Chronicle on Cuba - September 2006

Domestic Affairs

September 1: Official TV in Cuba showed new images of Fidel Castro, apparently recovering from the gastric surgery he underwent over a month ago. The Cuban leader was shown meeting the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who made an unannounced visit to Cuba on his return from a visit to Asia. The taped images show Mr Castro sitting up in his bedclothes and taking part in animated conversation with Mr Chavez. Dressed in red pajamas, Castro appeared much more animated and alert on the video than in those made when Chavez made his first post-surgery visit to the Cuban leader on August 13, his 80th birthday. The specifics of Castro's ailment and the nature of his surgery have been treated as a state secret. (BBC, AP, 2/9/06)

September 1: Some 1,500 Cuban children in eastern Las Tunas province will be immunized against five different diseases as part of the first stage in the administration of a new Cuban vaccine nationwide. Dorctor Sergio Garcia, Head of the Immunization Program at Las Tunas Provincial Epidemiology and Hygiene Center, told reporters that all conditions are ready to administer the dose on children from 2 to 6 months of age in local health care centers. Known as Heberpenta, the new vaccines combats  diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B and will be applied in 494 polyclinics throughout the country to an estimated 50,000 babies during the remainder of 2006. (AIN, 1/9/06)

September 1: In an unusual repressive action, over 50 agents of Cuba’s State Security (political police) in twelve vehicles broke into Dr. Darsi Ferrer’s home in Havana. With guns drawn, the agents handcuffed him and took him under arrest. Dr. Ferrer’s wife was away, caring for her ailing mother, and the police ignored his pleas to bring his five-year old son, Dariel, along until his wife could come for him. Instead, they took Dr. Ferrer away shirtless and barefoot, and left the child alone. According to the testimony of Ferrer’s wife, the agents opened the gas main before shutting the door. Neighbors went for the wife and helped her break open a window, finding the child still alive, Ferrer’s wife said. Two hours later, Ferrer was released. But in the afternoon of the same day, he was again detained near the US Interests Section, where he was about to enter for a visit. Dr. Ferrer is the founder of the Juan Bruno Zayas Health and Human Rights Center. On August 9, Ferrer distributed to the press the document “Transition Now”, calling all Cubans to join in peaceful actions against Raul Castro’s succession. (Netfor Cuba, El Nuevo Herald, 2/9/06)

September 1: Cuban musician Richard Egües, one of the most important artistic figures on the island and a former member of the Orquesta Aragón band, died at the age of 82 after a long illness. Egües, a pianist, flutist, composer and arranger, was born in the city of Santa Clara in central Cuba on October 26, 1924. From the time he joined Orquesta Aragon in 1953, the musician gave the band its unmistakable style with the way he played the flute. Egües composed what are today classics of salsa, such as "Sabrosona," "Gladys," and "El bodeguero," which became part of Nat King Cole’s repertoire. The Orquesta Aragón was a top band at a time when Cuba’s stages featured stars like the Matamoros Trio, Benny Moré, Enrique Jorrín, Pacho Alonso, La Orquesta América and Fajardo y sus Estrellas, among many others. (Granma International, 1/9/06)

September 4: More than three million children and youth filled the streets of the island with uniforms. Only in Sancti Spiritus, over 600 elementary, junior highs, and
high schools opened to classes for the 2006-2007 year. The central province of Sancti Spiritus is one with a record registration of students, over 100,000 pupils of all levels attending classes on their first day after summer vacation. In Cuba, nearly 620,000 youth, the highest figure in Cuban history for a school year, entered university studies. (AIN, 4/9/06)

September 5: Fidel Castro said the worst part of a health crisis that made him shed 18.5 kilos (41 pounds) was over and that he would attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Havana, in a handwritten statement. "You can say the most critical moment is behind me," Castro said in the statement, published in the official daily Granma and accompanied by dozens of snapshots. "Today I'm recovering at a satisfactory pace. I'll be receiving distinguished visitors over the next few days," he wrote. "That doesn't mean that every activity (of mine) will be immediately covered by film and photos, although news coverage will always be provided." A thinner Castro appeared in pajamas and slippers sitting in a rocking chair in what looked like a hospital room in photographs on Granma's site. [Mensaje de Fidel al pueblo de Cuba] (AFP, Reuters, 5/9/06)

September 5: Cuba and the United States were awarded automatic Olympic berths by virtue of finishing first and second in the pre Olympic baseball tournament held in the island. The US won over Cuba in the last game held in the Latinoamericano Stadium in Havana. (Toronto Star, 6/9/06)

September 7: At least five patients who recently received surgery died of hospital-acquired infections at the Calixto García Clinical and Surgical Hospital, in the City of Havana. The hospital has ten operating rooms and performs the majority of surgeries in the country. Two hospital nurses are conducting an anonymous study of the deaths due to unspecified pathologies. Preliminary studies indicate that patients suffer complications after contracting infections because of leaks and moisture on the walls of the operating rooms, and a shortage of drinking water and cleaning products at the hospital. (Cubanet, 7/9/06)

September 7: The 19th Congress of the Cuba’s Workers Central union (CTC) will be a transcendent event for absolute support to Fidel Castro and the Socialist Revolution, stated Pedro Ross Leal, general secretary of that organization. The CTC leader is on tour of the central provinces of Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Cienfuegos and Villa Clara to meet with the delegates to this most important union event to take place September 24-27 in Havana. This Congress will take place at a historic moment marked by important advances in all fields, and also by the integration of the Latin American peoples, inspired in the ideas of Jose Marti and the Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar, Ross said. The Congress´ central slogan will refer to the unity of workers in defense of the Revolution and socialism, he remarked. (Prensa Latina, 7/9/06)

September 7: The wife of political prisoner Francisco Chaviano condemned the “humiliating” treatment she receives when she visits her husband. According to Ana Aguililla Saladrigas, during her last visit, prison authorities told her she had to be searched and to “squat three times without underwear”. “After my complaint and refusal, the second officer in command at the prison told me it was usual procedure”, said Aguililla Saladrigas. Francisco Chaviano has been in jail for more than 12 years of a 15-years sentence. (EER, 8/9/06)

September 8: Cuban cardinal Jaime Ortega invoked Our Lady of Charity, patron saint of Cuba, so that “fraternal coexistence between all Cubans prevails and nothing disturbs the peace from within the country” these days. Ortega, archbishop of Havana, officiated a mass in the parish of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre and led a public procession of more than 3,000 people along the streets of Havana. (EFE, 10/9/06)

September 8: A radar device to detect meteorological events located on San Juan Peak in the Cuban province of Cienfuegos is being modernized to increase significantly its capacity, Granma newspaper reported. A team of experts have installed there a new magnetron, an apparatus in charge of measuring electromagnetic energy. The San Juan Peak meteorological station has been introducing technological improvements for several years, to detect with great precision meteorological phenomena. (Prensa Latina, 8/9/06)

September 9: Cuba set a security operation in motion that disrupted daily life in Havana in anticipation of the arrival of leaders and delegates from more than 100 countries attending the XIV Summit of Non-Aligned countries. Police presence and controls were tightened at the Conference Centre, the Summit venue; along Fifth Avenue, route that leads to the centre and where most embassies are located; the José Martí international airport; and Revolution Square, political hub of the island. In a communiqué published in the local media, the Organizing Committee of the Summit explained the traffic disruption in these areas and the prohibition of “concentration and movement of groups of peoples”. (AFP, 10/9/06)

September 10: The Ladies in White, wives of political prisoners in Cuba, carried out their Sunday march in demand of the freedom of their relatives, challenging a government prohibition on the movement of people in preparation for the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). “If we accept everything they [the government] stipulate, we would then have to accept that our husbands be in prison because they put them there”, said Laura Pollán, a member of the Ladies in White. An official statement had restricted the movement of persons in neighbouring areas to the Summit. (AFP, 11/9/06)

September 10: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told the press that Fidel Castro continues to recover satisfactorily while he follows the preparations of the 14th Summit of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM). In a press conference that followed the inauguration of Havana's new press center, specially set up for the September 11-16 summit, Perez Roque pointed out that the leader of the Cuban Revolution officially presides over the Cuban delegation to the meeting, seconded by First Vice President Raul Castro. (ACN, 10/9/06)

September 11: The number of migrant women has been growing in Cuba, just as in any other country of the region and the rest of the world, local experts indicated. International trends are present in Cuba, stated Antonio Aja Díaz, a researcher at the University of Havana's Migration Study Center. He made the statement during the launching of the 2006 World Population Report, at the United Nations office in the island. There has been a process of feminization of migration in Cuba, especially after the early 1990s, when an economic crisis broke out. "While most people leaving the country temporarily or permanently had in the past lived in Havana, they now leave from other provinces as well", stressed Consuelo Martín, a Center's psychologist and researcher. "The list of countries of destination now includes Europe, Central America, Venezuela and Mexico", she added. Migration in Cuba has been a historical process conditioned by economic, political, legal, family, psychological, social and juncture-specific factors. Consideration should be given to the fact that this issue has been highly politicized after Fidel Castro took over in 1959, experts stressed. (SEM, 11/9/06)

September 12: In an interview with Telesur, a regional television channel, Raul Castro said his 80-year-old brother was still working hard. "Don't think that he is laying down in a bed," said Raul Castro, 75. "He is on the telephone giving orders." (AP, 12/9/06)

September 12: The start of the week-long 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) forced the Cuban government to suspend its spraying with military planes, but it has not cut short the intense offensive against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the potentially deadly dengue virus. Although the government has kept mum on the spread of dengue fever in this Caribbean island nation, sources close to the Public Health Ministry told the press that several thousand cases have been reported in Havana alone, where special hospital wards have been created to care for the sick. The authorities say everything is under control, while emphasising the need to keep up the health and awareness-raising campaign. "Let's prevent the proliferation of the mosquitoes. Everyone must be aware of the problem," said the host of a show on the CH TV state-run channel. According to Dr. José San Martín Martínez, director of the Public Health Ministry's National Surveillance and Anti-Vector Unit, "there is no danger of a dengue epidemic" in Cuba. (IPS, 12/9/06)

September 12: A dog trained by prison officers at the Guanajay penitentiary in Havana attacked and injured Héctor Raúl Valle Hernández, a prisoner of conscience. The incident took place while Valle Hernández was sunbathing in the morning, reported José Miguel Martínez, also an inmate in Guanajay. A German shepherd trained to keep prisoners from escaping and used also by prison authorities to break up fights and other disturbances leaped on the peaceful government opponent tearing his right thigh, said the source. (Cubanet, 21/9/06)

September 13: Cuban state television has shown photos of a pajama-clad Fidel Castro chatting animatedly with an Argentine congressman, raising expectations that Castro will use the Non Aligned Movement summit to make his first public appearance since undergoing surgery in July. State television showed Castro sitting with Argentine Congressman Miguel Bonasso at a small table. Fidel Castro said he has started putting on weight again. "I lost 41 pounds, but I'm putting weight back on -- already almost half of what I lost," the leftist firebrand told Bonasso. "You have to do things one step at a time. You must remember that the machine being repaired is 80 years old," Castro joked, regarding the pace of his recovery. The interview with Bonasso, published in leftist Argentine newspaper Pagina 12, showed that Castro was well enough to get out of bed to greet his visitor. "I can still talk pretty loudly if I want to," Castro was quoted as saying by the Argentine daily. National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon said that Castro "is doing well" and may participate at the Havana summit. (AP, Reuters, 14/9/06)

September 13: New Chinese traffic lights, anti-mosquito fumigation campaigns and half-finished paint jobs on crumbling houses reflect what many Cubans see as papering over the cracks of a dilapidated city to prepare for the Non-Aligned Summit. Residents say there had not been such a cleanup since Pope John Paul's historic visit in 1998 drew the world's attention to a city center that once was one of the jewels of the Spanish colonial empire and is now one of Havana's most rundown areas. For the first time in years, Communist authorities have painted white and yellow lines onto main roads to be used by dozens of visiting heads of states, finally giving the few Cubans who own cars a sense of what lane to drive in. Another novelty, along 5th Avenue, the main thoroughfare: traffic lights imported from China. They show both colors and, on large electronic display boards, a digital count-down of time between signals. Small potted trees have been planted along Havana's sea front promenade. Opposite, fresh paint glistens from some sides of crumbling houses while other walls remain untouched, showing up cracks and holes from decades of neglect. "This is all about the government just applying make-up to the city (…) It's all about entertaining the presidents. A lot of summit, summit, summit, and everything remains the same," said Miguel, a 66-year-old pensioner, who like many Cubans was nervous about giving his full name. (Reuters, 13/09/06)

September 15: Cuban leader Fidel Castro is recovering but still too ill to chair a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement of developing nations, Cuba's foreign minister said, meaning a much anticipated public appearance at the meeting is unlikely. "His health is improving continuously and his convalescence is satisfactory (…) but the doctors have insisted that he continue resting, and thus he will not lead the Cuban delegation at the summit," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told the summit. State television showed Castro, 80, standing up briefly to greet friend and ally Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, on September 14. Chavez said later Castro was walking and singing. Castro also met UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan later on the same day. (Reuters, 15/9/06)

September 16: The Ladies in White, wives and mothers of Cuban political prisoners, marched silently for 45 minutes in Havana, to commemorate 42 months of their relatives’ arrest. “We do not want to disrupt the Summit (of the Non-Aligned Movement), but we had to remember the date”, said one of the participants during the march in the municipality of Centro-Habana, relatively far from where the meeting is taking place. (AFP, 16/9/06)

September 16: Dissidents Marta Cortizas Jiménez and Eugenio Leal García, members of the Cuban Socialist Democratic Current (CSDC) and of the editorial team of the digital magazine “Consenso” were brutally attacked and threatened with death by regime sympathizers, reported the Progressive Arch coalition in a communiqué. For Progressive Arch, “state terrorism against civil society and human integrity, has expressed itself as political terrorism in this case”. (EER, 19/9/06)

September 17: No matter whether Fidel Castro returns to office or not, diplomats and dissidents say the post-Fidel era has already begun and some foresee an ideological tug of war between "tropical Taliban" and proponents of Chinese-style economic reforms.  "Cuba has not been the same since July 31," said Miriam Leiva, a co-founder of the Ladies in White, a group of women whose husbands were arrested, tried and convicted in a large-scale crackdown on dissidents in 2003. Her husband, economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, was released for health reasons 19 months later. Espinosa Chepe and Leiva aired their views in an interview in their tiny apartment in Havana. Both see economic reforms managed by the Cuban Armed Forces headed by Raul Castro as the best hope for the near future, a sentiment echoed privately by many Cubans who tend to complain more vociferously about economic misery than the political system. "What would be disastrous would be for the tropical Taliban to run the country," Espinosa Chepe said. The phrase refers to a younger generation of officials mentored personally by Fidel Castro. The phrase Taliban is borrowed from the Afghan militants whose narrow interpretation of Islam caused them to ban music and stone adulterers to death. To hear Cubans tell it, the list of true believers includes Otto Rivero, vice president of the Council of Ministers for the Battle of Ideas, Hassan Perez, vice president of the Union of Communists, Miriam Yanet Martin, president of the Jose Marti pioneers youth group and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.  Outside experts agree the Armed Forces would be a better agent of change, if it were to come, than any other institution. "Unlike the Communist Party, the armed forces are widely popular," said Hal Klepak, a history professor at the Royal Military Institute of Canada and author of a book on the Cuban military. (Reuters, 17/9/06)

September 18: Relatives of political prisoner, Luis Enrique Ferrer García, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement in the Las Tunas province, denounced the harassment they have been suffering since Luis Enrique was sent to Mar Verde prison. His mother, sister, wife and young three-years old daughter Maria Libertad, have experienced difficulties with their visits to the prison because the State Security has threatened all the chauffeurs who rent their cars, so that they will not transport them. Also, arriving at the prison, these women have been seized and made the objects of mockery and humiliation by the guards, who have later placed a policewoman to accompany them throughout the whole visit. While in prison, Luis Enrique has been the object of intimidation by a very dangerous criminal who enjoys easy mobility within the prison and special advantages granted by the prison authorities. Some prisoners have admitted that the guards and the State Security have offered them special benefits if they agree to harass and provoke Luis Enrique, but most of them have refused. Luis Enrique received a 28-year-sentence in jail in April 2003. (Puente Informativo, 18/9/06)

September 18: Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya said he fears the Havana regime will begin killing its opponents if it feels threatened, though he also detects in the events surrounding Fidel Castro's illness signs of impending rapid change on the Communist-ruled island. "More than Fidel's death, it is the ineffectiveness of the Castro system that will bring the regime down," Paya said in an interview published by the left-leaning French daily Liberation. According to Paya, the announcement of Castro's illness "has created great expectations. For the first time Cubans see a concrete possibility of change." A change that "will happen quickly and is inevitable," he said, since "the people can no longer bear the idea of living another year" in the situation of paralysis that has been brought on by the announcement of Castro's illness. People "will in turn start protesting. That will be a critical moment and the end may be fatal and bloody. I hope it's no more than a tense, gradual" change, Paya said, adding that all members of the opposition want a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. Dissident leader Vladimiro Roca, president of the Cuban Social Democratic Party (PSC), said he favoured a peaceful transition to democracy. "I want changes, no revolutions. I don’t want any revolution. Revolutions are accompanied by blood and violence, and I want things to be quiet”, Roca said in an interview to the Spanish daily ABC. (EFE, EER, 18/9/06)

September 18: Educational centres in Santa Clara, Las Villas province, have experienced some irregularities this school year. Shortages of teachers, water and awful sanitary conditions have forced the shutdown of the Bárbaro Alba School. The school sent all students home only two days after the school year began (Cubanet, 18/9/06)

September 19: Cuban dissidents demanded the government of Fidel Castro open-up and respect human rights, and criticized that the Summit of Non-Aligned countries “silenced” the situation on the island. “I do not believe that the Summit has been a success. For us it has been of no use because there has been no discussion of the problems of democracy and freedoms”, said Martha Beatriz Roque, president of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba. Dissident Oswaldo Payá, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, questioned whether the speeches in the Summit, by “justifying and silencing the harsh reality that many of their own peoples suffer, are not an outrageous agreement of the oppression and abuse of human rights of the peoples living under tyrannies”. Progressive Arch, a coalition of social-democratic leanings, urged the government to open up to plurality and respect of human rights, and honour the Presidency of the Movement that the country will hold for the next three years. (AFP, 19/9/06)

September 20: Cuban First Vice President Raul Castro attended the closing ceremony of the Congress of the National Defense Civil Workers Union. At the event marking the 35 anniversary of the creation of the National Union of Civil Defense Workers, Raul Castro congratulated the delegates. During the meeting, participants elected the new union secretariat. Also present were Interior Minister Corps General Abelardo Colome Ibarra, First Deputy Defense Minister Julio Casas Regueiro, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and the General Secretary of the Cuban Workers Confederation Pedro Ross Leal; all are members of the Political Bureau of Cuba's Communist Party. (ACN, 20/9/06)
 
September 21: Cuba's foreign minister said he expects Fidel Castro to be fully back at the helm by early December and urged US intelligence chiefs to tear up their post-Castro scenario because his illness demonstrated Cubans' strong support for their government. Felipe Perez Roque said Castro's illness, which forced him to step aside as president on July 31, turned out to be a dress rehearsal for the time when the leader of Cuba's revolution dies. There were no street protests and the country remained "at ease, but vigilant and watchful," he said in an interview with the press. Asked whether he expected Fidel to be back in power for the postponed celebration of his 80th birthday on December  2, Perez Roque said Fidel's health is improving, "and I have no questions in my mind that we will be able to celebrate his birthday in December as he deserves." Did he expect Fidel to be back fully or on a lighter work schedule? "I think he will come back fully," Perez Roque said. "I have no doubts that his recovery is coming along quite well, and that Fidel will be able to fully devote his time to his duties without any impediments whatsoever," he said. But he said he expects Fidel's medical team to try "and put things in such a way that there will be no excesses that will harm his health." (AP, 21/9/06)

September 22: The status of the intensive campaign underway against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that can transmit dengue fever, was at the center of a meeting of presidents of the People’s Power provincial committees of the island. The two-day gathering was presided over by Cuba’s First Vice President Raul Castro and other top Communist Party and government officials. Participants analyzed the battle underway throughout the island against the mosquito, and the measures adopted to try and eliminate the dangerous vector. Speaking on the issue, Raul Castro said that the battle must be won at the grassroots level, with the active involvement of every citizen, and raising people’s awareness about the risks stemming from the presence of mosquito breeding grounds. He made an appeal not to let up on the systematic eradication work, and to find rational solutions to whatever obstacles that may occur in this fight. To date, no figures have been released about the number of people affected by the disease, but doctors say cases have been detected in Havana and eastern cities like Ciego de Avila and Santiago de Cuba. Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of the People’s Power, was not reported to have attended the meeting. (Granma, EFE, 23/9/06)

September 23: Cuba's acting president Raúl Castro said his older brother Fidel is walking more frequently and his health is steadily improving after intestinal surgery, state-run media reported. He also said the elder Castro is paying close attention to Cuba's current battle against dengue fever, the Communist Party daily newspaper Granma reported in a front-page article. ''At the mention [of Fidel], he also took the opportunity to say that he is getting better and walking more and more every day,'' the newspaper said. (AP, 24/9/06)

September 24: Over 1,400 delegates throughout the country started in Havana works of the 19th Congress of the Central Workers Union of Cuba (CTC). The event, which will take place for four days, is expected to debate an extensive agenda of important issues for the workers' movement and the nation's economic and social development process. Efforts of Cuban public health to raise life expectancy to 80 years and results reached during the revolutionary process are key issues. The education workers union, the most represented sector in this forum, has among its concerns the need to provide teacher uniforms and shoes and analyze the lack of teachers. The energy revolution, conservation and efficiency are topics analyzed by workers of the chemical, mining and metallurgical sectors. Nine commissions will start working on September 25. (Prensa Latina, 24/9/06)

September 25: The dissident coalition Progressive Arch will invite the UN Human Rights Commission to list groups like the Rapid Response Brigades, created by the Cuban government to suppress opponents, as “terrorist”. Progressive Arch announced that it will bring before the organization “projects and activities against the association of persons— whether sanctioned by State or not— created to systematically and expressly threaten, intimidate, attack and destroy by means of violence and for political purposes”, citizens “who seek peaceful social, economic, political or cultural reforms”. The initiative has been called “Action against Ideological and Political Terrorism against Difference”. (EER, 26/9/06)

September 26: Labour discipline and business improvement were on the table in plenary sessions of the 19th Congress of the Central Workers Union of Cuba (CTC), taking place in Havana. Delegates from 19 national workers unions should approve 15 draft resolutions analyzed the day before in nine working commissions. First Vice President Raul Castro and Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, member of the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party presided over the discussions. The country’s economic, political and social issues, as well as payment systems for work results, socialization of economic information and salary increases were highlighted in debates. "Today, our country is in a position to make qualitative leaps forward in several vital sectors of society; the role of trade union organizations in achieving this goal is pivotal," said Pedro Ross, general secretary of the Cuban Trade Union Confederation (CTC) in his main report to the Congress. "This Congress represents a critical analysis of the performance of the Cuban labor movement over the last few years, and an expression of the desire of Cuban workers to give a resolute rejection to the negative remnants of the Special Period. Above all, it is a turning point in which the path to development is resumed amidst new conditions," Ross added. (Prensa Latina, Granma, 26,27/9/06)

September 26: New hip prosthesis technologies are being applied in Cuban medical facilities and in 2007 the generalized introduction of new knee technologies is expected, stated Dr. Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras, who chaired the recently concluded International Orthopedics and Traumatology Congress at the Plaza America Convention Center in Varadero, which was attended by 300 delegates from 10 countries. “Cuba has set the standards in orthopedics, our school has trained professionals from many countries in Latin American and other latitudes,” the professor, also director of the Frank País International Orthopedic Scientific Complex, told the press. He recalled that in aspects such as the RALCA external fixators, which have been in use since 1971 throughout most of the world, and in sports traumatology, “we are the vanguard and reference for experts, even those from the most developed countries.” (Granma International, 26/9/06)
September 26: The Attorney General’s Office overruled a complaint filed by Ms. Amalia Rodríguez for the refusal to free journalist Oscar Mario González from prison. District attorney Francisco J. Fernández, head of the General Directorate of Controls, “overruled the complaint ”. On July 10, Rodríguez, a lawyer, had requested the release of Oscar Mario, who’s been in detention without trial since July 13, 2005. (Cubanet, 26/9/06) 

September 26: The World Baseball Classic was an important step in baseball's international development but is no consolation for the elimination of the sport from the Olympics, the president of Cuba's Olympic Committee said. Jose Ramon Fernandez urged the International Baseball Federation to unite all its forces in the fight to get baseball back on the Olympic roster. ``The Classic can not be a substitute for baseball in the Olympics,'' Fernandez, also a vice-president in Cuba, told the press in an interview at the Council of Ministers headquarters. The International Olympics Committee eliminated baseball and softball from the 2012 London Olympics during a vote in 2005. Cuba, which considers baseball its national sport, vigorously protested the decision to drop baseball from the Olympic program. (AP, 27/9/06) 

September 27: Raul Castro urged Cuba's communist labor union to lead the country's battle against corruption, saying workers are ''the essential force'' in fighting a wide range of vices. His speech, which closed the union's 19th congress in Havana, earned him a standing ovation from the crowd of about 1,400 people. The younger Castro, who appeared confident in his new leadership role, complimented the union for its dedication to the island's socialist ideals, at the same time chiding the leaders for failing to control rampant stealing from the state and worker apathy. ''One of the most difficult challenges in this ideological work is succeeding in making the worker feel like a collective owner of the society's riches -- and acting accordingly,'' Castro said in remarks lasting under an hour. He said severe shortages created when Cuba lost economic support after the fall of the Soviet Union have prompted some of the stealing. ''But it's also been due to our old and new errors,'' he said. ''Some union leaders have not made the best decisions, nor employed the best work form.'' [Discurso de Raúl Castro] (AP, 27/9/06)

September 28: The dissident Assembly to Promote Civil Society (APSC), led by Martha Beatriz Roque, urged all dissident organizations in Cuba to “unite” and support a congress of independent libraries, which will last more than four months. “Given the current situation in the country, and the state of repression against internal dissidents”, this will be a very “unusual” congress, which will run from next October 10 to February 24, 2007 and will take place simultaneously in all independent libraries in the country, said Roque. (AFP, 29/9/06)

September 29: Pedro Luis Ferrer is still shaking things up with his new album. 
Such has been the international success story of Buena Vista Social Club that most people can't see past these octogenarian superstars when it comes to Cuban music. However, for most of Cuba's population there is a very different musical landscape that includes hip-hop, reggaeton and heavy metal, not to mention contemporary folk troubadours such as Pedro Luis Ferrer, a singer-songwriter who paints surreal snapshots of Cuban life.  The latter has just released Natural, the follow-up to last year's impressive Although his parents were fervent supporters of Castro's revolution, Ferrer isn't afraid to speak his mind on thorny social problems. "In Cuba we live with many contradictions. There is a conflict between the many good intentions to make society better and the impossibility of achieving it. The government and the administration haven't got it right, but I believe that this difficult situation is created by the constant interference of those who call themselves enemies of the Cuban revolution”. "My parents fought against and suffered under the dictatorship of Batista. They saw in the revolution the victory of their dreams. But I also believe that one man doesn't need to govern a country for that many years, because men get older. Even if they were the best man in the world, to govern more than five years can damage any country." (The Independent, 29/9/06)

September 30: Fidel Castro sent special congratulations to the students and workers of the Information Technology University (UCI). During the opening ceremony of the 2006-2007 school year at the UCI, Carlos Valencaiga, member of the State Council, transmitted Castro’s message. In his message, Castro congratulated all the organizations that have contributed to the achievements of that university, the first students of which will graduate at the end of this school year. Fidel Castro highlighted that the UCI is an example of the value of an idea, the country s collective effort and its political willingness to develop this sphere. (Prensa Latina, 30/9/06)