Chronicle on Cuba - August 2007

Terrorism

August 7: Britain asked the United States to release five British residents from Guantanamo Bay in a change of policy that may signal Prime Minister Gordon Brown is taking a more independent stance from Washington. Foreign Secretary David Miliband sent a formal request to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for the release of the five men, who were legally resident in Britain before their detention but are not British nationals. The decision marks a shift from the policy of former prime minister Tony Blair's government, which secured the release of all nine British citizens held at the US prison camp in Cuba but maintained it was not responsible for detainees of other nationalities who had simply lived in Britain. (The New York Times, 7/8/07)

August 8: The US has cut the population of the Guantanamo Bay detention center to nearly half its peak in 2003 but is struggling to empty it further. Faced with rising international pressure to close the military prison in Cuba, the US has identified dozens of detainees who can be released or transferred to other countries. However, that was only the first step in a process so difficult it has slowed releases to a trickle. Before it puts detainees on a plane, the US must find a country to accept them. It also must obtain assurances the prisoners will be prevented from attacking the United States or its allies, and will not be tortured or face other treatment that violates international law. Britain's new Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked for the transfer of five British residents held at Guantanamo -- a change in policy that was welcomed by the Bush administration. Under his predecessor, Tony Blair, the British government would not accept the detainees since they are not citizens. A senior US defense official warned that officials will have to discuss appropriate security measures before the five sought by Britain can be transferred. ''These are extremely dangerous individuals and if they are sent back to the United Kingdom they could pose a risk if they are out on the street,'' said Sandra Hodgkinson, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs in an interview with the press. (The New York Times, 9/8/07)

August 9: Reluctance by other countries to take custody of terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay is delaying Washington's shutting of the widely criticized prison, President George W. Bush said. "I did say it should be a goal of the nation to shut down Guantanamo," Bush told reporters. "I also made it clear that part of the delay was the reluctance of some nations to take back some of the people being held there." Washington has faced fierce criticism worldwide for the detention without charge -- often for years -- of suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members at the prison on a US naval base in Cuba. The United States holds 355 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, set up to handle prisoners captured by the United States after the September 11 attacks in 2001. (Reuters, 9/8/07)

August 21: In Havana, the Government of Colombia and the guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) began a new round of talks being held in Cuba since December, 2005. The high commissioner for peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo, heads the Colombian Government’s delegation and Pablo Beltrán, member of the guerrilla Central Command, heads the guerrilla delegation. Representatives of the Colombian National Council for Peace will also attend. (El País, 21/8/07)

August 21: The founder and maximum leader of Colombia's largest guerrilla group refused to travel to Cuba for peace talks mediated by Fidel Castro because he feared the United States would try to intercept his plane and capture him, an aide to former Colombian President Andres Pastrana said. Camilo Gomez told Radio Caracol that in the course of the ultimately fruitless peace process, FARC chief Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda was urged to travel to Havana for consultations with Castro. "It was proposed to Marulanda that he travel to Cuba, but he said he wouldn't do it because the gringos would intercept the plane and take him to the United States," Gomez recalled. "If Marulanda had gone at that time, he would have taken a very important step," the erstwhile peace commissioner said. Castro "offered Marulanda a Cuban aircraft with a Cuban crew to allay any misgivings he might have, and I told Marulanda I would go with him on the flight," Gomez said. (EFE, 21/8/07)