Chronicle on Cuba - December 2007

Domestic Affairs

December 1: Cuba will compete with three films in the 29th edition of the Havana New Latin American Cinema Festival, that opens on December 4: “Madrigal”, by Fernando Pérez, “La noche de los inocentes”, by Arturo Sotto, and “Camino al Edén”, by Daniel Díaz Torres. (Granma, 1/12/07)

December 1: The leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Payá, told the press that Cuban security forces had prevented the followers of the group from being present at the meeting of their newly formed Citizen’s Committee for Reconciliation and Dialogue in Cuba. Payá denounced that the security forces held up at least six of the twelve participants who were heading to the meeting of the committee that was organized at the home of the Cuban dissident. These followers remained in police custody during a brief period of time before being sent back to their homes. Nevertheless, once there, they were “fenced in inside their houses” by the Cuban police, to prevent them from being present at the meeting, declared Payá to the press. (ABC, 2/12/07)

December 1: Currently there are 375,095 registered cases of diabetes in Cuba, a figure that could reach 624,000 by 2010, affirmed Dr. Oscar Díaz, director of the National Institute of Endocrinology, a special center devoted to treatment of this condition that causes the death of three million people a year worldwide. Diabetes is a disease that is on the rise. According to facts broadcast on the Cuban "Roundtable" TV program addressing the issue, 246 million people in the world are currently living with the affliction, a figure that is expected to reach 380 million by 2025. Cuba has Diabetic Treatment Centres in all provinces except Sancti Spíritus and the special municipality of the Isle of Youth, where patients are taught to understand and control their disease in order to live independent and useful lives. (Granma International, 1/12/07)

December 2: Fidel Castro was nominated for a seat in Cuba's parliament, leaving open the option for the ailing 81-year-old revolutionary to stay on as the communist-run island's president. A National Assembly seat is a prerequisite for seeking the presidency and if Castro had failed to be nominated it could have heralded a decision to remove himself from the office after almost a half century as Cuba's undisputed leader. Castro was nominated by city council officials in his eastern home province of Santiago, a step in a process that will eventually determine his political status. "During his convalescence he has continued to be actively involved in the country's most important strategic decisions," a biography attached to Castro's candidacy said. Castro remains intellectually active, writing about the most pressing problems facing Cuba and the survival of the human species, it said. In more than 60 columns published this year in Cuba's state media, Castro has never mentioned the country's future with or without him. At its first session in March, the National Assembly must ratify the country's top political jobs, a key meeting that will settle speculation about Castro's possible retirement. (AP, Reuters, 2/12/07)

December 2: Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage said that the communist-ruled island's convalescing leader, Fidel Castro, is working as president of the Council of State and continues to be involved in the "most important task (…) (of) raising awareness."  
Lage and the head of the national legislature, Ricardo Alarcon, were nominated as candidates for lawmaker by the municipality of Plaza de la Revolucion in Havana during the process under way all over the country to define the list of candidates for parliament, a list headed by Fidel Castro and his brother, the country's provincial president, Raul Castro, both of who were nominated in Santiago de Cuba province. Alarcon said that if Fidel is elected in January, he will be the best candidate to preside over the country and "I would vote with two hands for Fidel to return to be president of the Council of State," adding that he is convinced that "the spirit of unity in our country is greater than ever." "Because of the immense love, respect, consideration, and recognition that our people have (for him), and paying attention to his recovery, I'm sure that our people are going to elect (Fidel Castro) as a deputy," Lage said. The vice president said that Castro, 81, "is working as president of the Council of State (…) (and) dedicated to that most important task of raising awareness." (EFE, The Herald Tribune, 2/12/07)

December 2: Cubans celebrated the 51st foundation anniversary of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), with several actions nationwide. The arrival of the Granma Yacht on December 2, 1956 to Cuban shore marked the emergence of the Armed Forces, an institution that first defeated the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship (1952-1958), and currently guarantees the island’s achievements. A group of young people from the Niquero municipality in Granma made a symbolic representation of the yacht’s arrival 51 years ago. Also to mark the day, a cultural act was held at the Portada de la Libertad monument, the exact place where the yacht landed. The first secretary of the Young Communist League (UJC) in the territory, Manuel Valera, read a message expressing the commitment to the Cuban socialist project of the new generations. (Escambray, 2/12/07)

December 2: Cuban dissidents told the press that Fidel Castro's nomination for a seat in Cuba's parliament nourishes the "immobility" of the system and is a brake on possible reforms. Elizardo Sanchez, the head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, or CCDHRN, said that Castro's nomimation "reflects the decision to continue reproducing a totalitarian model of government in Cuba." "I did not foresee possible changes, but this is going to nourish the immobility of the regime because, without a doubt, Comandante Fidel Castro for years has been the main obstacle to modernizing reforms in our country," Sanchez added. The Cuban dissident said he was convinced that "the immense majority of the regime's officials want modernizing reforms and, now, their influence is going to diminish”. Miriam Leyva, the co-founder of the Ladies in White movement, said that Castro's "predictable" nomination confirms the fact that "there is a brake on those who want to make very necessary reforms in Cuba at this time." Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, of the moderate Cambio Cubano group, said that Castro's nomination was an expected step because real changes are not being made on the island. "While he's behind the curtain he will continue directing things, say what they will," said Gutierrez Menoyo, who added that Castro fifty years (in power) is enough." He also said that Cuba will begin to change "when they concede a legal space to an independent opposition. While there continues to be one party, there will continue to be a dictatorship." (EFE, 2/12/07)  

December 3: Cuban police have detained 29 anti-government activists in less than two weeks and seven remain jailed, including a man who called for the communist-run island to tolerate independent universities, a human rights leader said. Independent education activist Rolando Rodriguez was arrested after announcing that 5,000 signatures had been collected in support of autonomous universities in Cuba, said Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. Sanchez, whose organization is not recognized but is tolerated by Cuban authorities, said the arrests come as government critics prepare to mark International Human Rights Day on December 10. He said the detentions began on November 21, when five government critics in Havana were detained by police without charges, then released. The rest were picked up in following days during subsequent roundups. (AP, 3/12/07)

December 3: Political prisoner José Hubaldo Izquierdo Hernández, an independent journalist of the news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, said on 29 November that he was starting a hunger strike to protest against the lack of medical care in prison. He said he would refuse all solid food until he was moved to prison to receive appropriate treatment. Izquierdo Hernández, 42, who has been in jail since the roundups of March 2003, is serving a 16-year sentence at Guanajay prison in Havana province. (RWB Press Release, 3/12/07)

December 4: The 29th International Festival of the New Latin American Cinema started at Havana's Karl Marx Theater with the screening of US film “Redacted” and a performance by Argentinean musician Fito Paez. Directed by US filmmaker Brian de Palma, the movie, on the US-boosted bloody war against Iraq, denounces in a true story how that country has manipulated media groups and distorted reality. Nearly 500 films will be competing this year, of them 121 in contest, and films from Germany, US, Great Britain, Spain, Norway, Italy, Canada, and Switzerland, as well as animated films and documentary features. (Prensa Latina, 4/12/07)

December 4: Up to eighteen human rights activists were arrested in Santiago de Cuba for marching to demand the release of three students under arrest since November 29. The activists arrested were marching to demand the release of Rolando Rodríguez, Eliecer Consuegra and Gerardo Sánchez. These three students were arrested two days after they presented a petition backed by 5,000 signatures to education authorities asking for autonomy in universities and free expression rights in student precincts. According to Mirta Echevarría, the step daughter of Sánchez Ortega, the 18 activists held a fast at her place, in Santiago de Cuba, and later went to the church of Santa Teresita holding posters with signs saying, “I do not collaborate with the dictatorship”. State Security officials surrounded the group when the activists were leaving the church, and insulted the priest who remained in the temple. The priest of Santa Teresita church, Jose Conrado Rodriguez, said at least five people were detained during the crackdown, in the Americas' only one-party communist-ruled state. "They barged in spraying gas in the faces of people from those spray cans, and went about dishing out blows and shouting," Conrado Rodriguez told the press. He said about 15-20 patrol cars turned up at the church, outside which some 600 people had gathered, many of them from the protest march that had just ended. The arrests have raised alarm bells among dissident groups who fear they are just the start of a new wave of repression by Cuban authorities. According to dissident groups, over the past few weeks 29 dissidents suffered "preventive arrests" by Cuban authorities in a bid to deflate any protest planned for Human Rights Day on December 10. (AFP, LatinNews Daily, EER, 4,5/12/07) 

December 5: A spokesman for Cuba's Catholic Bishops Conference said the police action inside a Santiago de Cuba church was "unusual" and "very regrettable," adding that he hoped it proves to be "a very isolated incident." Santiago de Cuba Archbishop Dionisio Garcia also voiced concern. "We're not used to this. I had no idea uniformed police could do that (…) we're talking now to avoid such incidents in future," he said, adding he would meet with government officials. Conrado Rodriguez, the priest at Santa Teresita church, where a group of activists were detained, said that as the dissidents were rounded up, he told the police: "I want you to explain to me what is going on here, because I don't understand anything. How is this act of violence possible?" (AFP, 5/12/07)

December 5: An apartment building in the municipality of Centro Habana collapsed, leaving 22 families homeless. A group of these persons is living outside nearby stores, waiting for a the government to offer a solution. "We have been here for 35 days and will not leave until they give us a solution", explained an elderly man. "It is our way of protesting," he said. Local authorities insist that they have to move to shelters (albergues) but do not say how long they will have to remain there before they are offered regular housing. (BBC Mundo, 5/12/07)

December 5: The candidates for deputies to the national and provincial Assemblies of the Cuban People's Power are holding meetings with the population to exchange opinions. The second stage of the general elections will conclude on January 20, when voters will decide who will form the top parliamentary bodies in the island. Among the activities are visits to labor and student centers, and to communities in their municipalities, with the aim of learning people’s demands, as well as to share experiences and possible solutions. (Prensa Latina, 5/12/07)

December 5: Cuba said it considers a teacher shortage stemming from low enrolment at training colleges, people leaving the profession and the retirement of experienced educators to be a threat to the revolution, the press reported. "If there's no education, there's no revolution," the official daily Juventud Rebelde reported, citing remarks by the first secretary of the Union of Communist Youth, Julio Martinez, at a meeting of that organization in the western province of Matanzas. The newspaper said that "fewer and fewer students are being drawn into teaching careers and the more experienced teachers are retiring due to the logical process of life." It gave as an example the situation in Matanzas, where the Juan Marinello Superior Pedagogical Institute "has sounded the alarm yet again" since, despite its capacity to receive 1,000 students, the number of those enrolled currently totals just 127. (EFE, 5/12/07)  

December 5: Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel Literature Laureate in 1982 and one of the founders of the New Latin American Film Festival, arrived in Havana to take part at the 29th annual movie festival. On this occasion Garcia Marquez, who has written several screenplays for the cinema, is joining the star cast of the recent version of his major novel "Love in the Time of Cholera," featuring Spanish actor Javier Bardem in the role of Florentino Ariza and directed by British filmmaker Mike Newell. Bardem is already in Havana, along other movie stars such as Mexican actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. (ACN, 6/12/07)

December 6: The Flamenco Ballet of Andalusia and its director, renowned Spanish bailaora Cristina Hoyos, are in Cuba for four presentations at the Gran Teatro de La Habana plus a number of workshops on flamenco dance, singing and guitar. The presentations are scheduled at the Sala Garcia Lorca of the Teatro Nacional, in the old section of Havana. Shortly after her arrival, Cristina Hoyos received the Award of the Teatro Nacional de Cuba in the hands of Cuba's Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso. (ACN, 6/12/07)

December 6: The Catholic archbishop of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba said that authorities apologized for the actions of police in entering church grounds to arrest protesters."(The authorities) said they regretted how events had unfolded, they apologized and (said) that circumstances such as those should be avoided and should not occur," Monsignor Dionisio Garcia Ibañez told the press by telephone. The Catholic Church and the island's communist authorities spoke about the incident, which occurred on the grounds of the Church of Santa Teresita, in a conversation that Garcia Ibañez said was "fruitful." According to the archbishop, police officers arrested five people on the grounds of the church and six others in the street, figures that the banned Cuban Commission for Human Rights, or CCDHRN, raised to a total of more than 20. Garcia Ibañez, who noted that the incident transpired on the church grounds and not inside the sanctuary, said that "it's the first time that an event of this kind has occurred" and that the 11 arrested people, among whom were two women, had been released from police custody. He said that he had spoken about the matter with the head of the Department of Religious Affairs of the Cuban Communist Party's Central Committee, Caridad Diego, and with party officials at the provincial level. "We are evaluating the events. They apologized for the situation insofar as the authorities were concerned," said Garcia Ibañez, who has been archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, the island's second-biggest city, for the past seven months. (EFE, La Jornada, Reuters, 7/12/07)

December 6: The vice-minister of Public Health, Joaquín García, said that, "the reorganization of medical consulting offices to compensate for the doctors who went on internationalist missions has not worked properly." "The presence of doctors and nurses in the medical offices has not been guaranteed as promised," added García in the Roundtable television program, where the minister of health, José Ramón Balaguer, was also present. This is the first time that authorities recognize publicly the existence of vacancies as a result of doctors and nurses being sent abroad, as well as its impact on public health. (EER, 6/12/07)

December 6: The Cuban Minister of Public Health, Jose Ramon Balaguer, and Jose Miyar Barrueco, Secretary of the Council of State, toured several social facilities that will soon be inaugurated in Havana province. In Jaruco, they visited the 'Noelio Capote' Integral Educational Poli-Clinic, which will offer 27 new services - including endoscopies - to this community of 25,000 inhabitants. The tour also included the 'Rafael Santiago Echezarreta' university poli-clinic in the municipality of San Jose de las Lajas, which will soon be inaugurated. (ACN, 7/12/07)

December 7: Elian Gonzalez, who as a boy was the focus of an international custody battle, said Fidel Castro called him and told him he was doing well. "It was a very exciting moment," said Gonzalez, who turned 14 this month. The youth spoke with Cuba's state television in his hometown of Cardenas, where National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon headed a celebration of the launch of Cuba's "Battle of Ideas," the ideological campaign that Castro began years ago during the monthslong tug-of-war to return Gonzalez to his father on the island.  "I want to take the opportunity to tell all Cubans that I have just spoken to the comandante," Gonzalez said during the event. Alarcon said Castro is still leading Cuba ideologically through his writings, regularly published by the Cuban media. "Today, like yesterday, Fidel continues to lead this battle, dedicating his best hours every day to destroying myths, refuting lies, sowing truths, teaching how to think, rallying young people and all to the struggle," Alarcon said.  (Reuters, AP, 7/12/07)

December 7: Dissident groups in Cuba said harassment and detentions by police have recently increased as part of a new tactic by the authorities. Rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said he believed the aim was to deter dissidents from marking International Human Rights Day on 10 December. The number of political prisoners in Cuba has fallen since Raul Castro, brother of President Fidel Castro, took over as acting president on 31 July 2006, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and Reconciliation.
But the group, illegal but tolerated by the authorities, says there has been a marked increase in police activity in recent weeks. Its head, Elizardo Sanchez, said the authorities were using a new tactic which he called "preventative repression". "For example, if a group is going to meet in a house or park, they will detain people so they can't get there," Mr Sanchez said. "Before, it wasn't so subtle, just pure hard repression, straight to prison. Now the authorities are being more careful." A column in the Communist Party newspaper Granma criticized international journalists in Havana for covering events by dissident groups, which authorities here dismiss as ''mercenaries'' funded by the US and other governments to undermine state authority. (BBC, AP, 7/12/07)

December 7: The Church in Cuba has mobilized to offer food and clothing to the thousands of people affected by Tropical Storm Noel, which pounded the eastern section of the island last month. The magazine “Palabra Nueva” reported that thousands of boxes of supplies, collected in response to a letter sent by Cardinal Jaime Ortega to all the faithful, have been sent to the region. The Diocese of Pinar del Rio, which is habitually hit by such storms, has joined in the relief effort. The Diocese of Bayamo-Manzanillo said volunteers and members of the Christian communities are collaborating in providing aid to more than 410 families in the province of Granma. (CNA, 7/12/07)

December 7: The assistant secretary of the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops has criticized a recent police raid on a church in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, saying it could harm the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Cuban government. Monsignor José Félix Pérez Riera described the raid, which led to the arrest of a group of dissidents, as a "deplorable incident." He added, "It is to be hoped that [the raid] does not damage relations, and I believe that we should all do our utmost to keep this from happening." Pérez Riera said the bishop's conference has not made an official declaration, nor has it approached the authorities to discuss the matter, because this is the prerogative of the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Dionisio García, who is personally looking into it. Pérez Riera is the parish priest of the Havana church of Santa Rita, where Sunday mass is attended weekly by the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) -- the wives, mothers and other relatives of 75 dissidents who received harsh sentences in 2003, on charges of conspiracy with the United States to subvert the Cuban state. "There has never been any trouble, for which I am thankful, because these ladies are completely respectful -- they come to mass and behave impeccably. They have always carried out any political demonstrations outside the sanctuary," he said. (IPS, 7/12/07)  
 
December 8: President of the People's Power National Assembly Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada called for the 10th ordinary session of the Sixth Legislative body to be held on December 28. Making use of the power conferred by the Constitution of the Republic in its Article 81 subsection B, Alarcon launched the summons, noted the reports broadcast by Cuban TV news. (Prensa Latina, 8/12/07)

December 8: Call it the law of unintended consequences: Since Cuba's interim president, Raúl Castro, called for public meetings to debate the country's innumerable problems, more and more people are speaking out -- and not just about empty store and pharmacy shelves and lousy public transportation but topics long off-limits like democracy and freedom. ''In the street, at jobs and in neighborhoods, there's some flexibility in terms of repression and expression,'' said Ahmed Rodríguez, an opposition journalist who runs the Youth Without Censorship news agency in Havana. ``People have lost a little bit of their fear -- not all of it.'' The fact that Cubans, invited by Raúl to speak up in workplace and community meetings, now also feel more comfortable doing so in other settings represents a significant shift and underscores the subtle changes slowly taking place in the nearly one and a half years since Fidel Castro fell ill. Some experts wonder whether the move to allow more open criticism will backfire and, instead of allowing Cubans to let out steam, will make them boil over. ''In a closed political system like Cuba's, there is always risk in promoting that kind of discussion, which is compounded by the fact they are not delivering on any of this -- people's lives are not getting better,'' former top CIA Cuba analyst Brian Latell said. (The Miami Herald, 8/12/07)

December 8: Cubans are living through some subtle changes, including the screening of the Academy Award-winning film “The Lives of Others”. The film is about East Germany's dreaded Stasi secret police — a model for Cuba's own state security apparatus. More than 1,000 Cubans waited for hours outside the Acapulco Theater for the film's debut during the Havana Film Festival last week. When the doors opened, the crowd stampeded for the seats. "Something is changing in Cuba when this movie is being shown," said Cecilio, a 65-year-old independent journalist who attended the premiere, but did not want his last name used. "It means that at least some sectors of the government have an interest in changing old ways." Many Cubans identified with the film. When the film ended, the audience exploded in a long round of applause. "The movie captures nearly exactly a part of Cuban reality," said Elizardo Sánchez, leader of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. "Many Cubans identify — not only the victims of the repression but the repressors themselves. We have our own Stasi, which is very powerful." (Sun Sentinel, EFE, 9,16/12/07)

December 9: Pastors Delmides Fidalgo López and Damaris Velásquez Arévalo were arrested and taken to the police station in Buenaventura, Holguin province, by State Security agents. They were interrogated and threatened with jail if they continued posting allegorical signs to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the front walls of their home. Fidalgo López said that while he and his wife Damaris were in custody, a mob raided their house, destroyed the copies of the Human Rights Declaration and insulted his 14-year-old daughter. (Cubanet, 17/12/07)

December 9: Fidel Castro said that Marti's frowning countenance and Maceo's withering look point to the arduous path of duty, not to a more comfortable life. In his reflection entitled "Antonio Maceo, The Bronze Titan," Castro retells the fall in combat of Maceo and his young aide Francisco Gomez Toro. [Antonio Maceo: The Bronze Titan] (Prensa Latina, 9/12/07)

December 9: Fifty female relatives of Cuban political prisoners marched to National Assembly headquarters demanding the release of their loved ones and braving insults and jeers from government supporters. December 10 is International Human Rights Day and the group, known as the "Ladies in White," said the protest was a prelude to other activities designed to draw attention to abuses by the island's Communist authorities. "We are here to demand our prisoners' freedom and so the government understands it's punishing innocent people," said Miriam Leiva, wife of recently freed dissident economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe. The women, dressed in white and holding flowers, marched some 20 blocks through the busy streets of Havana's Miramar district to parliament headquarters, where a crowd of government supporters gathered and returned their chants of "freedom" with shouts of "mercenaries" and "worms." The hostile crowd followed the women for a few blocks as they marched back to Santa Rita Church, where they have held a weekly Sunday vigil since a 2003 crackdown on dissent landed dozens of anti-government activists in prison. A group of 15 young women from Latin America and Europe with banners that read "democracy" and "freedom" joined the protesters at the church. (Reuters, 9/12/07)

December 9: The Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN) condemned the detention of at least ten dissidents. "Between yesterday and today at least ten dissidents have been detained in connection with activities in Havana on the occasion of International Human Rights Day," said Elizardo Sánchez, president of the CCDHRN. (EER, 10/12/07)

December 10: Cuba celebrated International Human Rights Day with an honourable and extensive record in cooperating with all human rights mechanisms. A note from the Cuban permanent mission at the UN states that there are no violations of human rights in the island that could justify the attention from Geneva or any other multilateral stage.  (Prensa Latina, 10/12/07)

December 10: Government supporters shoved and shouted down activists calling for improved human rights on communist-run Cuba. There were no reports of injuries, and it was not clear whether marchers taken away had been arrested. A few international journalists were roughed up by counter-protesters, but did not require medical attention. Several march organizers were picked up before the event, evidently in an attempt to prevent it, according to a caller who identified himself as Carlos Bosch, communications secretary of the Independent Democrat Front. The scene at a park in the Vedado neighborhood was similar to International Human Rights Day protests in past years. Only 14 protesters turned up, and they were shouted down and pushed by a pro-government group of more than 100 people, guided by men with walkie-talkies. Dozens of people in plain clothes assembled in the nearby park, anticipating the protest that began when a veteran activist, Dr. Darsi Ferrer, locked arms with four others and marched silently along the park's perimeter. Their ranks eventually grew to 14. The counter-protesters shouted "traitors!" and "mercenaries!" and occasionally shoved them. "Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!" the counter protesters chanted, in support of ailing leader Fidel Castro. When government supporters started to get rough, several young men who appeared to be leading the counter-protest called them off, saying, "Easy, comrades, easy. Don't hit. Don't push. That's what they want." At least five people -- including Ferrer and his wife -- were pushed into cars. Cuba maintains that it respects human rights better than most countries by providing its people with a broad social safety net that includes free medical care, low-cost food and heavily subsidized utilities and other services. (AP, 10/12/07) 

December 11: An extensive photo display of political prisoners and Cuban detention centers has come to an end. Organized by the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation and the Non-governmental Observatory of Prisons in Havana, the exhibit opened on December 6 in the head offices of these organizations in the home of Elizardo Sánchez Santacruz, in Playa. Many dissidents, journalists, and diplomats accredited in Havana, visited the exhibit. (Cubanet, 13/12/07) 

December 12: A Cuban court sentenced a young man to four years in jail for breaking a bus window, Cuban media reported. The reports said the court considered the man guilty of “high social danger” and of having caused financial damages. Because of the defendant's actions, the bus missed nine trips and failed to provide its services to 1,923 people, the Communist Party daily Granma said. (DPA, 12/12/07)

December 12: In its annual Christmas message, the Catholic Church of Cuba said it hopes for "necessary changes" to overcome the "overwhelming" difficulties that affect the country. "During this Christmas and end-of-year, when expectations of necessary changes that might improve and transform the national life arise in Cuba (...) the Catholic Church, as part of our people, joins in the hopes," read the message. [Mensaje de Navidad] (Reuters, 12/12/07)

December 12: Dissident Marta Beatriz Roque called on all dissidents to form a "united front" to enlist the support of Cubans on the island and in exile, and to face what she calls a change of "tactics" on the part of the government with regards to human rights. Roque urged dissidents to work in a "coordinated" fashion "without quarrelling over leadership" or political positions this new year when Cuba will be under scrutiny by the Human Rights Council, as announced by foreign minister Felipe Pérez Roque. (AFP, 13/12/07)

December 13: The Cuban-Swedish documentary October Crisis, which contains interviews, material evidence and views of the sites where Soviet-made missiles were deployed in 1962, was premiered in San Cristobal, eastern province of Pinar del Rio. The exhibition consisted of the first part of the film, which lasts one hour, because the complete documentary will be released soon in 25 countries. Among those interviewed in the film are Jorge Risquet Valdes, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Dr. Tomas Diez, deputy director of the Cuban History Institute, high-ranking Russian military officers stationed in Cuba, and local people, 400,000 of whom were mobilized during the October Crisis, the most dangerous Cold War episode. (ACN, 13/12/07)

December 13: Cuba has already won 15 tickets to the 13th Summer Paralympic Games to be held in Beijing, China, September 6 - 17, 2008. The number of tickets could increase to 62 in six Olympic disciplines, experts said. So far, the granted positions are for judo (eight), four for athletics and three for tennis, while physically impaired sportsmen await the ranking lists of the concluded classificatory international tournaments, which are to be announced before January 31. (ACN, 13/12/07)

December 14: Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas won Grand Coral for best long fiction film in Havana’s Film Festival with his movie "Luz silenciosa", achieving great mastery, said the jury. Some of the Cuban films that were awarded are, "Madrigal," by Fernando Perez, which won the Special Jury Prize and Best Art Direction; and "Personal belongings," by Alejandro Brugues, Third Opera Prima. (Prensa Latina, 14/12/07)

December 15: Cuba considers the official homophobia of the past decades “an error” but this period still needs discussing: ”what happened has to be analysed,” said sexologist Mariela Castro Espín. The director of the National Centre of Sex Education (Cenesex) announced at the start of 2006 a legal initiative to recognise the rights of the transsexuals to identity and to clinical attention, a proposal that has been reformulated through discussion. The project, which still awaits legislative passage, has incorporated among other points the rights of free sexual orientation (…) and of adoption for same sex pairs, comparable to heterosexual unions. Mariela (is) daughter of the stand-in President, Raúl Castro. (Znet, 15/12/07)

December 16: Nearing its 18th month in power, Raul Castro's interim government appears to be flirting with a more restrained approach to dissent on the socialist island. "The government was less subtle in the past," said Elizardo Sanchez, leader of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. "The repression was pure and hard. Now they're being more cautious." (Sun Sentinel, 16/12/07)

December 16: Cuba branded a television show host who recently sought asylum in the United States with his family “a traitor” who fell for the "siren song" of America. When Carlos Otero's weekly show was scheduled to air, a commentator read an official statement informing viewers the show would never air again because its host had decided to "abandon his viewers," after being seduced by the "siren song" of the United States. The announcer, who decried Otero's "traitorous behavior," praised other television professionals who continue working for the "honorable Cubans" who remain on the island. Otero, 49, fled to the United States with his family from Canada, where he was collecting material for the third edition of his weekly comedy program. (AFP, EER, 17/12/07)

December 16: More than 600 new electoral schools will work in Cuba for the elections next January 20, in which the people could choose the delegates to the provincial assemblies and the deputies to the Parliament. These new electoral schools will be added to those 37,749 that opened their doors in the first stage of the current process of general elections. (Prensa Latina, 16/12/07)

December 16: The vice-president of the National Institute of Housing (INV), Oris Silvia Fernández, announced in the official newspaper Juventud Rebelde, that "at the close of 2007 some 52,000 houses will have been finished", out of a plan of 70,300, and "180,000 repairs and renovation will have been conducted," 33,500 fewer than projected. (EER, 17/12/07)

December 17: Cuba concluded the construction of 100 houses donated by Venezuela in a community near the Cienfuegos refinery, which will be shortly reopened as a bi-national joint company, "Granma" newspaper reported. Located just over 155 miles east of Havana, constructors put up houses in the Simon Bolivar district in two months, since the arrival of the prefabricated materials, the daily stated. The material used is a non-inflammable oil derivative with no toxic gases, and has an additive to protect houses against ultra-violet rays, experts told the publication. Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage congratulated the people of Cienfuegos after witnessing their efforts in the construction of the houses. Lage visited this community that is only a few miles away from the provincial capital, and said that the people worked as if they were celebrating another anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Garrison - one of the main annual festivities on the island. (Prensa Latina, ACN, 17/12/07)

December 17: A varied program of activities will be carried out in the 169 municipalities of the country from December 26th to January 1st to celebrate the 49th anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. The announcement was made by Joel Queipo, member of the National Bureau of the Young Communist League (UJC), who added that the activities will be aimed mainly at youths and children who will enjoy concerts, movies, book fairs, and circus performances. In a press conference, Queipo added that the festivities will conclude on January 1st with the traditional concerts and performances by the best orchestras and groups of the country who will play in many plazas and parks across the island. (ACN, 19/12/07)

December 17: As every year, thousands of people visited the Santuario de San Lazaro in El Rincon, in the outskirts of Havana, to pay tribute to the patron saint of lepers, whom Cubans consider the most miraculous of the venerated. In the sanctuary, as in all Catholic churches, a Christmas Message by the Cuban Bishops Conference, which  calls for unity and hopes for changes in the island, was read. (USA Today, AFP, 18/12/07)

December 17 Cuban officials called a veteran human rights activist a "mercenary" for the United States, accusing him of exaggerating the number of political prisoners held on the island to make money and destabilize the communist system. In a denunciation spanning 1 1/2 pages in the Communist Party daily Granma, Editor Lazaro Barredo wrote that Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, "knows perfectly who he is: A mercenary who carries out the orders of the empire and a fat cat who enjoys putting the safety of Cubans in danger." Granma said that Elizardo Sanchez "lied shamelessly" in reporting on the sentencing in April of attorney Rolando Jimenez Posada, designated a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, and in commenting on the situation of independent journalist Jose Oscar Sanchez. Sanchez, in turn, called the article "a coarse and lie-filled personal attack by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro" in a statement sent by fax to international news media. "As on other occasions, I could not exercise my right to respond since all newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations are property of the government of Cuba." Communist officials have singled out Sanchez in the past. (AP, EFE, AFP, 17/12/07) 

December 17: Fidel Castro said in a letter read on state television that he does not intend to cling to power forever or stand in the way of a younger generation, but invoked the example of a renowned Brazilian architect who is still working at 100. "My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, or even less to obstruct the path of younger people, but to share experiences and ideas whose modest worth comes from the exceptional era in which I lived," Castro wrote in the final paragraph of a lengthy letter discussing the Bali summit on global warming. "I think like (Oscar) Niemeyer that you have to be of consequence up to the end," Castro wrote in his letter, referring to the Brazilian architect who was honored around the world as he turned 100. Castro’s health has been the subject of speculation since he fell ill in 2006 and remains a state secret. His son, Antonio, said his father will not recover from the illness that forced him to retire from government, according to a new biography, “Without Fidel”. [Message to the “Round Table”] (AP, The Globe and Mail, The Telegraph, 17,18/12/07)

December 18: A leading Cuban dissident has called on Cuba's parliament to grant an amnesty to non-violent political prisoners and to allow Cubans to travel freely. Oswaldo Paya said his petitions were made on "human, not political terms". Mr Paya, one of Cuba's most prominent dissidents, delivered two petitions to the National Assembly in Havana. The first called for the release of all "peaceful" prisoners of conscience, many of whom are suffering bad health, Mr Paya said. Mr Paya's second proposal called for all Cubans to be allowed to travel both within and outside the island, without needing a government permit. "The vast majority of Cubans want peaceful change," Mr Paya told the BBC. [Proyecto de Ley de Reencuentro Nacional y Proyecto de Ley de Amnistía] (BBC, 19/12/07)

December 18: A group of women are looking forward to founding the first women’s Masonic Lodge in Cuba by 2008, and so put an end to their traditional exclusion from Freemasonry, an esoteric society which is based on the ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. They are being helped in this endeavour by the Women’s Grand Lodge of Chile, which will send a delegation to Cuba in mid-2008 to initiate several dozen women in Havana and Pinar del Río, 157 kilometres west of the Cuban capital, the head of the Working Committee on Women’s Masonic Lodges in Cuba, Digna Gisela Medina, told the press. According to Medina, women have been interested in Freemasonry for centuries, but it is only recently that women’s Lodges have come into being. "As women achieved their goals and their active participation in society grew, women’s Lodges started to be formed in many countries of the world," she said. Statistics from 2004 indicate that there are 29,000 Masons in Cuba, organised in over 300 Lodges. The governing body of the order is the Grand Lodge of Cuba, and both the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, as well as the York Rite, are practised. (IPS, 18/12/07)

December 19: Cuban deputies will debate the economic-social guideline projects and the budget for 2008 during the 10th period of sessions of the Sixth National Assembly Legislature. According to "Granma" newspaper, the 10 permanent working commissions of the National Assembly will meet at the capital's Conference Center on December 26-27, to analyze the economic-social plan and the 2008 budget. The National Assembly will address the reports by officials from the Economy and Planning, and Finances and Prices Ministries. Delegates to the National Assembly should also analyze and approve tasks from 2003 to the present day, since this will be the last period of sessions of the Sixth Legislature, the daily states. (Prensa Latina, 19/12/ 07)

December 19: Independent journalist Guillermo Fariñas Hernández was detained by State Security agents in Santa Clara. An officer informed Fariñas that he had orders to warn him verbally against espionage activities as, based on information received, it had been his idea to photograph Cuban jails and to display them in an exhibition on prisoners and Cuban prisons at the head office of the Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation. Fariñas explained that the images were taken from the Internet, using the Google search engine. (Cubanet, 28/12/07)

December 19: Stepping up the crack down against antisocial behaviour that compounds the public transport crisis, a provincial court in the City of Havana handed down sentences between two and five years in prison to three men who caused strife in a bus. According to the Granma newspaper, Osmel Kindelán, Yoandri Kindelán and Rashid Torres, were sentenced to five, three and two years in prison respectively, for "the crimes of public disturbance, assault and coercion." (El Nuevo Herald, 20/12/07)

December 20: A cryptic letter from Fidel Castro announcing the possibility of his retirement from power has sparked a wave of speculation about the ailing 81-year-old's political future -- and clarified nothing. Some dissidents on the island reacted with caution. ''If he didn't want to renew his position, he wouldn't have been nominated'' to the legislature, said Martha Beatriz Roque, leader of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society. Human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said he does not believe that Castro would transfer power to a younger leadership. ''He continues to act as if he had been born to rule,'' he said. (El Nuevo Herald, 20/12/07)

December 20: Authorities in Holguín carried out a massive police operation in the municipality of San Germán after the appearance in the streets of stickers with the word "Change" and phrases like "I do not cooperate with the dictatorship," "I do not attend" and "I do not snitch." The orange and black stickers were placed on lamp posts and public places. (Encuentro en la Red, 24/12/07)

December 20: Carlos Lage Codorniú, son of vice-president of the Council of State, Carlos Lage, was replaced as president of the University Students Federation (FEU) after scarcely two years in the position. Codorniú, a 26-year-old economist, will be replaced by FEU vice-president Adalberto Hernández, a teacher of Marxism-Leninism, reports the daily Juventud Rebelde. "They will now have the opportunity to exercise the professions they prepared for at university," indicated the daily newspaper of the Youth Communist League, in reporting on Lage’s replacement (…), but it did not provide details on his new functions or the reason for his substitution. In recent statements, Lage Codorniú said that socialism does not need to be "divorced" from social well-being and Cuba needs changing so that the population "feels the virtues of the revolution in their plates at the table.'' ''The logic of the revolution is that it does not abide to dogmas" and it would be an "error to stick to the same formulas of the past, we need to make changes and apply new formulas," added the young leader. (El Nuevo Herald, 21/12/07)

December 20: The National Union of Cuban Artists and Writers (UNEAC) announced the 42nd Literature 2007 awards in all categories of fiction, narrative, poetry, and theatre. UNEAC Literature Awards are the oldest and most prestigious prizes granted by the institution. They offer the laureates in each category a cash prize and the opportunity to publish their works. The book of poems “Hombre de la edad y de la piedra” by Manuel Garcia Verdecia won the poetry prize for the brilliant work. In fiction, writer Evelyn Perez Gonzales won the award for ‘Supuestas vidas’, while Alberto Curbelo took the prize in playwright with ‘Huracán’. The testimony “Memorias para un reencuentro. Conversaciones con Santiago Alvarez”, by writer and researcher Larry Morales, was the winner in its corresponding category. Speaking at the ceremony, Cuban poet and creator of the award, Cesar Lopez, said the prize is a call to respect the difference of criteria, the cultural union and the progress of Our America. (ACN, 21/12/07)

December 21: Dissident leader Martha Beatriz Roque and four other dissidents distributed 400 copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Havana to "intensify" the "struggle for the freedom of political prisoners and democracy," said the dissidents in a communiqué. The handouts were distributed along Paseo del Prado for about two hours with "no interference" from the police officers present in the area, said Roque. (Encuentro en la Red, 23/12/07)

December 23: The Cuban press cheered after its woman volleyball team qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, after a 3-0 crushing of rival Canada. Cuba's captain, Yumilka Ruiz, who scored 17 points in the Saturday final of the North and Central America and Caribbean Olympic Qualifier, also won the competition's Most Valuable Player award, after being nominated as the top attacker and second highest scorer. Cuba is the fifth team to qualify and has now qualified for the Olympics in volleyball eight times. (People’s Daily, 24/12/07)

December 23: The words and images of every moment of a symbolic wedding ceremony between two women were recorded on film by a team of students from the Cuban Higher Institute of Art (ISA). It is not the first symbolic wedding of a lesbian couple to have taken place on this Caribbean island, but it is the first to enjoy support from a state institution. The National Centre for Sex Education (CENESEX), which for several years has been promoting greater understanding of sexual diversity, loaned its inner courtyard for the ceremony and the celebration that followed for 60 friends, ISA students and a handful of representatives of the institution. A proposal for legal reform advocated by CENESEX and the Cuban Women’s Federation calls for the recognition of de facto unions between same-sex couples and equal rights for heterosexual and homosexual couples, as well as eligibility to adopt children and, for women, access to assisted fertilisation services. The legal machinery is already rolling and the initiative may reach parliament in 2008, but no one can predict how long it will take to come to a vote. Meanwhile, CENESEX was advised by the ruling Communist Party to make efforts to prepare the public through a media campaign. (IPS, 28/12/07)
 
December 24: Fidel Castro remains on the mend, gaining weight, exercising twice a day and continuing to help make the Cuban government's top decisions, his brother Raul Castro said. The island's acting president gave the first clues about his brother's health in weeks, saying during a speech that Fidel has a "healthier mentality, full use of his mental faculties with some small physical limitations." The younger Castro said his brother remains a key voice in government and that Communist Party leaders support his re-election to Cuba's parliament, the National Assembly -- a move that could allow Fidel Castro to keep his post as president of the Council of State. Although Fidel Castro's condition and even his exact illness are state secrets, he has officially retained his post atop Cuba's supreme governing body, the Council of State. Parliamentary elections take place January 20. Raul's comments could indicate his brother has no intention of retiring permanently. Through daily exercise, Fidel "has recovered a lot of weight and muscle mass," he said, speaking to voters in Fidel's voting district in Santiago, an eastern city where the brothers spent part of their youth. He said Fidel asked him to visit voters and trump up support for him because he was unable to personally. In afternoon remarks that were carried nationwide on Cuban state television, Raul said his brother "has more time, he's reading more than ever. He's meditating more than ever and writing almost more than ever." (AP, 25/12/07)

December 24: Speaking of Cuba's electoral system, Raul Castro noted that US democracy pits two identical parties against one another, and joked that a choice between a Republican and Democrat is like choosing between himself and his brother Fidel. Raul scoffed at the notion that Cuba needs to be more like the United States. But he acknowledged that the island's communist government has its flaws, saying "our system has to become more democratized." But he did not elaborate on what a more democratic Cuba might look like. "I want to say this: If we only have one party that represents the interests of the people, where we can have differences, we should have them," he said. "Not class clashes, but it's good to have differences." (AP, 25/12/07)

December 24: General Raúl Castro Ruz, Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), inaugurated the Francisco Repilado Music Band School, in the province of Santiago de Cuba. The center of musical formation, which is part of a strategy of Fidel Castro to give a Band to every single one of the more than 160 municipalities in Cuba, is situated in the town of Santa María, a few kilometers to the north of this city. Raúl Castro Ruz, who is also the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, was accompanied in the opening event by the members of the Political Buro of the Central Committee of the PCC, General Ramón Espinosa Martín, the Chief of the Eastern Army; Misael Enamorado Dager, first secretary of the PCC in the province of Santiago de Cuba, and Abel Prieto Jiménez, Cuban Minister for Culture. (Cuba News Headlines, 31/12/07)

December 24: Cuba's Catholic church called in its annual Christmas message for changes in the communist country to meet the expectations of the people. With "so many expectations rising over the changes necessary to improve and transform national life," the church "offers its prayers and contribution to find real and efficient solutions that can nourish this hope," Cuba's Conference of Bishops said. Usually an unsung holiday, Christmas this year in Cuba was a little more noticeable, with Christmas tree and decorations adorning some homes and shops, and louder messages of cheer coming from the now more accessible neighborhood churches. (AFP, 24/12/07)

December 24: A detailed report on the electoral rolls that will be issued for the second stage of the general elections in the country will be presented to the head of the Cuban National Electoral Commission (CEN). On January 20, Cubans will elect a total of 1,291 delegates to provincial governments, and also the deputies to the parliament (614) for a five-year term. CEN's president, Maria Esther Reus, said collating the registers is one of the most important tasks within the preparation process. The rolls include the full name, date of birth and address of all Cuban citizens over 16 years with the legal capacity to exercise their vote, without race, gender nor social background distinctions. Only those who have been sentenced for crimes or are mentally disabled are not included. [Full list of candidates to the National Assembly] (RHC-ACN, 24/12/07)

December 26: The Cuban deputies are analyzing major issues of the country's 2007 socio economic behaviour, as well as prospects for 2008, in working commissions holding sessions on December 26-27. The main objective of the two-day agenda is to examine the economic plan and budget for the sectors under parliamentary attention, as well as the fulfilment of tasks carried out by those commissions since 2003. Sources from the People's Power National Assembly commented that the production and distribution of food for the population, efficiency, saving, productivity, and work discipline are other topics under analysis. The agenda also includes the assessment of results of educative and cultural programs, and the delivery of electrical appliances to Cuban families as part of the ongoing Energy Revolution. In addition, the commission in charge of health and sports will debate on universalization of medical sciences teaching, the new model for a degree in medicine, and use and integration of resources. (Prensa Latina, 26/12/07)

December 26: Cuban judicial authorities said that the island is putting a special emphasis on the fight against crimes related to drugs and corruption. Attorney General Juan Escalona and the Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruben Remigio Ferro gave reports of the legal actions in this regard to the National Assembly's Constitutional and Judicial Affairs Committee. Both leaders expressed their views and responded to concerns of members of the committee, one of the ten in session as a previous step to the last plenary session of this legislature. Escalona noted that the Attorney General's Office will strengthen procedures to prosecute crimes detected during inspections of organisms and companies. (Prensa Latina, 26/12/07)

December 26: A new edition of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" will be presented in Havana. The new publication commemorates the 80th birthday anniversary of the author, Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The book includes illustrations by famous Cuban painter Roberto Favelo and was edited by the Cuban Book Institute and the Art and Literature Publishing House as a tribute to the celebrated Colombian writer, reported Granma newspaper. The new edition also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the first publication of the novel in 1967, which made a difference in 20th century Latin American fiction. (ACN, 26/12/07)

December 27: A news release of the Miami-based Cuban Democratic Directorate criticized the temporary arrest of several young promoters of university autonomy, between December 23 and 26 in Guantánamo. Dozens of police citations and threats against dissidents were also reported. (EER, 27/12/07)

December 27: The ten permanent commissions of the Cuban National Assembly (Parliament) concluded two days of meetings in which they analyzed important aspects of the social and economic situation of the country, including topics that go from national defense to economic performance and public services. Projects based on the economic plan and the 2008 budget have also been discussed as well as reports on the work done since 2003 until today. The Permanent Commission on Foreign Affairs included an address by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who briefed deputies on several aspects of the island's foreign policy. The meetings of these permanent commissions, made up of more than 250 parliament members, are being held prior to the 10th ordinary period of sessions of the Sixth Legislature of the Cuban Parliament that takes place on December 28 in Havana's Convention Center. This period of sessions will be the last one of the Sixth Legislature that concludes its five-year term on January 20, 2008, when the second stage of the national general elections takes place. (ACN, 27/12/07)

December 27: The Defense Commission of the Cuban National Assembly announced that an artistic delegation will begin a tour around a number of penitentiaries in eight provinces of the country in January. The delegation will include renowned artists such as Silvio Rodriguez, Amaury Perez, Vicente Feliu and the Sexto Sentido quartet. They will be accompanied by Havana Historian Eusebio Leal. This tour is part of a program to strengthen the cultural and sports work in the institutions of the island's penitentiary system. (ACN, 27/12/07)

December 28: In a letter to the National Assembly, Fidel Castro, the 81-year-old strongman, again made an ambiguous suggestion that he could give up the presidency, saying that he had stopped clinging to power. "There was a stage when I thought I knew what had to be done and I wanted the power to do it," he admitted, saying it was due to "an excess of youthfulness and deficit of conscience." "What made me change? Life itself, tempered by the profound thought of (Jose) Marti and the classics of socialism," Castro said, in the letter read by assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcon. In the letter Castro also referred to criticisms made by Washington that in choosing his brother Raul to steer the country he was being anti-democratic and reserving power to his family. "In the proclamation signed on July 31, 2006, none of you saw it at all as an act of nepotism nor as a usurping of the functions of the assembly," he told the body. The letter was the second time in a month that Castro, who has led Cuba since 1959, made an opaque reference to giving up power. [Fidel Castro’s message] (ACN, 28/12/07)

December 28: In the closing speech of Cuba’s parliamentary sessions, Raul Castro told the assembly that officials have spent months debating how to shape Cuba's economic future, alleviate crippling housing and transportation shortages, and boost agricultural output, "We'd all like to move faster, but it's not always possible," he said. "Those who occupy positions of leadership should know how to listen and create an environment that is favorable for everyone to express themselves with absolute freedom," he said. Criticism, when used appropriately, is essential to advancing." Castro said the debate promoted by the Cuban Communist Party on the concepts explained during the central rally last July 26 in the eastern city of Camaguey, confirms the choice of Cubans for socialism. The debates were aimed at finding collective support and the best solutions based on the country’s economic possibilities, he said. [Intervención de Raúl Castro] (AP, CAN, 28/12/07)

December 30: After 21 years of marriage, Pedro Llera and his wife Maura decided to call it quits. Their divorce took 20 minutes, but Llera compares what came next to ''more than a year of open war in the house.'' Sleeping in the same bed and sharing a single room with their 14-year-old daughter, they battled in Cuba's courts over who should stay in their second-floor, two-bedroom apartment in Havana's spiffy Vedado district. Estranged Cuban couples sometimes remain under the same roof for years or even lifetimes, learning that while divorce on the island is easy, housing is not. The phenomenon is a testament not only to the communist-run island's severe housing shortage, but also to Cubans' ability to stay friendly -- or at least civil -- under the most awkward of circumstances. ''In a developed country, you get divorced and someone goes to a hotel and then to a new house,'' said Llera, a 60-year-old mechanic. ''Here we had to keep living like a couple.'' By law, Cubans cannot sell their homes and because the state controls almost all property, moves must be approved. Housing is so scarce, however, that often there is nowhere to go. The government has long estimated an island-wide shortage of half a million homes. (AP, 30/12/07)

December 31: Fidel Castro saluted the Cuban people for their "50 years of resistance" against the United States in a written message read on state television shortly before the first minutes of the new year. "During the course of the morning, the 49th year of the Revolution will have been left behind and we will have fully entered the 50th year, which will symbolize a half century of heroic resistance," said the message read by a television presenter shortly before midnight. The broadcast showed old photographs of the Cuban leader. "We proclaim to the world with pride this record which makes us believe in the most just of our demands: that there be respect for the life and the wholesome joy of our nation." Cuba will mark the 50th anniversary of the January 1, 1959, triumph of the revolution that brought Castro to power a year from now, but is already characterizing all of 2008 leading up to that date as the "50th year of the revolution." [Mensaje de Fidel Castro al pueblo de Cuba] (AP, 1/1/08)

December 31: Cubans will celebrate the triumph of the Revolution with activities nationwide. All over the island, Cubans will welcome the 2008 New Year and will celebrate the 49th anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution with outdoor parties, fairs and concerts. Organized by governmental cultural departments in every province, prestigious Cuban bands will be playing in parks and public squares on New Year's Eve through the night and on January 1. Likewise, fresh products will be on sale in agricultural fairs that will be opened for the occasion. (Radio Habana Cuba, 31/12/07)