Chronicle on Cuba - November
2006
Security
November 2: Cuba’s First Vice President Raul Castro appraised the readiness, living conditions and work of the Rescate de Sanguily combat unit in western Cuba, accompanied by high military chiefs. Raul Castro, also Chief of the Cuban Armed Forces received detailed information on the state of the unit from its chief, Brigade General Eliecer Velazquez Almaguer, and reviewed preparations for the military parade for December 2. The also defense minister visited classrooms and viewed simulators used for personnel preparation as well as for reviewing the effectiveness of communication media trainers. (Prensa Latina, 3/11/06)
November 3: Unconfirmed media reports alleged that the acting president of Cuba, Raúl Castro, would have ordered - through general Julio Casas Regueiro - the withdrawal of Cuban military personnel from Venezuela. According to Venezuelan press reports, neither confirmed nor denied by Caracas or Havana, several flights carrying Cuban military personnel have taken off from Ramp 4 of the Maiquetía airport, Barquisimeto, and from the Oro Negro Airport in Cabimas. (EER, 3/11/06)
November 4: Troops marched in the streets and fighter jets streaked across the skies of Havana rehearsing a December 2 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution and the 80th birthday of its leader, Fidel Castro. The military parade will be the first in a decade in the Cuban capital and may bring Castro's first public appearance since he had intestinal surgery in July that forced him to cede power temporarily to his brother Raul. The rehearsal included the reading of a script over booming loudspeakers that contained several references to ``our undefeated and invincible commandante Fidel Castro Ruz,'' giving no indication he would not show up. After the Granma replica passed the reviewing stand, about 2,000 soldiers and marines marched past. Earlier, three fighter jets and two military helicopters made a practice run over Havana. The actual parade will include tanks and heavy weapons, said an organizer who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Rodriguez. ``We're not going to fill the plaza with all the planes, tanks or all the arms we have, only what is necessary for the enemy to know that we are prepared,'' he told the press. (Reuters, 4/11/06)
November 19: More than 300,000 people will take part in a military parade marking Fidel Castro's 80th birthday, as well as the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution, according to press reports. The weekly newspaper Tribuna de La Habana reported that the massive December 2 display would feature tanks, artillery, anti-aircraft weapons and other military hardware parading through Revolution Square. The December 2 date was picked because it marks the 50th anniversary of the day Castro and 81 bearded rebels -- including brother Raul and Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara -- returned from exile in Mexico aboard a yacht named Granma, launching a military campaign that would topple US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Castro turned 80 in August, but birthday celebrations were postponed because of a reported intestinal operation and recovery. (AFP, 19/11/06) |
