Chronicle on Cuba - June 2007

Security

June 1: During the municipal assembly of the Young Communist League (UJC) in Pinar del Rio, several young women referred to joining Military Service on a volunteer basis. UJC National Bureau member Hilder Torres remarked that the issue was covered by the Fifth Plenary Meeting of the UJC National Committee attended by Army General Raúl Castro, Second Secretary of the Party and Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces. It was made clear that the presence of women in the ranks will be the result of the work done by the UJC and their conscious willingness, accustomed though they are to take care of other jobs. Torres underscored the discipline and preparedness shown by the 25 UJC leaders who have joined the Women’s Voluntary Military Service and proved their skills to fulfill the missions assigned to them. (Juventud Rebelde, 1/6/07)

June 6: President Hugo Chavez called for the creation of a common defense pact between Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia, while the leftist Latin American bloc announced the creation of a development bank to finance joint projects. Chavez said that the four-nation Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, which began as a socialist-leaning trade group, should cooperate militarily to become more independent of US influence. "It seems to be the moment to establish a joint defense strategy," Chavez said. He called for joint military aid as well as intelligence and counterintelligence cooperation "to prepare our people for defense so that nobody makes any mistake with us." Chavez denounced countries in the region that collaborate with the United States on defense and security through the Washington-based Inter-American Defense Board. He said closer defense cooperation was necessary because of "the terrorism and permanent aggression of the United States." "How much longer shall we attend the meetings of the Inter American Defence Board?" "The time has come for the conception of defence strategies, joint training and procurement of equipment, of military, intelligence and counterintelligence support among ourselves, and the preparation of our nations for defence", he stressed according to a report in front page of Cuba’s official daily Granma. The Venezuelan president demanded from his friend and ally Fidel Castro to wear his olive green uniform again. "I think it’s time for you to wear your uniform again”, Chavez said. “We want to see you in uniform”, he added. “This is an order”.  (AP, Granma, AFP, 7/6/07)

June 15: Caracas communications expert Antonio Pasquali said he "fears the worst" about a high-capacity undersea fibre-optic cable currently being laid between Venezuela and Cuba . Speaking in an interview with Spanish daily La Vanguardia on June 13, he said the link could be used to divert Venezuelans' telephone and email traffic to Havana to be "screened and spied on". Following the nationalization of the CANTV telephone company by [President] Hugo Chavez, a process of "cubanization" of telecommunications is being stepped up in Venezuela that will undoubtedly increase control over conversations, data transmission and listening capacity. So says Antonio Pasquali, one of the world's most distinguished researchers into communication.   In the opinion of Pasquali it is worrying that a 1,552 km-long undersea fibre-optic cable is being laid between La Guaira (Venezuela) and Siboney (Cuba) "with a monstrous capacity of 160 gigabytes per second with no application in an island that is technologically very backward; Cuba only has a download capacity of 124 megabytes per second via satellite and 65 megabytes per second upload capacity, a paltry amount". The new cable will multiply Cuba's communications capacity by more than 2,500 times. According to Pasquali, this investment is a mystery: Cuban telephone density is one of the lowest in the world. The number of Internet connections is the smallest in Latin America (0.9 per 100 inhabitants). Cuba is one of the 13 countries that most censors Internet. According to Pasquali, it is kept in a state of underdevelopment to facilitate total control. (BBC Monitoring, 15/6/07)

June 16: The Defense Minister of Guinea Bissau, Marciano Da Silva Pereira Barbeiro, is to arrive in Cuba, heading a high level delegation, the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) informed. According to the official note, the visitors are to stay on the island until June 23rd to fulfill a comprehensive program of activities. The working agenda includes visits to the MINFAR headquarters, military bases and places of economic, historical and cultural interest. (Granma, RHC, 18/6/07)

June 28: Cuba’s Deputy Minister and Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), Alvaro Lopez Miera, welcomed his Angolan counterpart Army General Francisco Pereira Furtado at the FAR’s headquarters at Revolution Square in Havana. The official talks were attended by Lieutenant General Leopoldo Cintra Frias and other important FAR chiefs, Granma newspaper reported. Pereira’s agenda in Cuba includes visits to the Great Unit “Rescate de Sanguily”, the Border Brigade, FAR entities and sites of historic and cultural interest. Pereira Furtado is expected to stay o the island until June 30. (Granma, Prensa Latina, 28/6/07)