at least 55 people had been interdicted and repatriated to Cuba since August 1. Steve McDonald, a Border Patrol spokesman in Pembroke Pines, said more than 50 Cuban migrants had made it to South Florida in the last two weeks. (The Miami Herald, 17/8/06)

August 17: A Carnival Cruise ship assisted nine Cuban rafters adrift in the western Caribbean. They accepted water, food and life jackets but refused to come aboard, according to Carnival Cruise Lines. The ship with about 3,500 passengers was en route from Costa Maya, Mexico, to Nassau, Bahamas, when the rafters were spotted. "It's a maritime tradition to help mariners in distress," said spokesman Vance Gulliksen. "It doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen occasionally," he said. Staff onboard the ship notified the U.S. Coast Guard, which picked up the rafters, Carnival Cruise Lines said. The Coast Guard did not confirm or deny the incident, saying it cannot comment on ongoing investigations. (CNN, 18/8/06)

August 18: Raul Castro said in an interview published in Cuban daily Granma that Cuba would be willing to “normalize relations on an equal plane” with the United States. "What we do not accept is the arrogant and interventionist policy frequently assumed by the current administration" of the United States. “Recently rereading Party Congress documents, I found ideas that seemed to have been written today. For example, this excerpt from the Central Report presented by Fidel to the Third Congress in February 1986: ‘As we have demonstrated many times, Cuba is not remiss to discussing its prolonged differences with the United States and to go out in search of peace and better relations between our people.’” And he continued: “But that would have to be on the basis of the most unrestricted respect for our condition as a country that does not tolerate shadows on its independence, for whose dignity and sovereignty entire generations of Cubans have fought and sacrificed themselves. This would be possible only when the United States decides to negotiate with seriousness and is willing to treat us with a spirit of equality, reciprocity and the fullest mutual respect." (AFP, Granma, 18/8/06) 

August 18: The United States said it had no plans to invade Cuba, after its communist interim leader, Raul Castro, said he had ordered a mobilization to counter a US invasion threat.  "The United States has no plans to invade Cuba," said Eric Watnik, a State Department spokesman, reiterating remarks made by Tom Shannon, the top US diplomat for the region, since Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother on July 31 following major surgery.  In his first public statement as interim ruler, published by the Communist Party newspaper Granma, Raul Castro said he had mobilized tens of thousands of reservists and militia members to face a possible US invasion threat. (AFP, 18/8/06)

August 18: The United States named a special "manager" for its intelligence operations against Cuba and Venezuela. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said such efforts to collect intelligence on Cuba and Venezuela are "critical today" because "policy-makers have increasingly focused on the challenges” that the countries “pose to American foreign policy." The ODNI said the new acting mission manager, J. Patrick Maher, will be "responsible for integrating collection and analysis on Cuba and Venezuela across the intelligence community, identifying and filling gaps in intelligence, and ensuring the implementation of strategies, among other duties."  No decision has been made whether Maher will serve in the job on a permanent basis, said the ODNI. Maher, a 32-year veteran intelligence officer, also will continue to serve in his present role as the national intelligence officer for the Western Hemisphere.  North Korea and Iran are the only other countries that have been assigned so-called "mission managers," who supervise intelligence operations against them on what the office of national intelligence director called "a strategic level." (AFP, Washington File, 21/8/06)
 
August 18: Havana Club, which had been absent from US markets for decades because of a trade embargo on communist-run Cuba, is now making a comeback as a Puerto Rican rum. Bacardi, which produces the new incarnation of the old favorite, insists its product is the real stuff, based on the original recipe it bought from the original owners after the communist government seized their assets in Cuba. But Pernod Ricard -- which sells Cuban-produced Havana Club around the world, except in the United States, in a joint venture with the Cuban government -- says Bacardi has no rights to the brand and is misleading customers.  The French company filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in a bid to force Bacardi to take its version of Havana Club off the shelves. The two liquor giants have been locked in a decades-old dispute over who owns the US rights to the brand. (AFP, 18/8/06)

August 19: Raul Castro hinted that he is ready for dialogue with Washington - using typical Havana rhetoric whose words nevertheless bolstered speculation about a post-Fidel turn to pragmatism. "We have always been disposed to normalize relations on an equal plane," Raul Castro said. In Washington, the State Department referred to Raul Castro as "Fidel's baby brother," and said the Bush administration was not impressed by his remarks. "You know, we're not particularly fond (…) of the government of Cuba as run by Fidel," said spokesman Tom Casey. "I can't say that we're particularly enamored of the first words we've heard from `Fidel Lite.' " Expressions of a desire for talks with the United States if Washington respects Havana have long been part of the official government line. "It's precisely the timing that's interesting," said William LeoGrande, a Cuba expert at American University in Washington. "It's the first major public statement and he's criticizing the US (…) but at the same time, he's saying, `nevertheless, we're willing to have dialogue.' "  Those who have tried to negotiate with the Cuban government in the past said Washington should view Castro's words "as a positive statement" that should be acted upon, said Robert Pastor, an adviser to former President Jimmy Carter.  "The critical question on both sides is, `Do they want to continue to posture or do they want to work together to define a framework that could permit a peaceful transition in Cuba and (…) move in a democratic direction?' " Pastor said. (Houston Chronicle, 19/8/06)

August 21: Oscar winner Charlize Theron defended herself against claims a new documentary about Cuba made by her production company ignores the effect which the US embargo has had on the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation. “East of Havana” charts the efforts of three rappers whose attempts to launch their careers are threatened by the censorship of Fidel Castro's government. It is filmed during the build up to a hip-hop festival just before Hurricane Charley hit the island, and interviews a number of locals who live in extreme poverty. Theron, who was born in South Africa, said: "I think in the film we really address the America-Cuba relationship. If there is any political comment it was through (the characters') voices - it's their story not our story”. (The Guardian, 21/8/06)

August 22: Cuba said that the United States hopes to destabilize the communist country and its ally Venezuela through a new spying effort. ''They are moving forward very quickly in their destabilization plans,'' the Communist Youth daily Juventud Rebelde said. ''The war is very seriously under way in its intent to intervene, alter and destroy the two revolutions that committed the horrible sin of serving as example for an entire continent,'' the newspaper said. US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said that he was creating a ''mission manager'' for Cuba and Venezuela to oversee the American spy community's efforts to collect and analyze intelligence on the two countries. (AP, 23/8/06)

August 22: The Miami-Dade County School District voted to press ahead with its effort to remove a children's book on life in Cuba from its school libraries. The board voted 5-2 to appeal a federal judge's temporary order barring the district from removing the children's book, along with 23 others in the series. The district wants to remove "Vamos a Cuba" ("A Visit to Cuba") following a parent's complaint that it failed to accurately depict the reality of life under Cuba's communist government. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued to keep the books on the shelf, arguing that they were generally factual, and that the board should add books to its collection, rather than remove those it disagreed with. US District Judge Alan S. Gold ruled in July in favor of the ACLU, granting a preliminary injunction and writing that efforts to remove the books "goes to the heart of the First Amendment issue." After the vote, ACLU spokesman Brandon Hensler said the board was "deciding to continue its senseless litigation and to waste taxpayer dollars that could be used to buy new books." (AP, 23/8/06)

August 23: Since Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's July intestinal surgery forced him to transfer power to his brother Raul, the institutions of Cuba's totalitarian apparatus are probably "in a process (…) of negotiation as they attempt to determine what the power-sharing arrangements will be “in the post-Castro era, Thomas Shannon, US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said. Briefing reporters in Washington, Shannon said that “ what we're seeing in Cuba today is effectively a slow motion transfer of power”. According to Shannon, “no political solution can be imposed from the outside, neither from the United States nor [from] any other country, but (…) it's imperative that the Cuban people be able to choose their future." He said that President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, "in a comment several days ago, said that after 47 years of socialism and revolution, now might be the time to allow the Cuban people to choose their leadership." The United States agrees with Arias, "and we think that this is a moment in which the international community can (…) make it clear to the current regime" that "it really needs to begin a process of political opening that would lead to a transition to democracy in Cuba," he said. The State Department official recalled that in 2002, President Bush "effectively made an offer to the Cuban regime," which was promptly rejected by Castro. At the time, Bush said that "if the Cuban regime were prepared to free [its] political prisoners, respect human rights, (…) permit the creation of independent organizations such as political parties, trade unions, [and] civic organizations that were not dominated by the state, and if [Castro] were prepared to create (…) a pathway towards elections," then the White House would consult with the US Congress about abolishing the trade embargo against Cuba "and begin a deeper engagement with the Cuban state," Shannon told reporters. (Washington File, 23/8/06)

August 27: The Episcopal bishop of Cuba visited a Coral Gables congregation. His mission: To promote closer relations between the two dioceses on each side of the Florida Straits. Bishop Miguel Tamayo delivered a sermon on the importance of unity among Christians and thanked members of St. Philip's Episcopal Church for their pledge to restore Holy Trinity Church in Bermeja, a small sugar cane farming town southeast of Havana. ''They are really amazed they are going to have a new church just because you are helping them,'' he said. Tamayo's visit signals a new push to improve parish-to-parish relationships between the South Florida and Cuban dioceses. The campaign to restore theological ties to Cuban churches picked up earlier this year when Bishop Leo Frade -- a Cuban exile and the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida -- led a delegation to Cuba to meet with priests, seminarians and parishioners. (The Miami Herald, 28/8/06)

August 28: Pedro Alvarez, president of Cuban Food Import Company (ALIMPORT), described as very positive and successful the recent signing of a letter of intent with Navajo farm businesspeople from the US state of New Mexico. The US delegation included Democrat legislator Tom Udall, representatives of the Navajo indigenous, and New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Miley Gonzalez. Alvarez told the press that they achieved more progress than expected, as the visit concluded with the signing of a letter of intent to study the possibility of marketing potatoes, onions, yellow corn, wheat, as well as making some progress regarding cattle. New Mexican authorities admitted there is high unemployment in the state, so they are looking for alternative solutions in Cuba, which boasts a close, reliable market, with facilities to launch their products, added Alvarez. (Prensa Latina, 28/8/06)
 
August 29: Reverend Lucius Walker, leader of the group Pastors for Peace, arrived in Havana accompanied by 13 US students who will study medicine in the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in September. In statements to Prensa Latina, Walker said that the US scholarship holders have the hope to become doctors with the tradition of Cuban experts, as well as fulfill a dream to which they don't have access in United States. "We expect them to learn Cuban medicine's values and traditions as many students from other countries have done," he stated. (Prensa Latina, 29/8/06)

August 29: US Air Force C-130 "hurricane hunters" flew into Cuban airspace at least twice a day, sampling storm conditions such as wind speed, barometric pressure and other meteorological measurements. Despite nearly five decades of tension between the United States and Cuba, storm safety overrode all that. "We are both in the same business -- we're trying to save people's lives," said Lixion Avila, a Cuban-born hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade. US forecasters publicly thanked Cuba for granting access to island airspace so they could obtain data vital to tracking Ernesto. (The Miami Herald, 30/8/06)    

August 30: In 1918 the Aunt Jemima trademark was registered in Cuba, and even after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, a steady stream of US companies from Ace Hardware to United Airlines has continued to register their trademarks in the island nation. Despite the decades-long US economic embargo that precludes most trade with Cuba, more than 400 US companies have registered in excess of 5,000 trademarks -- everything from McDonald's Golden Arches to Nike's famed Swoosh and Pepsi. And until recently, Cuba had no problem registering and renewing trademarks in the United States.  Now some fear the recent US refusal to renew the Havana Club rum trademark claimed by a Cuban joint venture and Bacardi's launch of Havana Club -- a brand it also claims -- has placed the delicate balance of respecting other nations' trademarks in jeopardy. The recent developments also raise the possibility of Cuban retaliation, experts say.  Cuba could, for instance, cancel the trademarks for Levi's jeans or Heinz ketchup and sell its version in island stores. Those products could filter into other markets, too, harming US companies that have long sought to keep fakes off store shelves abroad, said the US National Foreign Trade Council. (National Post, 30/8/06)