Chronicle on Cuba - February 2007

Domestic Affairs

February 2: Parliament president Ricardo Alarcón bade outstanding Cuban attorney in international law, Olga Miranda, the last farewell before her final resting place in the Armed Forces memorial at Colon cemetery. Miranda died suddenly the day before. At the time of her death she was teaching in the High Institute of International Relations in Havana, of which she was member of the scientific staff. She was also president of the Cuban Society of International Law and member of honor of the Cuban Union of Jurists. Olga contributed, as few did, to Cuban political tradition and belonged to the kind of people who never retire, are always useful to their last breath and that is why they are indispensable, Alarcon said. Miranda was founder of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was a collaborator of the first Minister Raul Roa, served as ambassador and represented Cuba in important international fora. Funeral service was attended by Alarcon, Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque and dozens of Foreign Ministry workers and students. Fidel and Raul Castro sent flower wreaths. (Prensa Latina, 2/2/07)

February 3: Cuban intellectuals who joined in a protest over the threatened revival of the so-called Five Grey Years (1971-1976) in the island's culture, believe their fears sparked a debate which must now continue. Several meetings of the country's top cultural authorities with the offended intellectuals prolonged the encounter, accessible by invitation only and without the press being allowed in, which left some optimistic and others skeptical. Writer Reynaldo Gonzalez, winner of the 2003 National Literature Award, told Efe Saturday that the meeting analyzed a period that was "very ugly" and one of "political extremism." "That was an evil time and Pavon [head of the governmental Dirección de Cultura (Culture Direction)] and others who influenced national culture got rid of the more serious artists (...) and destroyed a splendid theater movement in Cuba," said the 66-year-old author, who went 10 years without being published on the island. Gonzalez said that "it was an open dialogue (...) in which everyone entered into the discussion who wanted to, and there was a majority consensus that this (a possible return to the Five Grey Years) has to be stopped and I believe it will be stopped. It was very productive and hopeful." Poet Reina Maria Rodriguez, 54, thought the meeting "insufficient," because there are "too many things to deal with that haven't been spoken about for many years" and "it's impossible to think that one meeting can respond to so many questions, hopes and wishes." Frank Padron, a writer from a younger generation, thought the meeting "very illustative, enlightening and opportune," but he was fairly skeptical about the future of the debate and said that "hopefully this meeting will become a channel for dealing with many of these problems." Filmmaker Rebeca Chavez said that "there were solid speeches, an approach to a very complex reality, the chance to speak openly about unhealed wounds," although, in her opinion, "we have to wait for the next meetings." (EFE, 3/2/07)

February 4: Dissident Julio Cesar Lopez Rodriguez, arrested a year-and-a-half ago, has been freed by Cuban prison authorities, a source within the communist island's dissident movement told the press. The Assembly to Promote Civil Society, headed by Marta Beatriz Roque, announced that Lopez Rodriguez told the group in a weekend telephone call that prison officials released him and took him to his home "without any conversation," and that he had had to sign a document "that they told (him) was a release letter."  Lopez Rodriguez was arrested along with about 30 other opposition figures as they were participating in a demonstration in July 2005 before the French Embassy in Havana. He had been held since July 22, 2005, in the Canaleta prison in western Matanzas province, the dissident organization said. Lopez Rodriguez and another of the protesters, Raúl Martínez, were released without explanation, dropping the number of political prisoners in Cuba to 280, said Elizardo Sánchez, of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights. That number stood at 333 one year ago, but Sánchez is hesitant to call it a trend. (EFE, 4/2/07)

February 4: A strong earthquake shook parts of Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.1 and was centered in the Caribbean Sea about 75 miles northwest of Montego Bay, Jamaica, and 125 miles southwest of Bayamo, Cuba, the US Geological Survey in Colorado said. (AP, 4/2/07)

February 5: Approximately five thousand people participated in the consecration of the new bishop of Guantánamo-Baracoa, Wilfredo Pino, in an unusual ceremony held at the centrally located local square “Pedro A. Pérez” and attended by officials from the church and the communist party. After mass, prelates and church goers walked in procession to the Cathedral of St. Catalina de Ricci, patron saint of Guantánamo, where the newly-appointed bishop gave his blessings from a balcony to all in attendance. According to the Ccatholic Church web site, the event culminated with the National Anthem and the Cuban traditional folk song Guantanamera. (EER, 5/2/07)

February 5: An increase by over 50 thousand persons living in mountain areas in Cuba indicates better living conditions, said Lazaro Vazquez, Executive Secretary for the National Comisión attending those areas. Cuban mountain areas are currently inhabited by 720 thousand persons, distributed over 10 provinces of the island´s territory. (Prensa Latina, 5/2/07)

February 6: According to his daughter Rufina Velázquez, prisoner of conscience Ramón Velázquez Toranzo remains on a hunger strike in El Típico, a Las Tunas correctional facility where he was incarcerated on January 24. She added that her father was submitted to an expedited trial without any procedural guarantees, at the Municipal Court of Las Tunas. He was not allowed to file for appeal. Ramón Velázquez, along with his wife and daughter, staged a protest walk along the main national highway, from Santiago de Cuba to Ciego de Ávila, demanding the end of repression against peaceful activists and the release of political prisoners. (Cubanet, 6/2/07)

February 6: The Episcopal Church has named a woman as bishop in Cuba, the first such appointment by the church in the developing world, church officials said. The Reverend Nora Cot Aguilera was named suffragan bishop on February 4 during a service in the Cuban city of Matanzas, said Robert Williams, director of communications for the US-based Episcopal Church. ''Her appointment is a wonderful reminder that in some nations, leadership is primarily about gifts for service and not about gender,'' said US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. Cot will be consecrated in Havana on June 10, along with Cuba's other newly named suffragan bishop, Ulises Mario Aguiera Prendes. Cot, 69, told the press that she was ''tremendously honored'' but also faces ''a great challenge'' as the church, with some 10,000 members, moves toward greater national autonomy. (AP, 6/2/07)

February 7: Carlos Lage Davila, secretary of the the Executive Committee of the Council of State and member of the Polit Buro of the Party, toured some important social and economic sites in the eastern Cuban province of Las Tunas. Lage noted the rigor that the country is putting in the construction and renovation of social facilities as part of a program that the nation is implementing. "We have seen the quality, experience, and functionality of the work that is being done here," said Carlos Lage summing up his impressions about some projects that have already been concluded. He also offered words of praise to the new conditions provided to the elementary school Frank Pais that was reopened this past December in the northern town of Maniabon. His visit to Las Tunas also included Cuba's largest sugar producer, the Antonio Guiteras plant, which is now in operations as part of the 2007 harvest. Accompanying the top Cuban official were Ulises Rosales del Toro, minister of the sugar industry, and Jorge Cuevas Ramos, first secretary of the Party in Las Tunas. (Periódico 26, 9/2/07)

February 8: Two Cuban army officers were shot dead when three young conscripts detailed to a prison near the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba tried to help an inmate escape, a dissident Cuban news service reported. A dispatch by the Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental (APLO), an independent journalists' group in eastern Cuba, said the incident -- fatal attacks on Cuban soldiers are rare -- took place on December 20 at the El Manguito prison, in Songo-La Maya. The report said that when three conscripts detailed to the prison headed to the infirmary to subdue their superiors, an officer told conscript Yoelvis Delgado Arvelo to quit fooling around with dangerous weapons. Delgado answered: ''I am not playing. This is the truth,'' and opened fire, killing Lt. Oliverio Orozco and 2nd Lt. José Antonio Tamayo, according to the report by APLO member Lisette Bravo. The incident has not been reported in Cuba's state-run media. Havana human rights activist Elizardo Sánchez said he was convinced the incident was true because some of the human rights activists he works with spoke to the family of one of the accused. The families were instructed by the government not to speak to the news media or dissident groups, he added. ''It has nothing to do with the opposition or any kind of political project,'' Sánchez told the press. ''I think it was an isolated incident which reveals, more than anything, the increasing degree of violence in Cuba,'' he said. (The Miami Herald, 8/2/07)  

February 8: Cuba’s 16th International Book Fair was officially inaugurated at the Morro Cabana Fortress, with a ceremony to welcome Argentina, the guest of honor, and to pay tribute to Cuban poet, narrator and essayist Cesar Lopez, and historian Eduardo Torres Cuevas, recipients of the 2006 National Literary Award. The opening precedes ten days of book launchings, meetings with authors, book sales, poetry and literature recitals, concerts, and exhibits at the Fortress, located at the mouth of the Havana Bay. Argentina is represented by a large delegation of publishing houses, writers, artists and government officials, among them the country’s Minister of Culture, Jose Nun, and the governor of Santa Fe Province, Jorge Obeid. Maria Mederos, who heads the Cuban Book Chamber, told the press that 82 foreign exhibitors are attending the fair, representing 550 publishing houses. The largest stands correspond to Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Germany and Cuba with 53 publishing houses. (Granma, 8/2/07)

February 8: One of Cuba's top poets took the unusual step of bringing up the subject of Communist censorship at a ceremony attended by high authorities of the regime, arguing against the exclusion of certain authors from bookstores and the state-run publishing house on grounds of ideology or place of residence. Cesar Lopez, who writes both poetry and prose and who won the National Literature Award in 1999, extended a polemic about who and what gets into print in Cuba that has been lively for weeks with his comments at the opening of the island's International Book Fair. On hand were provisional President Raul Castro, and Culture Minister Abel Prieto, among other top government and party officials. The critically acclaimed late author of "Tres Tristes Tigres", Guillermo Cabrera Infante, was among those named by Lopez in defending the idea that creative individuals "unauthorized" by the regime deserve inclusion and recognition. Lopez did not stop with Cabrera Infante. He also listed among contributors to the richness of Cuban literature Reynaldo Arenas, author of "Before Night Falls," Antonio Benitez Rojo, Severo Sarduy, Jesus Diaz, Heberto Padilla, Gaston Baquero and Manuel Moreno Fraginals, all of whom left the country and are now deceased. The poet and novelist said he wanted "to affirm that this book fair is dedicated to all Cuban creative minds" and expressed his wish "that it be inclusive and ecumenical so that it might overcome any limitation that over the years our culture might have demonstrated, borne and suffered." He urged Cubans "to emphasize what unites us, unites us beyond artificial, mechanical and taken-advantage-of borders." (EFE, La Jornada, 8,13/2/07)

February 8: Fidel Castro's health is improving and he is taking part in all important issues facing the government, his younger brother and acting President Raul Castro said. ``He's getting better each day,'' the younger Castro said in brief comments to news media at the opening of an international book fair in Havana. ``He's exercising much. He has a telephone at his side and uses it a lot.'' Raul Castro made a surprise appearance at the annual book fair --an event his 80-year-old brother often attended in past years. ``He's consulted on the most important questions,'' Raul Castro said of Fidel. ``He doesn't interfere, but he knows about everything. ``Luckily, he doesn't call me much,'' Raul joked, saying his older brother usually called on Vice President Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. The 75-year-old Raul traded in his typical olive green uniform for a gray jacket over a pair of blue pants for the event at a Spanish fortress across the bay from Havana. (AP, 9/2/07)

February 8: Six months after Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power, young hard-liners linked to Castro have all but disappeared from public view as economic czar Carlos Lage -- a moderate reformer -- has seen his profile grow, diplomats and analysts say. Notably absent from the spotlight since Castro handed authority last July to his younger brother, Raul, are Otto Rivero, Hassan Perez and other young radicals collectively known by diplomats and some Cubans as "the Taliban." "They have lost the kind of power that Fidel gave them to go everywhere giving orders and saying what should be done," said a Havana-based diplomat who asked not to be identified. "The ministries have returned to their logical role. Raul wants an effective organization," the diplomat said. One Cuban official who has benefited from the realignment of power is Carlos Lage Davila, 55, a pediatrician who is credited with implementing limited reforms that rescued Cuba's faltering economy in the 1990s. At the same time, the role has diminished of Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, 41, the former personal secretary of Fidel Castro, analysts say. Before Fidel Castro's illness, Perez Roque was the second-most visible leader in Cuba after the commander in chief himself. He often spoke at political rallies and appeared as Castro's heir apparent. "He was clearly more prominent than any minister of foreign affairs in any other country," said the Havana-based diplomat. "He was the maximum interpreter of Fidel Castro's ideas. Now, he is just the minister of foreign affairs." (Chicago Tribune, 8/2/07)

February 8: Cuban economists are busy studying ways to rev up one of the world's last communist-run economies, a step encouraged by acting President Raul Castro since he took over from his ailing brother six months ago. The debate is focused on how to make Cuba's inefficient command economy more productive and take advantage of newfound financial buoyancy in foreign exchange earnings. ``There is consensus on our goals: more popular participation, the country's development and a better material and spiritual life,'' China expert and economics professor Evelio Vilarino told the press at a globalization conference. ``Where there is no consensus is on how best to achieve that.'' The head of parliament's economic commission, Osvaldo Martinez, told the press the debate over economic policy probably would be taking place even if Fidel Castro were not too ill to govern. ``We are not talking about the Chinese model, but a Cuban model, the best way forward given Cuba's possibilities, realities, resources and problems,'' Martinez said. Some Cuban economists believe that only by adopting China's model of a capitalist market under communist political control, or at a minimum by decentralizing and developing private cooperatives and markets in nonstrategic sectors, can internal production be improved. Others say any opening would provide the United States with a chance to topple the socialist system. (Reuters, 8/2/07)

February 8: Veteran dissident attorney Rene Gomez Manzano, who helped organize an unprecedented gathering of opponents of the Cuban government two years ago, was unexpectedly released from prison after being held for 19 months without being charged.   Gomez Manzano said he had little information about what had occurred in his country since he was jailed in July 2005, but didn't think Fidel Castro's illness, or the ceding of power to his brother Raul, influenced the release. "I'm inclined to think that it doesn't have anything to do with it," the white-haired 63-year-old said. Despite his jailing, Gomez Manzano, an opponent of Castro's rule since the 1980s, said he would continue his activism and said officials imposed no conditions on his release. "They did not put any and I would not have accepted them," he said. "I am not going to change or abandon my ideas." While some dissidents have chosen to emigrate after leaving prison, Gomez Manzano said he planned to stay. He said he believed "we should make our effort here within the country." (AP, 8/2/07)  

February 8: Cuban authorities detained the 13-year-old stepdaughter of Delmides Fidalgo Lopez, a Christian pastor and president of the evangelical group Christian Movement of Cuba, dissidents and Cuban exiles said. Leyani Dominguez Velasquez was detained for the second time in less than one week by "political police" in the town of Buenaventura in Holguin province, said the Cuban Democratic Directorate (CDD), a pro-democracy group. "The arrests are part of a repressive campaign against her stepfather" because of his activities as pastor and the Christian Movement of Cuba, CDD added in a statement to the press. Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, a blind lawyer and president of the Cuban Human Rights Foundation, said in a statement that "a State Security official and another agent who is in charge of minors in Buenaventura locked her up in the administration office" of the Buenaventura Secondary School, which she attends. "The captain threatened her and used methods of psychological terror and coercion to force her to speak," about her stepfather, the journalist said. "He told her that she would be arrested if she did not inform him about the trip her stepfather wants to make to Havana and his ‘counter-revolutionary’ activities". In addition officials allegedly threatened to take the girl "to a juvenile prison, and they said her step-father would be jailed in a maximum security prison." The group of pastors and other Christians are dedicated to preaching the Gospel of Christ independently from the State. (Journal Chrétien, 8/2/07)

February 9: Three Cubans were sentenced for making illegal television antennas and equipment with which residents could download "alienating" and "subversive" US broadcasts, said the government-run newspaper Granma. The three suspects were charged with "illegal economic activity," after police in March 2006 found at one of their homes "enough material to make 30 satellite dishes," 133 meters (yards) of coaxial cable, soldering equipment and an assortment of tubes. The daily said the materials were "bought on the street from unknown people." If found guilty, the three men could face up to three years in prison.  The three suspects, Granma said, were producing home-made antennas and equipment to "pirate satellite signals from foreign channels, many of which carry programming that is culturally alienating, subversive and interfering." (AFP, 9/2/07)

February 11: After a seven-month hunger strike in a bid to seek Internet access for Cubans, the independent journalist still has no direct access to the World Wide Web. Maybe worse, few Cubans know Guillermo Fariñas' name. Even fewer know about his protest, or that this time, he nearly died. Still, the 44-year-old dissident is undeterred. This strike, one of 20 he's held in the past decade, gained international attention. "The Cuban government controls the media inside the country, but it can't control the media outside," said Fariñas, from his mother's home in this provincial capital, nearly 200 miles from Havana. He is in Santa Clara recuperating, confined to a wheel chair, unable to walk because of the muscle he lost during the fast. A psychologist by training, Fariñas has repeatedly stopped eating and drinking to express his dissent with Cuba's communist government and to appeal for democracy. The peaceful protests spark solidarity within the country and worldwide, he said. Fariñas said he launched his most recent strike on January 31, 2006, after the government denied Cubans access to the one Internet café in Santa Clara. (Sun Sentinel, 11/2/07)

February 11: Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Dionisio Guillermo García Ibáñez, 62, of the Diocese of the Most Holy Savior of Bayamo and Manzanillo, as the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba. The Vatican press office announced that the Pope accepted the resignation for reasons of age of Archbishop Pedro Claro Meurice Estiu, who will turn 75 on February 23. The Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba counts 242,000 Catholics in a population of 1 million inhabitants. It has 13 parishes, eight diocesan priests, 12 religious priests, three permanent deacons, seven major seminarians, 18 men religious (not priests) and 35 women religious. (Zenit, 11/2/07)

February 12: Information and Communications Technologies and their Contribution to a Better World is the motto of the 12th Cuba Informatics Convention and Trade Fair that began in Havana and runs through to February 16. Specialists from around the world will gather to share research and practical experiences on new technologies and trends, perspectives and the contribution of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to sustainable development. The Sixth International Congress of Computer Sciences in Health will be taking place simultaneously during the Informatics 2007 program. This parallel event will provide the framework to share Cuba’s experiences in the use of ICTs for the improvement of its people’s health and exchange experiences about advances in other regions. (Periódico 26, 12/2/07)

February 12: A senior Cuban official defended Internet restrictions as a response to US aggression and called for controlling "the wild colt of new technologies." Communications Minister Ramiro Valdes opened an international conference on communication technologies by complaining that Washington is choking Cuba's access to the Internet even as US military and intelligence services use it to undermine the communist government. Internet technologies "constitute one of the tools for global extermination," he said, referring to US policies, but they "are also necessary to continue to advance down the path of development." He defended Cuba's "rational and efficient" use of the Internet, which puts computers in schools and government computer clubs while prohibiting home connections for most citizens and blocking many sites with anti-government material. "The wild colt of new technologies can and must be controlled," he said.  Valdes expressed dire suspicions of US intentions for the World Wide Web, citing post-September 11 security measures and press reports that technology giants Microsoft and Google have cooperated with US intelligence agencies. "These actions bring the destabilizing power of the empire to threatening new levels," he said. (AP, 12/2/07) 

February 13: A senior Cuban official said that Fidel Castro is recovering ``very well'' but gave no indication when, or if, Cuba's ailing leader might return to public life. ``He is recovering, doing very well and keeping abreast of everything,'' National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon said, adding to other recent statements that Castro is on the mend. ``He continues to make progress. We shouldn't be impatient,'' Alarcon told the press. Asked if Castro might reappear on Workers Day, May 1, a major holiday in communist Cuba, Alarcon replied: ``That depends on how the recovery continues and what the doctors think.'' Alarcon said Castro's absence was not a sign of declining health. ``He could be perfectly well without the need to be giving interviews or making public appearances,'' he said. (Reuters, 13/2/07)

February 13: In an interview with the press in the days following his address at the opening of Havana’s International Book Fair, Cuban poet and writer Cesar Lopez said he made comments about the barring of the works of writers due to their political positions "without consulting anyone" because, he said, he believes "in what unites us, without exclusions." Lopez, who was one of the writers being paid homage at the Fair, took the unusual step of bringing up the subject of Communist censorship at the inauguration ceremony attended by high authorities of the regime, arguing against exclusion of certain authors from bookstores and the state-run publishing house on grounds of ideology or place of residence. Lopez said he hoped Cuban culture "will incorporate or reincorporate all those creators who indeed pertain to it”. "Limits, in time or space, cannot remove from (Cuban) culture those writers - as well as painters, musicians, thinkers, et cetera - who for different reasons live in another place or are from another time, regardless of differences, including ideological ones," he said. "What's more, a culture is enriched by differences among points of view and I think that all Cubans who honestly are so want our culture to be ever more rich, complex, polemical and growing," he said. Another writer who took part in the book fair, Reynaldo Gonzalez, interpreted the presence of Raul Castro and Prieto at the fair's inauguration as "support" for those intellectuals who in recent weeks have increasingly expressed misgivings about official cultural policy. (EFE, 13/2/07)

February 13: Yolanda Alvarez Diaz, wife of independent journalist Alejandro Tur Valladares, was fired from her job as restroom attendant in Cienfuegos. Yolanda, who worked at an El Rápido fast food restaurant owned by CIMEX Corporation, was let go for not being “politically reliable.” (Cubanet, 13/2/07)

February 13: Following several arrests, the opposition group Assembly to Promote Civil Society (APSC), led by Martha Beatriz Roque, demanded that the Cuban government stop harassing the dissidents. The APSC demands from the Cuban government "an end to the harassment of dissidents" by State Security agents “and to the thefts to which they are subjected,” said the organization in a press release. The ASPC denounced the temporary detention of two members of the organization’s leadership, from whom a briefcase belonging to Roque was confiscated. "With these two, it’s now up to six the number of arrests of Assembly leaders in the week from February 5 to February 11, with seizures of cash in Convertible pesos as well as other personal items,” indicated the communiqué. (EER, 14/2/07)

February 14: A story in a Spanish-Mexican magazine has challenged Cuba's claim that it found the long-missing remains of revolutionary hero Ernesto ''Ché'' Guevara in Bolivia in 1997. The Letras Libres magazine reported in this month's edition that there were several inconsistencies in the identification of the remains recovered in 1997 by a team of Cuban forensic experts from an unmarked grave in Vallegrande, where Guevara's body was last seen. According to the report, the remains included a shirt and a belt, supposedly Guevara's, which could not have been his, and a container of tobacco that did not match the description of the container he was known to have had. The report said Fidel Castro pushed the search team to find remains before October 1997 -- the 30th anniversary of Guevara's death -- ``in order to distract the Cuban people from their pressing hardships and to relaunch the country's revolutionary fervor.'' (The Miami Herald, 14/2/07)

February 14: Nigerian Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize for Literature 1986, and acclaimed Mexican author and journalist Elena Poniatowska, are in Cuba to participate at Havana's 16th International Book Fair. Soyinka, playwright, poet and narrator, author of the universally read plays The Lion and the Jewel and Kongi's Harvest, toured the Morro-Cabana Fortress Fairgrounds and commented on the eagerness of the Cuban readers to purchase the latest books offered. "Cuba has much of Africa and I very much enjoy its culture and the good friends," said Soyinka, who added that he feels at home on the island. Poniatowska, author of Massacre in Mexico, arrived in Havana to present her novel Tinisima about the legendary revolutionary Tina Modotti. The annual book fair takes place in Havana before moving on to 39 other cities in all of the country's provinces. The fair concludes in Santiago de Cuba on March 11. (AIN, 14/2/07)

February 14: The National Revolutionary Police (PNR) of Cuba arrested an indeterminate number of individuals involved in Convertible Peso (CUC, local hard currency) counterfeiting. A spokesman for the PNR informed journalists that one of the counterfeiters, a resident of San Miguel del Padrón, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. There were also raids against counterfeiters in the municipality of East Havana. (Notimex, 14/2/07)

February 14: Lazaro Pulido Farinas, 40, has remained incarcerated without due process for ten months in the Combinado del Este correctional facility for the alleged crime of attempting an illegal exit from the national territory. Pulido was detained in Bacunagua, south of Pinar del Río, in April 2006, after Border Guard troops opened fire on a speedboat from Cancun, Mexico. (Cubanet, 14/2/07)

February 15: The son of Fidel Castro said he expected his father to recover completely from surgery that forced him to relinquish power in July. ``We believe that little by little comrade Fidel will see the total recovery that all Cuban people and revolutionaries the world over hope for,'' said Fidel Castro Diaz Balart. Speaking at the annual Havana book fair, the junior Castro repeated recent upbeat assessments of his father's health, including one last week by his uncle and acting president, Raul, that Fidel Castro is gradually but steadily recovering. ``That is the same perception that I have,'' said the 57-year-old Soviet-trained nuclear physicist and eldest of Castro's seven children, who is known in Cuba as ``Fidelito.'' (Reuters, 15/2/07).

February 16: A 10-year restoration effort has successfully concluded at the El Santo Salvador Church, the main catholic temple in the eastern city of Bayamo, the second villa founded by the Spaniards in Cuba. A major piece included in the restoration process was the church chapel, an architectural jewel linked to the island's political history, since it was the place where the national flag that led Cuba's 1868 independence fight was blessed. Also, the music of the Cuban National Anthem was for the first time interpreted in the surroundings of the church on June 11, 1868. (AIN, 16/2/07)

February 18: Fidel Castro's niece said he was recovering well from surgery and would likely be ''very active'' again in Cuba's government. ''Fidel is stupendous,'' said Mariela Castro Espin, daughter of acting President Raul Castro, who took over in July after his older brother underwent surgery. It has not been clear if Castro would eventually return to power fully or would leave the government in the hands of colleagues. ''One way or the other he is going to be present and very active,'' said Castro Espin, who attended the dedication of a book of collected speeches and interviews by her mother Vilma Espin, a veteran of the revolution led by Castro. Castro Espin, who heads the National Center for Sex Education, said she had not seen her uncle in recent days, but had spoken with ''many people to be able to have information from different points of view'' about his condition. ''I know that he is very well, that he is recovering very well,'' she said. Castro ''is recuperating as a man of 80 years should recuperate.'' (AP, 18/2/07)

February 19: After offering a large variety of books in Havana City over the past ten days, the 16th International Book Fair has expanded to the western Cuban territories of Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas and the Isle of Youth, south of Havana province. Readers in 13 western localities will be able to attend book launchings, and other cultural activities included in the event's agenda. Next year's book feast will be dedicated to essayist and critic Graciella Pogolotti and author and playwright Anton Arrufat. Galicia, Spain was designated as the guest of honor taking the baton from Argentina whose literary and cultural contribution to this year's fair is massive, Granma daily reported.  During the closing of the city of Havana segment of the annual fair, Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Prieto said the book fair was bringing great joy to a population thirsty for knowledge and praised the high level of participation of Cuban and foreign authors and intellectuals. (CAN, 19/2/07)

February 20: The Municipal Court of Camaguey had no choice but to halt legal proceedings against independent journalist Armando Betancourt Reina last February 8. According to Betancourt’s wife, the judges and lawyers were puzzled by contradictions in the evidence produced by the State Security Department that became apparent when the alleged witnesses who were supposed to have signed accusatory documents declared not to know anything about them. Betancourt, 44, was imprisoned in May, 2006 when he was covering a mass eviction at La Guernica neighborhood, in the province of Camaguey. (Cubanet, 20/2/07)

February 20: Cuban courts and the Attorney General's Office will report on their work for the last five years to the National Assembly of People's Power, by the end of June. The reports should include prisons, human resources, management, civil matters, safety, order, quality of work, fighting corruption and the work of judges and public prosecutors. (Prensa Latina, 20/2/07)

February 21: Cuba's renowned health service is in a frail condition. It has been a considerable source of pride for the communist authorities since the revolution of 1959, achieving infant mortality and life expectancy rates comparable to America's. But it is now badly short of medicines, instruments and equipment, while many hospitals languish in disrepair. Doctors can earn more as taxi drivers, while anecdotal evidence suggests growing numbers of medics are trying to flee the country.  According to the American Public Health Association, the blockade effectively prevents Cuba from purchasing nearly 50 per cent of new drugs, including those for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and asthma. Critics of Fidel Castro, who was forced by ill health to retire from public life six months ago and hand over power to his brother Raul, argue that his refusal to reform the state-controlled economy and its convoluted rules has helped impoverish the country. The medical profession is facing further instability thanks to Castro's extraordinary initiative to export 30,000 doctors and dentists to 68 countries around the world, earning vital revenue for them and the nation. Some medics in Havana say the absence of so many colleagues has led to increases in waiting times at hospitals and clinics; they also lament the poorer quality of new trainees. The government insists that with another 70,000 doctors at home the expatriates can be spared. (The Daily Telegraph, 21/2/07) 

February 21: Delegates and guests to the 5th Plenary of the Communist Youth League National Committee ratified the commitment of the Cuban youth to fulfill their duties with the defense of the country and the socialist Revolution. The political organization of 600,000 young people from 15 to 30 years-old discussed the role of the new generations in the defense of the country. Some of the agreements signed in the meeting were aimed at promoting the study of Law 75 for the National Defense, as well as fostering among young people mass sports and popular recreational shooting. The Plenary also analyzed the role of the Jose Marti Pioneer Organization in patriotic education, and the importance of the increasing presence of girls in the Volunteer Military Service. (Prensa Latina, El Nuevo Herald, 21/2/07)

February 21: Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent Gary Marx, who has been based in Havana since 2002, was told by Cuban officials his press credential will not be renewed and he can no longer report from there. "They said I've been here long enough and they felt my work was negative," Marx said. "They did not cite any examples." The decision on Marx comes at a critical time for Cuba, with longtime leader Fidel Castro's age and health setting the stage for possible transition. Marx was among a handful of permanent correspondents for US-based news organizations in Havana. CNN and the Associated Press also have Cuba bureaus. A reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel will continue to staff the Tribune Co. bureau, and the Cuban government told Marx it would welcome an application from a new Chicago Tribune correspondent. That might take time to process, and new rules for reporters entering Cuba initially require the renewal of papers every 30 days. "We're very disappointed and concerned by the news that the Cuban government has decided to not renew our correspondent's credentials and has asked him and his family to leave the island," said George de Lama, Chicago Tribune managing editor for news. (Chicago Tribune, 22/2/07) 

February 22: Hydrogel or polymeric membranes that can be used on patients with dangerous burns are in a phase of development at a Cuban laboratory, it was reported in Havana. Yanet Rodriguez, from the Irradiation Techniques Lab at the National Agricultural Health Center, said that the first clinical tests will be done with animals, and later in humans. A project of technical assistance with the International Atomic Energy Organization will allow financing part of those technological modernizations, Granma daily reported. (Prensa Latina, 22/2/07)

February 22: Victor Rolando Arroyo, an independent journalist incarcerated in March - April, 2003, was beaten by a prison guard at the correctional facility where he is serving his sentence. The incident occurred as Arroyo was stepping out of the mess hall carrying his lunch with the intention of eating in his cubicle. A guard, not satisfied with a reply from Arroyo, struck him on the head, knocking the prisoner down to the floor, where he kept hitting him. Upon later review of the incident, a group of guards blamed Arroyo for the beating. (Cubanet, 22/2/07)

February 22: Pedro Meurice Estiu, a charismatic and controversial figure who is stepping down after almost 37 years as Catholic archbishop of Santiago de Cuba said he is leaving the post with the desire for reconciliation among all Cubans to be achieved. Meurice, one of the Catholic prelates most critical of the island's communist government, told the press that during his 52 years as a priest he fulfilled his responsibility to "fight for the faith, where the people are  (...) suffering for it and seeking it." "As a Christian and a Cuban, I have hope that all this suffering will not be in vain and that some day all Cubans can unite as a people, believers and non-believers, to work for a better Cuba," he said. Meurice will hand over responsibility for the guidance of the Catholic faithful in Cuba's second-largest city to Dionisio Guillermo Garcia Ibañez. Meurice, who turned 75, said he was giving up his post because of age and health issues. "I have seen many very unpleasant and harsh things, all the ideological confrontation, the closing of religious schools, the enormous exodus of Cubans, the Cuban (political) prisoners and also the great achievements of this revolution, for which it's a shame that such a high price is being paid," he said, reviewing his career. (EFE, 22/2/07)

February 22: Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power has agreed to discuss making sex-reassignment surgery free of cost to all “transexuales” on the island who request it, the newsletter Diversidad (Diversity) reported. “The measure would complement the present Identity Law that already acknowledges the right of citizens to change name and sexual identity. This places Cuba at the vanguard of the legislations that acknowledge the rights of transvestites, transsexuals and transgender in Latin America,” the newsletter said. The publication reported that Cuba’s parliament will also discuss legislative recognition of same-sex unions. The entire public health care system in Cuba is free of charge. Mariela Castro Espín, director of the National Center of Sexual Education (CENESEX), has led the move to make sex-reassignment available to Cubans free to all who seek it. Mariela Castro, a leader in her own right, is the daughter of renowned revolutionary leader Vilma Espín and acting Cuban President Raúl Castro. (Workers World, 22/2/07)

February 23: Cuban authorities -- who had ordered Chicago Tribune foreign correspondent Gary Marx to pack up and leave the island -- told the correspondent for the big Mexico City daily El Universal that he is being expelled, too. El Universal reported that its correspondent César González-Calero has been notified his reporting credentials will not be renewed, for essentially the same reason Marx must leave -- "focusing reporting in a way that does not comport with the Cuban government.” The expulsion of the El Universal reporter was condemned by the newspaper, Mexican legislators, and press-freedom groups. Roberto Rock, the newspaper’s vice president and general editorial director, called it “an attack on a free press” and an attempt to intimidate reporters. The British Broadcasting Corp. was "talking to the authorities in Havana about the status of its Cuba correspondent after his accreditation was withdrawn," spokeswoman Karen Rosine said in a statement from London. Without naming correspondent Stephen Gibbs, Rosine said he "remains in Cuba, pending the outcome of these discussions." Jose Luis Ponce, director of Cuba's International Press Center, said that the government would have no immediate comment on the correspondents' status. (St. Petersburg Times, AP, 23/2/07)

February 23: International Press Center (CPI) officials said that the decision not to renew three foreign correspondents’ credentials to work in Cuba is "final." The CPI (a Foreign Affairs Ministry body in charge of foreign press relations in the island) "is not concerned" about protests from several international press freedom organizations against the withdrawal of the press credentials of foreign correspondents Stephen Gibbs, from the BBC; Gary Marx, from the Chicago Tribune, and César González-Calero, from El Universal, of Mexico. (EER, 24/2/07)

February 23: Acting Cuban President Raul Castro promised to lay the groundwork for a new generation of revolutionary leaders, adding that he was referring to true leaders, not factory-made ones. Addressing the closing ceremony of a gathering of communist youth, Castro said that "our duty, that of our generation, is to open the way for new generations, new leaders." "But I am referring to leaders, not assembly line" products, he said.   The event was not open to international media, but his comments were made public on state television. Dressed in his tradition olive fatigues, the 75-year-old Raul called being a youth leader a "sacrifice," but said that those who work hard could be called upon to work for the island's Communist Party. (AP, 23/2/07)  

February 25: Leading Cuban dissidents who are denied access to the Internet at home now have their messages posted on Web sites, thanks to the work of exiled friends and family abroad. Oswaldo Paya, who five years ago used his bicycle to begin doggedly collecting signatures for a referendum on civil liberties, has no access to e-mail.  But his Web site was launched last January by relatives in Madrid. The site (www.oswaldopaya.org  ) includes statements from Paya and news about the Varela Project, a petition rejected by the government despite its 25,000 signatures. The wives and mothers of jailed Cuban dissidents, known as the "Ladies in White" because they dress in white to march in silence demanding the men's release, have a Web site that was built for them by Cuban exiles in Spain (www.damasdeblanco.com). "I've never seen it. I don't have access to Internet," said Miriam Leiva, a founder of the women's group whose husband was released in 2004, after 20 months behind bars for criticizing Castro's government.   A leading dissident in Cuba with close ties to the exile community in South Florida, Martha Beatriz Roque, has since 2004 had a Web site (www.asambleasociedadcivilcuba.info) run from Miami. Even if Paya, Leiva or Roque could freely surf the Web, they still would not see their sites because they are blocked in Cuba, as are other sites of staunchly anti-Castro exiles. (Reuters, 25/2/07)  

February 26: Political dissident Elizardo Sánchez claimed that Fidel Castro "keeps a watchful eye on the regime’s policy" and that his brother Raúl "has not changed an iota" of it. "It is time to give the people an opportunity now that the regime’s 50th anniversary is drawing nearer," the leader of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) told French newspaper “Libération.“ (EFE, 26/2/07)

February 26: Every Sunday after mass in Havana's western suburb of Miramar , a group of women march up and down the pavement in front of the church to raise the plight of the political prisoners jailed by the regime for voicing dissent. Known as the Ladies in White, the wives and mothers of some of the 75 people imprisoned in a fierce purge of dissidents in March 2003 walk silently carrying stems of gladioli to demand their release. Their action, the only visible form of regular protest on an island where few dare defy the authority of Fidel Castro's regime, has been made possible by the Catholic Church, which is working quietly to prepare Cubans for life after their leader has gone. "Although the Catholic Church hasn't publicly supported our cause, they did condemn the crackdown of March 2003," said Miriam Leyva, one of the women who have marched since her husband, an economist, was jailed for criticizing the regime's economic strategy three years ago. "Most importantly for us, despite the sensitivity of the issue, the Church has opened their door to us and given us a meeting place," she said. "There are a number of open-minded priests and bishops who provide great support to those who look for it. They at least allow us to be free." (Calgary Herald, 26/2/07)

February 27: Fidel Castro called in to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's radio talk show to say he felt well and ask for calm, saying that Cuba was running smoothly without him at the helm. "I feel good and I'm happy," Castro said in a phone call to Chavez's weekday radio program, "Hello, President." "I can't promise that I'll go over there soon, but, yes, I'm gaining ground. I feel more energetic, stronger," he said in a soft but steady voice during the live broadcast. "But I ask for patience, calm (…) The country is marching along which is what is important.” "And I ask for tranquility also for me so that I can fulfill my new tasks." The two leaders, who are close friends and allies, spoke for almost 30 minutes. (AP, 28/2/07)

February 27: Five dissidents arrested in 2005 in demonstrations against Cuba's Communist government were sentenced to jail terms of up to two years, human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said.  Rene Montes de Oca and Roberto de Jesus Guerra were picked up by police after a "symbolic" protest on the fringes on Havana's Revolution Square on July 13, 2005, he said. Three other dissidents arrested the same day in another peaceful demonstration near the port of Havana were also convicted of public disorder. All got two-year prison terms, except Guerra, who was sentenced to one year and 10 months. They should be freed within months because they receive credit for time served, Sanchez said. "They should not have spent a day in jail because they committed no crime," said Sanchez, who heads the illegal but tolerated Cuban Commission for Human Rights. "We think the government is moving to close pending cases," he said. Sanchez also said there is a tendency towards a decrease in the number of political prisoners. There are 270 political prisoners now in Cuba, six less than at the beginning of 2007. Since Raul Castro assumed power temporarily in Cuba, "at least 31 persons have been released in these seven months”, Sánchez said. (Reuters, AFP, 27/2/07) 

February 27: Dissident Jorge Olivera, who was temporarily released from prison due to his health condition, was requested to attend to the Municipal Tribunal in Old Havana. Olivera, who was sentenced in April 2003 during the crackdown on dissidents, told the press that this is the third time, since his release in 2004, that Cuban authorities have threatened him with revoking his license if he travels outside the limits of the City of Havana, attends public meetings, or doesn’t accept a job under state supervision. Olivera and his family have requested permission from Cuban migration authorities to leave the country, but it hasn’t been granted. (Cubanet, 28/2/07)

February 28: Cuban dissidents agreed that the on-air phone conversation between Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave evidence of an improvement in the health of the communist island's 80-year-old leader but did not dispel doubts about whether he would return to power.  For the internal opposition in Cuba, neither the chat nor the messages sent by Castro contributed to clarifying whether he will - at some point - return to fully exercising the power he delegated last year to younger brother Raul. Vladimiro Roca, of the Todos Unidos group, said that the release of information about the health of the Cuban leader via the Venezuelan president "is becoming a circus."This doesn't mean anything. It doesn't improve the country's situation. It's a way of diverting attention from the country's basic problems," he said. Manuel Cuesta Morua, of the social-democratic group Arco Progresista, said that Castro "has a clear intention to return to power like he (exercised) before the transfer" to Raul.  "It would be more of a symbolic return than a real one because before his illness succession was being talked about, and so I don't think that it will be a complete return to power," he said. In Cuesta Morua's judgment, "changes in Cuba depend on the social (circumstances) of the citizens and not on the life or death of one person, no matter how important he might be for the country."  Miriam Leiva, a member of the Ladies in White group made up of relatives of the 75 dissidents imprisoned in 2003, said that "the president was heard but not seen, and really the state of his health is not known."  She also recalled that "at this time, the problems continue to be serious. The Spring 2003 prisoners are suffering enormously; in March they will complete four years in jail and each day they are (getting) sicker and are not released."  Her husband, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, one of the opposition figures in the Group of 75 who was released from prison for health problems, said that it surprised and also disgusted him that Cubans know about the "health of Fidel Castro through a foreign president." (EFE, 1/3/07)