Chronicle on Cuba - July 2007

Domestic Affairs

July 1: Cuban prisoners don't need more culture in jail, they need better living conditions, dissident Marta Beatriz Roque said in response to a proposal by singer-songwriter and lawmaker Silvio Rodriguez to bring culture to prisons. "Inmates don't need culture, they need better living conditions," Roque, leader of the Assembly for Promoting Civil Society, said in a statement released in Havana, in which she also called for the release of political prisoners. Roque was responding to a proposal by Rodriguez, approved by the National Assembly, to invite artists and intellectuals to visit prisons as a way to aid prisoners in their rehabilitation process. The Cuban dissident called for an end to "overcrowding, bad food, the lack of medical attention and of medicines" and asked "very specifically that they stop immediately the beatings that can end in the inmates' death." Roque also demanded "that sentences not include the death penalty, which has men waiting until they end up mutilating themselves" and that political prisoners be released. "Those who suffer one of the world's most hostile prison environments will not have their problems solved by culture and sports. Let justice be done!" the communique said. (EFE, 2/7/07)

July 2: Official figures reflect a housing shortage of 500,000 units in Cuba, of 11.2 million inhabitants. But 15 percent of urban dwellings and 38 percent of rural housing units are in poor condition, according to the last national census, carried out in 2002. In 1993, after the so-called "storm of the century", the Taller de Transformación in Pogolotti drew up a project for building 25 houses for the residents of Isla del Polvo. "Many local residents did not want to take part, because they thought the project was not really going to bring results," said Noemí Reyes, the social worker who heads the Taller. So a construction brigade was created, made up mainly of women, who were trained at the Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría. With few resources, the Taller de Transformación set out to improve the material, social and cultural conditions in the neighbourhood in 1990. Based on an assessment of the problems and needs carried out with the participation of the community, the Taller designed a strategy that focused on issues like sanitation, environmental education, reforestation, urban planning, prevention of social problems, and culture. The Taller, whose members are all women, mainly social workers, also faced mistrust on the part of local organisations and institutions, which feared meddling in their traditional areas of activity. But "actually the Taller facilitates community labour; we don't replace any other institution," Reyes said. The Taller’s funding comes from international non-governmental organisations like Oxfam Canada, Norwegian People’s Aid and Bread for the World. They have also received support from the non-governmental Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Centre, a Cuban organisation based in Pogolotti that foments participative development work based on popular education. (IPS, 2/7/07)

July 2: Relatives and a Cuban human rights group called for an investigation into how a government critic died while in police custody last month. Manuel Acosta, a 47-year-old former boxer and member of a dissident group known as Democracy Movement, was arrested June 21 in the town of Aguada de Pasajeros on vague charges of criminality, according to a letter signed by his cousin, Pedro Larena. Police held Acosta at a municipal station where he was found dead three days later, according to the letter distributed to international journalists by a dissident human rights group. Authorities told Acosta's relatives that he hanged himself in his cell, and that an autopsy confirmed suicide. But Larena indicated he became suspicious after officials refused to turn over Acosta's remains, saying they needed at least 60 days to process them. Larena said he was afraid to provide further details, but spoke by telephone through an intermediary. He said a cleaning lady working at the station told family members that while in custody, Acosta yelled anti-government slogans and insults at police, provoking a fight with an officer. During the altercation, the witnesses said, the officer's watch was broken, prompting a group of police to swarm in from their nearby living quarters and beat Acosta. Copies of Larena's letter, addressed to Cuba’s acting president Raul Castro, were sent to international journalists by Elizardo Sánchez, head of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation. (The Miami Herald, Pravda, AP, AFP, 2/7/07)

July 3: The Cuban government has evaluated its systematic inspections of the legal aspects of the country's penitentiary centers. Hortensia Bonachea, a member of the Attorney General's Office, told Granma daily that inspections regarding the state of prisoners' rights are carried out systematically, established as a norm in the island's penitentiary system. The attorney explained that in recent years, the number of visits by judges to the prisons and local detention centers has increased, a fact that confirms the Cuban State's concern about the issue. Bonachea said that while prisoners do not have the right to vote, they benefit in a reduction of their sentence for maintaining good conduct. They also have facilities to communicate with their families and can receive frequent visits by their husbands or wives. The prisoners work, receive a salary, study, and can be transferred from a strict regime to one that is less severe -- until achieving their total re-incorporation into society. Bonachea added that it is in the government's interest to favor the conditions inside the prisons and reward those who have maintained good conduct. (Radio Habana Cuba, 3/7/07)

July 3: Cuba will start an electoral process on July 10, which begins with the voting for municipal and provincial delegates and ends up with parliamentarian or general elections in 2008. According to the President of the Cuban parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, at a meeting with members of the University Students Federation (FEU) in this capital, over 350,000 youngsters throughout the island will exercise their right to vote for the first time. Alarcon stressed the importance of the participation of new generations in the electoral process and noted that Cuban democracy has always promoted a close relationship between the delegates and their voters, Juventud Rebelde newspaper reported. Cuban municipal and provincial authorities are elected every two and a half years while parliamentarian elections are held every five years. Every Cuban citizen over 16 years has full right to vote. (ACN, AFP, 3/7/07) 

July 3: Two new pieces of nuclear magnetic resonance equipment are being manufactured in Cuba to support the diagnosis of patients who suffer from sickle cell anemia, local media reported. This technique, aimed at diagnosing the sickness by analysis of a blood sample, makes it possible to know when a patient is about to suffer a crisis, and makes implementation of the appropriate treatment to reduce pain easier. Manuel Lores, director of the Medical Biophysics Center in eastern Santiago de Cuba Province, told Granma daily the equipment is a new version of the Giromag 01 Universal Relaxometer. Resonance equipment will be installed at Santiago de Cuba's Hematology Center and at the Havana National Hematology Institute. (Prensa Latina, 3/7/07)

July 3: Renowned Cuban artists and intellectuals sent Fidel Castro a get-well message on the 46th anniversary of the Cuban leader’s speech known as “Words to Intellectuals”, that led to the creation of the Cuban Writers' Union and the “all for the Revolution, nothing against it” publishing policy. (AIN, 3/7/07)

July 4: Forty-six dissidents rejected the proposal made by songwriter and lawmaker Silvio Rodriguez during last sessions of the National Assembly to bring culture to prisons, according to a communiqué issued by Martha Beatriz Roque, president of the illegal Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba. The dissidents adhered to a statement issued by Roque, which states that "prisoners don’t need culture, but better life conditions in jail”, better food, better health care, and calls for the release of all political prisoners.  Among the signers are Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, president of the Cuban Comisión for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN); Oswaldo Payá, leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, Vladimiro Roca, leader of All United, and Laura Pollán, from the Ladies in White. (AFP, 4/7/07)

July 4: Dagoberto Valdés has published a book compiling all of “Vitral” magazine’s editorials since its foundation. A note signed in Pinar del Río by Valdés, ex-Editor in Chief of “Vitral”, and former members of the magazine’s editorial staff, says the book "has been a long-awaited project that underwent several revisions.” A new magazine director was appointed last June by the new Bishop for Pinar del Río. [La libertad de la luz] (EER, 3/7/07)

July 4: Students and professors from the Higher Institute of Industrial Design (ISDI) delivered a certificate of acknowledgment to Fidel Castro and First Vice President Raul Castro for their unconditional support in the remodelling of the school building. The ISDI was visited in 1984 by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, who noted the importance of that center for the future development of design on the island. On January 20, 2005, Fidel Castro suggested the restoration and extension of that institution. The remodelling has allowed the ISDI to increase its number of students to more than 650. The project also included the opening of new laboratories with 250 modern computers connected to the Internet. (RHC, 4/7/07)

July 5: Eleven months after Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother, Cuba continues to trample on civil liberties, though the number of political prisoners has fallen, a rights group said. The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said the number of Cubans in jail for political reasons dropped from 283 to 246 in the first half of the year. But the rights situation has not improved under acting President Raul Castro, the commission said in a biannual report. "The systematic and institutional violation of each and every civil, political and economic right listed in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights persists," it said. The decline in the number of political prisoners continues a two-year trend, the report said. Many of those released had served their prison terms. The rights group said Cuba has 200 prisons and labor camps, and is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that does not allow the International Red Cross to visits its jails. Prison conditions are "subhuman and degrading" with bad food and inadequate medical and dental treatment, and brutal beatings of inmates, the report said. It cited the case of Manuel Acosta Larena, a dissident who was arrested last month and died in a police station in the province of Cienfuegos. It also added its voice to international criticism of the United States for the continued detention of some 375 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members at the Guantanamo Bay prison, calling for its immediate closure. "The only prison on the island of Cuba that is permanently under international scrutiny is the prison camp set up by the United States in the naval base at Guantanamo," it said. The commission, led by veteran rights activist Elizardo Sanchez, is illegal but tolerated by Cuba's communist state. (Reuters, 5/7/07)

July 5: Cuba’s International School of Physical Education and Sports celebrated its third graduation with 245 young people from 51 countries receiving their diplomas. Located in the Havana Province municipality of San Jose de las Lajas, the school welcomes visitors with the message: "You have arrived at a university that promotes health and environmental protection." The school, originally an idea of Fidel Castro, graduated 508 students from 48 countries in its first graduation, 297 from 54 nations in the second. With the 245 latest graduates the total is now 1,050. (Granma, 5/7/07)

July 5: Last June 29, Bernardo Arévalo Padrón, a peaceful opposition activist, received a death threat from a police officer in the municipality of Aguada de Pasajeros, Cienfuegos, following on-air denunciations of civil rights activist Manuel Acosta Larena’s alleged murder. Arévalo Padrón, deputy delegate for the Democracy Movement in that municipality, was threatened by police captain Sergio García Borges as he exited a postal outlet. Arévalo had been there to mail a certified letter to interim President Raúl Castro in which Larena’s relatives petition for his exhumation. (Cubanet, 5/7/07)

July 5: A bid by Pablo Silva Cabrera’s Democratic Solidarity Party (PSD) to join the reporting committee All United was approved. All United is an umbrella organization that brings together a wide spectrum of political opposition institutions; its leader is Vladimiro Roca. (Cubanet, 5/7/07)

July 6: An enthusiastic and optimistic contingent of athletes dressed in red sports outfits drew everyone’s attention at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. It was the first part of the Cuban Delegation leaving for Brazil to participate in the 15th Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. The group of 200 included members of the teams for handball, fencing, artistic gymnastics, weightlifting, rowing, taekwondo and badminton. (Granma, 7/7/07)

July 8: Convalescing Fidel Castro said the man the United States and Mafia contracted to poison him in the early 1960s would not have been able to get close enough to him to be successful. Castro, in his latest and longest essay since taking up the pen in March as he recovers from intestinal surgery a year ago, charged the assassination plan was just one of many. The CIA declassified hundreds of pages of long secret records that detailed some of the agency's worst illegal abuses during about 25 years of overseas assassination attempts, domestic spying and kidnapping. According to the documents, six poison pills were provided in 1961 by the Mafia to Juan Orta, identified as a Cuban official who had been receiving kickback payments from gambling interests and who still had access to Castro and was in a financial bind. Orta did not carry out the plan. Castro wrote in his essay that Orta was a link with US-based exiles and immigrants before the revolution, and after for a time had frequent access to him. "The traitor Orta (…) received money from organized crime supposedly to help them reopen Casinos. He had nothing to do with the matter," Castro wrote. "By the time they gave him the poison, unlike the earlier moments, there was little chance Orta would see me as by then I was completely occupied with other matters," Castro says, referring to preparations to thwart the failed US Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. [La tiranía mundial] (Reuters, 9/7/07)

July 8: A new documentary by a young Cuban filmmaker has cast a harsh spotlight on housing and other serious problems faced by the thousands of Cubans who move illegally from the provinces to Havana in search of better lives. The migrants, mostly from eastern Cuba and known as ''Palestinians'' because they lack legal residency in Havana, often are forced to live in shanty towns on the edges of the capital and expelled by police back to their hometowns. ''The phenomenon of forcible return continues to exist, although the police proceed silently and with some secrecy,'' said Elizardo Sánchez, president of the illegal but tolerated Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation. Sánchez estimated that dozens of people are expelled from Havana every week by bus or train after being detained for failure to produce documents confirming their legal residence in Havana. Repeat violators are taken to court, although the sanctions consist only of fines and official ''banishment'' from the capital for several years. Cubans' jobs and ration cards are linked to their legal residences. But the economic crisis of the 1990s brought a rise in migration to Havana. A government statement at the time said 92,000 people had tried to legalize their residency in Havana in the first half of 1997. That same year a law made it extremely difficult to shift legal residency to the capital, a city of 2.1 million people. Havana residents estimate that about 20 shanty towns rose in the city's suburbs in the past decade, with shacks usually built out of metal sheets, scrap lumber and cardboard without government permission. [Buscándote Havana] (The Miami Herald, 8/7/07)

July 8: According to the Cuban Democratic Directorate, former political prisoner Jorge Luis García Pérez (Antúnez) has been on a hunger strike since July 3 in demand that the house he and his mother shared at the time of his arrest in 1990 be returned to him by the government. When the dissident’s mother passed away while he served out his sentence, their home "was usurped by members of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution." Antúnez was released on April 22 after serving 17 years in prison on charges of distribution of enemy propaganda, attempt of sabotage and political crimes. (EER, 9/7/07)

July 9: Renowned Cuban fencer Mireya Rodríguez, who made history at the Pan-American Games in 1963 in Brazil by becoming the first Cuban woman to win a gold medal in a hemispheric sports contest, died in Havana of a heart attack. She was 70. Rodríguez also was an Olympic finalist at the Tokyo games in 1964 but earned no medal. In 1962 she won the foils competition at the Central American Games in Kingston, Jamaica. Born in Havana to a poor family, Rodríguez made her living as a barber. She learned fencing at a neighbourhood sports complex. As a reward for her accomplishments, the Fidel Castro government gave her a house in Havana, where she resided until her death. But she became disenchanted with the political system and gave up fencing. In later years, she supported herself by selling custom jewelry in Havana. She is survived by an adopted son, Julio, and sister Coppelia, who live in the United States. Another sister, Carmita, lives in Cuba. (El Nuevo Herald, 12/7/07)

July 9: After spending nearly a week on a hunger strike, former Cuban political prisoner Jorge Luís García Pérez (Antúnez) prevailed in his effort to have a house returned to him by the government. The dissident decided to sit in protest outside the municipal office of the Housing Department of Placetas, Villa Clara, to demand that the house he and his mother shared when he was arrested in March, 1990 be returned to him or replaced with another. (EER, 10/7/07)

July 9: According to the Cuban Catholic Church, the 31st Ordinary Assembly of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), held on July 9-14 at the Archdiocese of Havana, constituted "a major event." "I feel that it is also a way of showing support for our Church in Cuba, of validating our efforts in Cuba, and that it will help make our situation known," declared Msgr. Juan de Dios Hernández,  Secretary General of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba (COCC). (EFE, 8/7/07)

July 9: The National Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of Alicia Alonso, is in France where it will participate in the “Les Etés de la danse de Paris” (Paris Summer Dance Festival) set for July 16 to August 3. For the third time in its history, the festival is dedicated this year to Cuba’s leading dance troupe. For its performances in Paris, the Cuban troupe selected two of its most acclaimed classics: Giselle, version by Alicia Alonso based on the initial inspiration of Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, and Don Quijote, version by Marta Garcia, Maria Elena Llorente and Alonso from the original by Marius Petipa and the variations introduced by Alexander Gorski. (Periódico 26, 9/7/07)

July 9: Cuba called municipal elections for October 21, the start of a voting process that could clarify by early 2008 whether convalescing Fidel Castro will continue as head of state. A decree signed by acting President Raul Castro set the date for elections that will renew municipal and provincial assemblies and, in turn, the National Assembly, which picks the Council of State and the president of Cuba every five years. But, the call read on the official TV does not say when the election to renew delegates to the National Assembly will take place; it says instead that the date will be set later. Cuba starts the first steps towards general elections slated for this year in the country, announcing members of the National Electoral Commission (CNE). Presided over by Justice Minister Maria Ester Reus Gonzalez, the CNE was created and is due to be se set up on July 10. The appointment, signed by First Vice President Raul Castro, also included Ruben Perez Rodriguez, as vice president, and Tomas Amaral Diaz, as CNE secretary. Other appointees were Juan Aizpurua Rodriguez, Miguel Perez Martin, Colonel Leonides Rodriguez Rojas, Manuel Rios Medina, Guido Urrutia Valdes, Gisela Bell Heredia, Arnel Medina Cuenca, Juan Mendoza Diaz and Jose Flores del Sol. The October 29, 1992 Electoral Law, in its article 21, establishes that once the call to polls is announced, the Council of State appoints the CNE, and this entity sets the terms in which the provincial, municipal and district electoral commissions must be constituted. The first round of the elections will be held October 21, and in places where candidates fail to get over 50 percent of votes, there will be a second round a week later. [Convoca Consejo de Estado a Elecciones Generales] (Reuters. La Jornada, Prensa Latina, 10/7/07)

July 9: Infestation of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito considered the primary vector for dengue fever, is on the rise in several regions of the island due to high summer temperatures and rains. According to the weekly “Trabajadores”, since last June more than 60 health districts in the country have reported the presence of the vector and 1,320 breeding foci have been detected, 145 of them in workplaces. (EFE, 9/7/07)

July 10: Cuban wrestler Joel Romero, winner of the recent Grand Prix wrestling tournament in Leipzig, defected from his team to seek political asylum in Germany, the president of the Wrestling Federation of Saxony, Benedict Rehbein, announced. (EFE, 10/7/07)

July 10: The 5th International Meeting of Socio-Religious Studies got underway in Havana. Over 200 researchers, religious leaders and students of different beliefs from the Americas, Europe and Asia are attending the Conference. According to specialists from the Psychological and Sociological Research Institution of the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Ramón Torreira, the event will be focused on "Religious movements faced with conflicts and challenges of a world in crisis." The agenda includes a workshop on religion, poverty and social justice in today's Latin American and Caribbean reality and a panel entitled "A Look at History in the Study of Religion." Also on the agenda are lectures on the history of Protestantism in Cuba. (Radio Habana Cuba, Prensa Latina, 10/7/07)

July 10: Top leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America gathered for the first time in Cuba, discussing the future of their faith in a globalized world against the backdrop of a closed Communist society. The Latin American Bishops' Conference (CELAM) planned to elect a new president and meet with Cuban officials, although there were no specific plans to see Fidel Castro. At a news conference, Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, the outgoing conference president, ducked questions about how he would characterize the relationship between Havana and its Catholic Church. He said only that relationships between different governments and churches around the world occasionally are strained and that "we are immensely pleased when relations are good." Monsignor Carlos Aguiar, the conference's first vice president, said leaders are grappling with "where the Church needs to focus its energies to realize its mission." "Globalization, not only economic but cultural, will redefine the church's mission," said Aguiar, a bishop from Texcoco, Mexico. Asked about human rights, Bishop Andres Stanovnik, secretary-general of the conference, said officials "do not have a special or specific strategy for Cuba." "It's the same strategy for all countries where we have a presence, to defend human rights, the right to liberty, the right to truth, the right to life," said Stanovnik, a bishop from Reconquista, Argentina. In a rare interview with a Catholic priest, state-run television aired comments by Monsignor Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a Cuban key figure in the Church's dealings with the Castro government. "I believe the conflicts arose from misunderstandings on both sides. Fortunately, both sides made efforts to overcome difficulties and reach the situation we have today," he said. (Reuters, AP, 11/7/07)

July 10: Fidel Castro said that Cubans have to make the brain cells work if they want to build consciences, so necessary in today's complex world. "What the people in our country need most is knowledge, if what we want to do is to create conscience," said Castro in his article entitled "Cuba's Self-Criticism," published in the official media on July 11. Turning a more critical eye on Cuban life than he has since falling ill and giving up power almost a year ago, the 80-year-old Castro said in an essay "we are not a consumer society." But he bemoaned that some Cubans use foreign currency sent from relatives abroad or brought to the island by tourists to set up illegal sources of profit, while they continue to enjoy ration cards, free housing and health care and other social services. "Not everyone receives convertible currency from abroad, something which is not illegal but which at times creates irritating inequalities and privileges in a country that does its utmost to supply vital services free of charge to the entire population," Cuba's "Maximum Leader" wrote. "The real and visible lack of equality and the lack of pertinent information gives way to critical opinions, especially in the neediest sectors," Castro wrote. [Autocrítica de Cuba] (Prensa Latina, AP, 11/7/07)

July 11: The Lizt Alfonso Ballet Troupe and their dance musical titled "Vida" (life) were highly acclaimed in a recent series of performances at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theater during the Luminato Festival of Arts and Creativity 2007. The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, the Canadian Broadcasting Company and other Canadian media critiqued the group's performances with descriptions such as "spectacular", "outstanding", and "a radiant expression of the true Cuban spirit in songs from the soul with exuberant dances." Back home in Havana, Lizt Alfonso highlighted the "fantastic" collaboration in "Vida" from Cuban music diva Omara Portuondo and Ele Valdes of the group Sintesis. (Radio Habana Cuba, Granma, 11/7/07)

July 11: Pope Benedict XVI’s final approval for the publication of the final document of the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM) was announced by the Vatican. The document is the summation of the teachings of the bishops from their recent meeting that the Pope inaugurated this past May. In his letter authorizing the publication of the document, the Holy Father noted that it contains, "many useful pastoral indications motivated with rich reflections in the light of the faith and of the current social situation. In a separate development, during the first session of the 31st Ordinary CELAM Assembly, which began on July 10 in Havana, Cuba, the new leaders of that institution for the next four-year period (2007-2011) were elected. The new president is Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, Brazil, the first vice-president is Baltazar Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela, and the second vice president is Bishop Andres Stanovnik O.F.M. Cap. of Reconquista, Argentina. (Catholic News Agency, 11/7/07)

July 11: Vice Presidents Carlos Lage Davila and Esteban Lazo Hernandez and other government and Communist Party leaders held a meeting with a number of participants in the four-day 31st Ordinary Assembly of the Latin American Bishops Conference (CELAM) that took place in Cuba. The CELAM meeting, held in the San Juan Maria Vianney Sacerdotal House, was headed by Monsignor Raymundo Damasceno Assis, archbishop of Aparecida, Brazil and president of CELAM and Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, archbishop of Havana. Bishop Emilio Aranguren, of the Cuban province of Holguin, said Cuban officials agreed to allow Catholic leaders to provide religious instruction in Cuba to foreign exchange students -- and discussed easing bans on Catholic and other religious schools. The church also asked the government to allow its leaders to play a more active role in prisons. But Aranguren said there was no discussion of alleged human rights abuses, such as the jailing of government critics, or of restrictions on access to information, free speech and travel for Cubans. The CELAM authorities and Episcopal Conferences thanked Cuba for the facilities provided to hold their General Assembly, which concluded with a mass in the Havana Cathedral. (Cubaminrex, Prensa Latina, Granma, AP, 13/7/07)

July 11: Fidel Castro's son said the convalescing Cuban leader is in ''good health'' and plans to follow closely the performance of Cuban athletes competing in the Pan American Games. ''My father is recovering. He is in good health,'' Dr. Antonio Castro told the press. ``He is a big sports fan for whom the results of the games are just as important as they are for the people of my country.'' A 37-year-old orthopedist, Antonio Castro is the official doctor for the Cuban baseball team competing at the games. Antonio Castro would not say when his father was expected to return to power, saying only that ``he never left and he will never leave.'' (AP, 11/7/07)

July 12: The Political Bureau of Cuba's Communist Party Central Committee chose the Eastern province of Camagüey as the venue of main celebrations to mark National Rebelliousness Day. The national celebrations recall the attacks on the Moncada and the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks in eastern Cuba by a group of Revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro, July 26,1953. According to a note published by Granma news daily, the decision to choose Camagüey as venue of main activities to mark National Rebelliousness Day, July 26, was based on the results achieved by this province in important sectors of the island's economy, such as agriculture and the basic industry, as well as its performance in fields like education, services and social management, reads the note. (ACN, 12/7/07)

July 12: The third festival Cayman Rock, the most important of its kind in Cuba, will be held July 17 to 21, intended to promote that genre in the recreational spaces of the island’s summer. About 19 of Cuba´s most relevant groups and foreign participants like Factor VIII (Panama) and Banda Crocell (Venezuela) will attend this biennial venue, informed Luis Morlote, president of the Hermanos Saiz Association (AHS) which patronizes the event. Cayman Rock includes theory sessions on rock promotion and its link to literature and audiovisual productions in Cuba, which will be presided over by experts on the subject like Carlos Fornes and Orlando Cruzata, among others. (Prensa Latina, 12/7/07)

July 12: Cuba had 318 political prisoners at the end of the first half of 2007, 35 of whom are gravely ill, a report warned on the human rights situation in the Americas' only one-party communist state. "Of the 318 prisoners, 105 are considered prisoners of conscience and the remaining 213 are cases mainly of false accusations or unproven charges," a report from the outlawed National Coordinator for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners said. The ailing prisoners' "health conditions are not compatible with being imprisoned," the report added. The report's political prisoner figures were higher than those released by the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation; it put the current number at 246. (AFP, 13/7/07)

July 12: The first graduating class of Generalist Junior High Teachers received their diplomas. The ceremony took place at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana where 2,339 teachers of the Enrique Jose Varona and Hector Pineda Zaldivar Higher Pedagogical Institutes graduated in different specialties. Of those, 1,118 are Generalist Junior High Teachers (grades 7-9), noted Luis Ignacio Gomez, Cuba’s minister of education. Gomez added that nationwide there are 23,464 new university grads this year including 4,827 Generalist Teachers. (Granma, 13/7/07)

July 12: Cuban opposition activist Martha Beatriz Roque called into question Fidel Castro’s criticism of the social inequalities generated, in his opinion, by free circulation of the US dollar and other convertible currencies in Cuba. In a press release, the dissident laid the responsibility for that situation squarely at the government’s doorstep. "Why is it that not all workers have access to convertible “pesos”? Was it not the government itself that introduced that currency and, by extension, the social inequalities?" asked Roque. (AFP, 13/7/07)

July 13: The Latin American Bishops’ Council (CELAM) met in Havana, Cuba for their 31st Ordinary Assembly. During the meeting the newly elected president, Archbishop  Raymundo Damasceno Assis, said that the Church only seeks peace for Cuba and that “the people should decide about their future.” Speaking to the press, the archbishop of Aparecida said, “What we desire for Cuba is that it always have peace, prosperity, that the people (…) can decide about their future, their path in the history of the Latin American continent, always seeking out integration.” Although he avoided assessing the situation that is currently facing Cuba, Archbishop Damasceno said, “It’s a problem that must be posed to the local Church, we can only accompany from the outside (…) We have a very superficial knowledge, at least I do as I am no expert in international politics,” he said. “The Church is present in Cuba, she is working. The Church in Cuba is alive, her presence is felt in the dioceses and in the parish communities,” and she works to carry out “her main objective, which is a spiritual religious objective but with much life.” (Catholic News Agency, 13/7/07)

July 13: The Ladies in White, an organization made up of wives and relatives of dissidents imprisoned in the spring of 2003, sent a letter to the Latin American Catholic bishops (CELAM) assembled in Havana to inform them on the prisoners’ situation in Cuban jails. Letters denouncing human rights violations in the island were also sent by the Christian Liberation Movement, led by Oswaldo Payá, and by the mother of neurosurgeon Hilda Molina, detailing difficulties found in her bid to emigrate from Cuba. (El Nuevo Herald, 14/7/07)

July 13: Caridad Diego, chief of the Religious Affairs Office at the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, said that several religions, among them, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Buddhist community or the "abacua" society have judiciary recognition in Cuba. At the closing of the Fifth International Meeting of Socio-Religious Studies held in Havana, Diego said that Cuban laws grant religious nature to the "Yoruba" cultural society and also recognizes several churches of the evangelical and protestant sector, and over 70 spiritualist centers, in addition to one hundred of them with legal status. Over 200 researches and representatives from different creeds, among them 49 from America, Europa and Asia, attended the three-day event. (Prensa Latina, 13/7/07)

July 13: A member of the Cuban opposition, Rene Montes de Oca, was set free after two years behind bars since he had "served his sentence," the outlawed Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation said. Montes de Oca, leader of the banned Pro-Human Rights Party, had been in jail since July 13, 2005 after taking part in various events organized in Havana to commemorate the sinking of a tugboat full of would-be emigrants in 1994. Both he and the other members of the opposition arrested the same day - Lazaro Alonso Roman, Manuel Perez Soria, Emilio Leiva Perez and Roberto de Jesus Guerra - were not actually sentenced until last February, when they were given up to two years in prison for disorderly behavior in public. (El Nuevo Herald, 14/7/07)

July 14: Cuban youth organizations issued a declaration defending nature and sustainable development, faced with climate change, and rejecting environmental threats. The document denounces the production of bio-fuels from foods, which developed countries currently encourage to serve interests from transnational companies. Approved in the First Colloquium "Youth challenges faced with climate change," the text also states a group of activities by the Environmental Youth Network to favor the cleaning of rivers, beaches and coasts, reforestation and care of environment. As part of this network's actions on environment, there will be an international digital forum, supported by the country's Computer Club. (Prensa Latina, 14/7/07)

July 14: The remains of Che Guevara brought to Cuba from Bolivia 10 years ago provided "conclusive" forensic evidence they belonged to the revolutionary leader, Cuban state media said. In a lengthy article, the official Granma daily newspaper addressed claims made by an ex-CIA agent who earlier this year claimed to have buried Guevara in a secret grave after he was killed in 1967, offering a clump of his hair for a DNA test to prove it. Granma said several features of the remains of Guevara "left no room for doubt" they were authentic, including the pronounced bridge over the eyes and prominent frontal lobe of the skull that "characterized" Guevara. "But the determining factors were a mold taken of his teeth for a masking job done for his protection when he left Cuba in the mid 1960s, which together with dental X-rays taken in the 1950s in Mexico (…) were conclusive," the daily said. (AFP, 14/7/07) 

July 15: The whereabouts of Cuban handball player Rafael Dacosta Capote remain unknown since July 12. According to Brazilian TV network O’Globo, Dacosta, 19, defected to join the San Caetano Club of the Brazilian League. (El Nuevo Herald, 16/7/07)

July 17: A vigil for the victims of the “13 de Marzo” tugboat was held in Center Havana, at the headquarters of the opposition organization Cuban National Commission (CNC). The CNC president told the media that "the goal of this event was to remember those innocent souls and pray for God’s intercession that there is no more spilling of Cuban blood.” Last July 13 marked the 13th anniversary of the tugboat’s sinking at the hands of Cuban coastguards. Forty-seven people died then, including 11 children. (Cubanet, 17/7/07)

July 17: Fidel Castro says he has become so glued to the television set watching the Pan-American Games unfolding in Brazil that he is forgetting to take his pills. In a column published by Cuba's Communist Party newspaper Granma on July 18, the convalescing Cuban leader said he was so engrossed with the sports that he was even forgetting to eat. "I don't miss a single event on television: weights, taekwondo, rowing, cycling, beach volleyball," he wrote. "I hardly take my eyes off the television set. Sometimes I forget when it is time to eat or take a pill," Castro said in the column he has written since March, called "Reflections of the Comandante." [Reflections on the Pan American Games] (Reuters, 18/7/07)

July 19: Dissident activist Guillermo Fariñas, who conducted a lengthy hunger strike in 2006 in demand of free Internet access for all Cubans, announced that he will donate to the island’s political prisoners the cash portion of the human rights award bestowed upon him by the German city of Weimar last year. The award includes cash in the amount of $2,500 euros and a plastic work of art. (EER, 20/7/07)

July 19: Gymnastics coach Lázaro Lamelas Ramírez left the Cuban delegation’s quarters at the Pan-American Village on July 17 and his whereabouts remain unknown. Lamelas, 33, was the head coach for the Cuban men’s team. (AFP, 19/7/07)

July 19: Fidel Castro highlighted that Cuban athletes are ready to compete even in the mud, while in many countries athletes do not even compete for their own nation. In an article published on July 20, entitled "Another Reflection about the Pan-American Games," the Cuban leader referred to the number of athletes injured in many of the sports, with the exception of swimming, ping pong, tennis and a few others. [Another Reflection About the Pan-American Games] (Prensa Latina, 20/7/07)

July 20: The Cuban baseball team retained the Pan American Games Championship title in baseball, defeating the United States 3-1 in the finals. Good pitching by lefthander Adiel Palma and the 10-hit attack gave Cuba its 10th consecutive Pan American Games title. (Prensa Latina, 20/7/07)

July 20: Cuban Deputy Health Minister Gonzalo Estevez said that Cuba has in place a reinforced security system to quickly detect avian flu, a disease that has hit several countries in Southeast Asia. Cuba relies on its highly qualified health personnel, who are trained to tackle a possible epidemic. The country has invested several million dollars in a program to detect and control the disease. This program also monitors the evolution of the pathology in the world. (Radio Habana Cuba, 20/7/07)

July 21: The eastern city of Santiago de Cuba opened its annual carnival celebration, the island's largest and most popular festival, with musical performances and parades drawing visitors and residents alike. The organizing committee said the eight-day carnival, which marks the founding of Cuba's second-largest city on July 25, 1515, would feature a number of groups, including Los Hoyos, La Placita, La Textilera, Paso Franco, Los Guayabitos and La Carabali, as well as dancers wearing colourful costumes and other attractions. The carnival in Santiago de Cuba , located more than 900 kilometers (559 miles) from Havana , draws thousands of Cubans and foreign tourists who want to enjoy the music and dancing. Havana, the island's capital, is preparing to hold its carnival celebration on August 4-12 on the Malecon seaside. (Prensa Latina, 21/7/07)

July 22: Cuba's two-time Olympic boxing champion Guillermo Rigondeaux and a teammate left the athletes village and did not show up for their scheduled fights at the Pan American Games. Rigondeaux failed to make the weigh-in for his quarterfinal bout against Mexico's Carlos Cuadras in the bantamweight division, while Erislandy Lara didn't appear for his fight against Jamaica's Ricardo Smith in the welterweight division. "They left the village and haven't returned," said Pedro Roque, coach and chief of Cuba's boxing delegation, stressing that it was all he knew. He learned about the boxer's absence Sunday morning, but would not comment on whether they had deserted. "Everything is possible in life," he said. (AP, 22/7/07)

July 23: Fidel Castro blamed American money for the disappearance of two top boxers from his nation's Pan American Games team. Castro said the boxers were "knocked down with a blow straight to the chin, paid up with US bills." He hinted the boxers left the games to accept lucrative deals from international promoters, saying "there is a mafia" that uses "refined psychological methods and many millions of dollars" to "select, buy up and promote Cuban boxers in the international sports competitions." "Those that applied for asylum in Brazil are doing it after the United States declared recently that it would not be fulfilling the exact quotas of the migratory agreements signed with our country," the article reads adding that "in Germany, there is a mafia devoted to selecting, buying and promoting Cuban boxers in international boxing matches. It uses sophisticated psychological methods and many millions of dollars." Earlier, the Pan American Sports Organization requested the National Security Secretariat, which is in charge of security at the games, investigate the disappearance of the two Cuban boxers, said Marcelo de Paiva, the secretariat's press spokesman. [Is Brazil the United States’ Substitute?] (AP, Radio Habana Cuba, 24/7/07)

July 24: When Fidel Castro last appeared in public one year ago on July 26, he enthusiastically led about 100,000 Communist Party faithful in celebrating the audacious attack on an army barracks that launched his revolution. These days, the convalescing 80-year-old seems to be in vigilant semiretirement. Dissident Manuel Cuesta Morua said that ''it has been a year of the greatest political calm'' since Castro stepped aside last July 31, but the country's future remains clouded as long as the Castro brothers' future roles remain undefined. ''We are waiting for the definitive transfer of power to Raul Castro so his actions can be measured,'' said Cuesta Morua, who like many Cubans believes the younger brother is more likely to undertake modest reforms in the centralized economy. (AP, 24/7/07)

July 24: Cuban Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer described the graduation of 2,470 new doctors from Cuba and a host of other nations as the practical expression of the ideas of Fidel Castro. The evening’s graduation from the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences in Havana included the third graduating class of the Havana-based Latin American School of Medicine, with over 1,800 doctors including eight physicians from the United States receiving their diplomas. Nationwide, Cuba graduated a total of 8,884 medical professionals this year from various nations as doctors, dentists, nurses and health technicians, Balaguer said. The public health minister further noted that at present 53,000 young people from Cuba and 88 other countries are taking medical courses in Cuba, while Cuban specialists are training other students in their respective nations. (ACN, 24/7/07)

July 26: Interim President Raul Castro told tens of thousands celebrating Cuba's revolution that the nation suffered a serious blow when his brother, Fidel, fell ill a year ago, but the chaos the United States had long predicted never materialized. Cuba's 76-year-old acting president and defense minister took his brother's place at Revolution Day festivities in Camaguey, a provincial capital of narrow colonial streets southeast of Havana. "We could hardly have suspected what a hard blow was awaiting us," the younger Castro said of Fidel's illness. "These have truly been difficult moments, although with a diametrically different impact than that expected by our enemies, who wished for chaos to take hold and for Cuban socialism to collapse." The one-hour speech came exactly a year after Fidel's last public appearances, when he celebrated the Revolution Day anniversary with speeches in the eastern cities of Bayamo and Holguin. [Speech by Raul Castro] (AP, 26/7/07)

July 26: Acting President Raul Castro asserted his leadership of Cuba with promises of economic improvement. "Raul, Raul, Raul!" some 100,000 government supporters chanted during a Revolution Day speech one year after taking over from his brother. He said salaries were too low -- a major complaint by Cubans-- and the country has to produce more food to feed its people. Deep reforms of its inefficient agriculture are on their way, he said. Communist Cuba is open to receiving more foreign investment as long as it brings capital, technology and markets, he said. "There won't be spectacular results. Time is needed," Raul Castro, who is 76 and considered to be more pragmatic than his ideologically-driven brother, told Cubans. [Speech by Raul Castro] (Reuters, 26/7/07)

July 26: Bernardo Benes, a former Miami banker who in 1978 led talks with Cuban officials that resulted in the release of 3,600 political prisoners, said the younger Castro should make bold economic changes. "The Cuban people are expecting no more promises, but deliveries," he said. Cuba watchers and some dissidents question whether Raúl Castro will be able to implement his reforms as long as his older brother is alive. Fidel Castro's presence would likely deter even modest economic reforms, they said.  "The question is why hasn't there been more dramatic changes," said Manuel Cuesta Morua, a moderate opposition leader. "The answer is Fidel Castro continues to govern." "In a sense, the Raulista project, if you can call it that, has been placed on hold," said Frank Mora, a Cuba expert at the National War College in Washington, D.C. In Cuba, Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who was one of 75 dissidents arrested in a roundup of government critics in 2003, was more succinct: "Raúl Castro gives the impression of a man trapped inside a corset and unable to move." (Sun Sentinel, The New York Times, 27/7/07)

July 27: A leading Cuban dissident has called on the island's acting President Raul Castro to free all political prisoners and allow multi-party elections. Responding to Mr Castro's Revolution Day speech, Oswaldo Paya and members of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) said the government punished enough people for holding different political opinions. The comments by Mr Paya, one of Cuba's best known political dissidents, are not surprising, given that the regime's few vocal opponents in Cuba have been making similar demands, such as calling for the release of political prisoners, for years. [Response by Oswaldo Paya and MCL](BBC, 27/7/07)

July 28: Cuban athletes made a hurried departure from the Pan-American games in Brazil, apparently amid fears of possible mass defections. The delegation was rushed at short notice to Rio de Janeiro's airport, leaving the men's volleyball team no time to collect their bronze medals. The athletes were said to have been ordered to leave the games before the finishing ceremony on July 29. At the 1999 Pan-American Games in Canada up to 13 athletes defected, and it seems Cuba was keen to avoid something on the same scale happening in Rio. (BBC, 29/7/07)

July 29: Cuba finished in the second spot of the medal standings at the 15th Pan American Games that concluded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The island's delegation accumulated 59 titles, 35 silver and 41 bronze medals and was closely followed by Brazil (54-40-67). The United States dominated the event with 97 gold, 88 silver and 52 bronze medals. For the first time since 1971 Canada was relegated to the fourth spot by Brazil, while 32 of the 42 participating countries walked away with at least a medal and 19 were represented at least once in the top spot of the podium. Leaders of the Party and government welcomed home the third group of Cuba’s sports delegation to the 15th Pan-American Games. Those who were at José Martí International Airport to receive the group included Political Bureau members Ricardo Alarcón, Pedro Sáez, Ulises Rosales and Concepción Campa; Lázara Mercedes Acea, member of the Secretariat; and Roberto León Richard, first vice president of the Cuban Sports Institute, among others. (Periódico 26, ACN, 29,31/7/07)

July 29: Fidel Castro said that the brain drain has been the worst problem faced by poor countries from the technological and economic points of view. In an article entitled "The Revolting Commercialization of Athletes," published in Juventud Rebelde, the Cuban Revolution leader refers to sports talent theft and Cuba"s honorable position about this issue. "Cuba, whose successes and efforts in the field of amateur sports no one can put in question, suffers these kinds of piranha bites more than any other country," Fidel Castro noted. [The Revolting Commercialization of Athletes] (Prensa Latina, 29/7/07)

July 29: Cuban First Vice President Raul Castro paid tribute in Santiago de Cuba to Frank Pais, on occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, and that of his comrade Raul Pujols, commemorated on July 30. Pianist Frank Fernandez played pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and from his own, among them "El Mambi," to honor recently deceased Vilma Espin, one of Frank Pais' closest collaborators during the secret struggle against the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship. The concert was a preliminary activity of that anniversary, slated in Santiago de Cuba with the attendance of over 100,000 people. Also a plaque was unveiled to honour those fallen defending the Homeland, from the beginning of the independence up to now, as well as those who died helping other nations. (Prensa Latina, 29/7/07)

July 30: Cuban First Vice President Raúl Castro lit an eternal flame at the Santa Efigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba -- in memory of Frank País and all martyrs of the Cuban Revolution. Fifty years ago, Frank País -- one of Cuba's most notable revolutionary leaders -- was killed on the streets of Santiago de Cuba. During the 1950's, Frank -- who was only 22 years old at the time of his murder -- was the head of the clandestine movement which rose up against the Batista dictatorship islandwide. At the ceremony held at the Santa Efigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba to honor Frank and other martyrs of the struggle against Batista’s dictatorship, veterans of the 26th of July Movement spoke of the courage and valor of the young revolutionary fighter. Raúl Castro delivered the closing remarks at the ceremony. [Palabras de Raúl Castro] (Radio Habana Cuba, 31/7/07)

July 30: Fidel Castro has avoided any mention of handing over of power to his brother one year ago in his latest newspaper column, instead lauding his country's ability to endure a decades-long US embargo. "The most important success of the revolution is the capacity to put up with a blockade for nearly half a century and hardships of all kinds," Castro wrote in an article dedicated to the Pan American Games in Brazil, that was published in official media on July 31. Castro wrote in his commentary that the months of July and August were marked by "intense activity" with the commemoration of the assault to the Moncada Barracks in 1953. But Castro omitted that for the first time in 48 years, he did not make an appearance at the country's National Rebellion Day celebrations. Castro instead praised Cuba 's performance in the Pan American Games, which earned 59 gold medals compared to 97 won by United States . He said it was an impressive showing considering the US population was about 26 times larger than Cuba’s. [In Spite of Everything] (AFP, 31/7/07)

July 31: One year after taking over from his ailing brother as Cuba's leader, Raul Castro is raising hopes of reforms to relieve economic inefficiencies and food shortages but he is not offering political change. Even dissidents welcomed Raul Castro's July 26 speech as a sign of realism brought to government by the 76-year-old defense minister. "Raul's speech creates expectations and hope, but we should be cautious. There are hard-liners who are putting obstacles in the way of reform," said dissident economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, adding that the country is bankrupt. Some Cubans are optimistic they will soon be able to buy cellular phones, and freely buy and sell their cars and even their homes one day. Others say any change will come slowly. "Raul has good intentions, but these problems have existed for so long," said one housewife on the dilapidated doorstep of her central Havana home. "It has always been politics first, second and third, and only then the economy. I'd have to see change to believe it." (Reuters, 31/7/07)