Chronicle on Cuba - February 2008

Domestic Affairs

February 1: The Regional Child Protection Conference concluded in Havana with strong commitments to provide a high level of protection for children, and ample recovery and social reinsertion assistance to child sexual abuse victims. Brigade General Armando Lopez Orta of the Cuban Interior Ministry (MININT) said that a combined effort is the most effective way to safeguard minors. He noted that studies have shown that 20 percent of women, and 5 to 10 percent of men worldwide, suffered sexual abuse as children. Fifty specialists from fifteen countries participated in the Regional Child Protection Conference where they shared experiences in dealing with cases of child sex abuse. (Periódico 26, 3/2/08)

February 1: Police forces evicted more than sixty families by force in Holguín. On January 29th about one hundred special police forces and a similar number of state security agents showed up in El Pitíquarter and reduced a settlement that had existed for more than five years to rabble. In response to the local residents’ reaction to preserve their belongings, the police forces struck forward, wounding a dozen of the evicted including five women. The secretary of the Communist Party in the territory, Miguel Díaz-Canel, does not accept that more than 700 families have had to build their homes “in areas of interest to the army, reforestation and future industrial plans.” (EER, 1/2/08)

February 2: The newly elected 1,201 delegates from 14 provincial assemblies of People's Power began their new positions, with each Assembly choosing a President and Vice President based on proposals from the candidate commissions. These groups are made up of grassroots and student organizations, and put forth the leaders they consider most capable after an exhaustive analytical process. The provincial delegates, in term for five years, received a vote of confidence last January 20 by 95.46 percent of 8.17 million voters to perform, according to article 115 of the Cuban Constitution, a "labor for collective benefit and report the results of their management." The Provincial Assemblies are the highest instances of State power in their areas. (Prensa Latina, 2/2/08)

February 4: Cuban electoral authorities continued arrangements to elect on February 24 the Council of State. The recently elected 614 delegates for the National Assembly of the Peoples' Power will elect 31 members to the Council of State, led by Fidel Castro since its creation in 1976. Alberto Marchante, member of the National Candidatures Commission, said recently that the country will present aspirants to those posts after an extensive process of consultations with legislators, as they did with provincial delegates. Official media published photos and names of presidents and vice presidents for the 14 Provincial Assemblies of the Peoples' Power, created on February 2. (Prensa Latina, 4/2/08)

February 4: Cuba's most famous percussionist, Tata Güines, died of a kidney disease in Havana. He was 77. Tata, whose real name was Federico Aristides Soto, shared the stage with some of the world's most renowned performers during a career spanning more than six decades. In the US in the 1950s, the "King of the Congas" performed with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Josephine Baker and Dizzy Gillespie. He had spent his formative years playing with some of the greats of 1930's and 40's Cuban music. Despite his success in the United States, Guines returned to Cuba after Fidel Castro's communist revolution in 1959, saying he had never been able to get used to the racial segregation in the US at the time. After spending years away from the public eye, he enjoyed renewed success in 2004 when he performed on the Grammy nominated hit album, “Lagrimas Negras” (Black Tears), together with Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés. (BBC, 5/2/08) 

February 4: The presence of peaceful opposition leaders in the city of Santa Clara set off a strong police operation in the central park Leoncio Vidal.  Dressed in plain clothes the police formed a human barricade in front of the offices of the CMHW radio broadcasting station and summoned other members of mass organizations, the Association of the Cuban Revolution Combatants (ACRC) and the Communist Party. Dissident leaders Martha Beatriz Roque, Vladimiro Roca, Félix Bonne and Francisco Chaviano travelled to Santa Clara to inquire with the State Security in the province about the situation of Jorge Luís García Pérez (Antúnez), charged of public disorder and disobedience on January 28th. (Cubanet, 8/2/08)

February 5: Cuban university students, in a rare public challenge to authorities, openly criticized government restrictions on access to the Internet, hotels and travel abroad. In the 52-minute video, students at the University of Information Sciences demanded explanations from National Assembly president Ricardo Alarcon on a series of issues. The video has since been circulated secretly on computer memory cards. "Why can't the people of Cuba go to hotels or travel to other parts of the world?" asked one student, who identified himself as Eliecer Avila. Only foreigners are allowed to stay at hotels at beach resorts. To leave the island, Cubans need a permit from the government, which particularly restricts travel by young people. Avila asked why the government had banned the use of Web sites Yahoo! and Google for e-mail and messenger services. Alarcon, who is the speaker of Cuba's legislature, dodged some questions, saying he did not know about monetary and Internet matters. The students criticized Cuba's leadership for being out of touch with the people and asked the government to be more forthcoming with proposals on how to solve pressing problems, from poor public transport to low wages. [Video] (BBC Mundo Latino, 5/2/08)

Febrero 5: Workplace discipline measures put into effect ten months ago have gone mostly unfulfilled with very “little progress” in the productive use of the workday, reported the weekly official newspaper “Trabajadores”. That was the conclusion after the inspection of 1,883 workplaces conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MTSS). According to the study of the MTSS, in 2005 “57 % of employees left the workplace to go to business establishments and take care of personal affairs during workday hours; in April 2007 that figure was 55 %; and last October it had gone down to 53 %.” (AFP, 5/2/08)

February 5: The Chinese community in Cuba and the Cuban School of Wushu are holding a week of activities to commemorate the “Year of the Rat” this February 7. Festivities for the Chinese Lunar New Year include art and traditional clothing exhibitions at the House of Arts and Traditions in Havana’s Chinatown, Granma newspaper reported. The gala “From Havana to Beijing” will close the cultural activities. The event features a martial arts exhibition at Havana’s Sports Coliseum. (ACN, 5/2/08)

February 5: Some 300 publishing houses from 31 countries will attend the 2008 Havana’s International Book Fair. From February 13 to 24, some 145 exhibitors, 90 of them foreigners, will participate in the Morro-Cabaña Park, overlooking the city of Havana, where 44 bookstores are already selling new titles. More than 8 million books, 1,300 titles, will circulate around the isle, including mountain areas. Vietnam and Indonesia are among the countries represented for the first time. Indonesia will also have an extensive craft exhibit. The literary program includes title presentations, round tables, talks and colloquiums dedicated to Galicia, the guest of honor, and to Cuban writers Graziella Pogolotti and Anton Arrufat. (Prensa Latina, 5/2/08)

February 5: Cuba has begun a “slow reinstatement” of authors censured during the 1970s, said playwright Antón Arrufat, who will be a guest of honour at the (2008) International Book Fair in Havana. The censorship of his work “Los Siete Contra Tebas” (The Seven against Tebas) unleashed an ideological and homophobic witch-hunt in Cuba’s arts world in 1971 known as “quinquenio gris” (five grey years). Arrufat was sent to the basement of a neighbourhood library to pack books for a decade. “Slowly there has been a unhurried reinstatement,” said the 72-year-old author. (Reuters, 5/2/08)

February 5: Famed Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez said he believes all Cubans should be free to travel abroad and stay in the hotels reserved for foreign tourists. Rodriguez, whose songs have made him a leading voice of the Cuban revolution, described what Cuba is going through now as ''a moment of change, of transition (…) not the only one I have lived to see within the revolution.'' The internationally renowned folk singer is a member of parliament who has long defended the Cuban government in the face of criticism over alleged human rights violations. Nonetheless, Rodriguez said that authorities should ease restrictions that prevent many Cubans from entering state-run hotels, traveling overseas and even within their own country. ''Permission to leave and enter should be completely open,'' Rodriguez said. For decades, Cuba has restricted travel to keep citizens from flooding large cities in search of jobs. It also limits visas abroad, citing national security concerns. Since Cuba first began accepting foreign tourists en masse in the early 1990s, most Cubans have been barred from hotels, even if they can pay for rooms. (Sun Sentinel, 6/2/08)

February 6: Taking up Raul Castro's invitation to speak their minds without fear of reprisal, more Cubans have begun publicly complaining and challenging government policies on everything from limits on Internet access to travel restrictions. Culture Minister Abel Prieto said that he supports gay marriage. ''I think that marriage between lesbians, between homosexuals can be perfectly approved and that in Cuba that wouldn't cause an earthquake or anything like that,'' Prieto, a member of the party's powerful Politburo, told reporters following the screening of a documentary. A 57-year-old writer turned political leader, Prieto is also a member of the island's supreme governing body, the Council of State. And he said he supports what Raul Castro has termed a ''debate'' on Cuba's future. The ''immense majority of intellectuals'' want to ''confront problems, to battle all expressions of bureaucracy in culture and in society and at the same time defend this revolution and socialism,'' Prieto said. (Sun Sentinel, EFE, 6/2/08)

February 6: In an article, the official newspaper Granma criticised the Cuban Communist Party (PCC). Granma called on the PCC to "end the lies" and stop giving "undeserved credit" to its own ranks. The newspaper goes on to say "make no mistake, some have been weak on their ethical conduct". It also says that Cubans "should not have to tolerate [a situation in which] distortions of reality become habit to avoid deserved criticism or sanctions" in the PCC. The article, entitled "The Lie", was by María Julia Mayoral, who worked for the now defunct daily Bastión, which belonged to the Cuban Armed Forces. (El Nuevo Herald, 6/2/08)

February 6: Some 400 books went on sale today in 44 Havana bookstores, anticipating the 2008 International Book Fair that will be inaugurated on February 13. These sales allow the avid Havana public to get a head start on some of the titles that will be presented at the fair. (Prensa Latina, 6/2/08)

February 6: Dissident leader Maura Iset González Jurguet, national president of the Latin-American Federation of Rural Women (FLAMUR) in Cuba, was arrested and taken to a police station. The peaceful oppositionist was kept there for 2 hours and was threatened with 20 years in jail if she continued her involvement in the “With the same currency” campaign. (Cubanet, 12/2/08)

February 6: A national seminar to promote the use of the Cuban asthma vaccine ‘Valergem’ was inaugurated in Havana province. The event, that has a scientific-educational nature, takes place at the National Center of Bio-Preparations (BIOCEN) and it aims at promoting the use of the first therapeutic vaccine developed on the island to treat asthma, a very common health problem among Cubans. (ACN, 6/2/08)

February 7: People were arrested and hundreds of DVD and video cassettes were confiscated for allegedly containing television programs made in Miami, after a police clamp down in Camagüey, Havana and Santiago de Cuba against the rental of “subversive” material. In Camagüey several rental houses were taken over after a surge in demand for the new TV program hosted Carlos Otero in America TeVe, especially the episode containing an interview in which the actress Susana Pérez announces she’s not going back to the island. (EER, 8/2/08)

February 7: The non-fulfillment of the recruitment plan for educators, as well as successive declines in the number of these professionals, was analyzed at the 10th Conference of Workers in Education, the Science and Sports, held at the Havana Convention Center. Lázara Mercedes López Acea, a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party, pointed out that it is necessary to develop cohesion through union activity and to work in a collective way in the search for solutions. “The attention to youth should be greater, and the recognition to the teacher's work must be on-going,” she stressed. A delegate from the city of Ciego de Avila noted that educators are for the most part very young. “For that reason they need more support and guidance than those more experienced, and also help from the family, the community, from everybody,” she said. (Juventud Rebelde, 7/2/08)

February 7: A 12-year-old Cuban student, Daniel Castañeda Alayo, died after his teacher, 17-year-old Rolando, hit him with a chair during an argument in the classroom. The homicide took place February 1st in the secondary school Domingo Sarmientos, in Lawton, City of Havana. During the night on February 1st and 2nd, unknown individuals threw rocks at three of the state-run residences housing “emergent teachers” in the districts of El Cerro, Vedado and Luyanó, the latter where teacher Rolando was staying before his arrest. Emergent teachers are youngsters turned teachers to make up for the shortage of teachers in the country, part of a plan designed by Fidel Castro. (El Nuevo Herald, 8/2/08)

February 7: An unprecedented debate last year among Cuban intellectuals about decades-old cultural repression touched off a snowball effect that has even been felt within the inner circles of the island's communist government. The debate on the "five grey years" (1971-76), as the witch hunt against artists and intellectuals for homosexuality or their supposed lack of commitment to the revolution has been labelled, today reverberates in a critical examination of Cuban society that extends beyond the cultural sphere. Writer Leonardo Padura, who uses the metaphor of a "snowball," told the press that the "debate among the intellectuals was a little ball that has gradually grown (with) different needs and complaints having slowly been added to it." "A change in perception about many phenomena in Cuban society has begun and it wasn't by chance that the intellectuals were the ones who began to move this wheel, which had completely stopped," he said. "There are demands that at this stage are absolutely fundamental," he added, such as the right of Cubans to enter tourist hotels, leave the country, have access to cell phones and freely sell houses and automobiles, as well as demands for changes in the forms of landholding and production. Playwright Anton Arrufat told the press that when the debate took place last year some did not want to participate because "they thought it was an isolated matter, and in this country isolated matters tend to flare up and affect many other matters." In his opinion, Cuba is going through "a moment in which the people in general and we artists are willing to participate and participate means butting in." "If we get burned later," he said, "that's something only time will tell, but at least the fear is gone." (EFE, 8/2/08)

February 8: Ricardo González Alfonso, was transferred on January 27 from the hospital wing of the military prison in Combinado del Este - to which he was readmitted in September 2007 - back to the prison cell where he has been serving his 20-year sentence since the “black spring” of March 2003. He is suffering from high blood pressure, allergies, migraine, chronic bronchitis and circulation and digestive disorders. Since 23 January he has only been eating food brought to him by his family. (RWB Press Release, 8/2/08)

February 8: More open debate is flourishing on the Internet where bloggers like Yoani Sanchez, who is not part of the island's so-called dissident movement, walk a fine line between criticism and political opposition. "Cyberspace hasn't been fully regulated here yet. It's in a legal limbo," said Sanchez, 32, who began blogging in April. "I think that's why I am still here because there is no clear illegality in writing on the Internet." Sanchez's site attracted 800,000 hits in January, most from outside Cuba. Inside Cuba, Internet access is increasing, but it remains an object of suspicion. Cuba's communications minister, Ramiro Valdes, a veteran comandante of the revolution, recently told an international conference that the Internet was "the wild colt of new technologies," adding that it "can and must be controlled." Only trusted government employees, academics and researchers may have personal Internet accounts, which are provided by government servers. Ordinary Cubans are allowed access to e-mail at local post offices. They can view government approved Web sites through an official Cuban "Intranet" that blocks pornography and anti-Castro web sites. Sanchez sticks to the rules. She never uses the free Internet access offered at the US diplomatic mission in Havana. Nor does she use improvised Internet setups that some Cubans have installed illegally at home. "I can't do that. I want to explore the small cracks in the wall to see what is permissible," she says. (St. Petersburg Times, 8/2/08)

February 9: Interim president Raul Castro has officially convened the National Assembly for a February 24 meeting, when a new new Legislature will be settled. Under a decree published in official newspapers, Raul Castro, 76, summoned the 614 deputies -- including himself and his brother Fidel Castro, 81 -- selected in an uncontested January 20 vote, to the late February gathering to choose the Council of State. Its leader is Cuba's president. Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader since 1959, has not appeared in public since taking ill 18 months ago. (Prensa Latina, AFP, 9/2/08)

February 10: According to the newspaper “Juventud Rebelde” internal political criticism has lacked “consistency” in Cuba, but the announced system of reforms will not stop, calling it “a revolution within the revolution.” The newspaper criticized some headlines in the foreign media dealing with a recent public debate in the country, and the intense broadcasting of a video with university students criticizing Cuban politics and the economy with parliamentary leader Ricardo Alarcón. The article did not debate the critiques but rather took a position on the internal debate, arguing that: a) criticism has existed before in the country, but it has been insufficient; b) it has to be constructive, and c) its impact abroad will not provoke internal “reactions of containment” of reforms. (La Jornada, 1/2/08)

February 11: The Sixth International Congress on Higher Education "Universidad 2008" opened in Havana’s Karl Marx Theater with the attendance of over 3,500 delegates and guests from 75 countries. According to the organizing committee of the event, to be run until February 15, about 2,500 foreign academics, professors and researchers will debate for five days on quality of higher education. Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy and Cuba are the most represented delegations. The agenda of the meeting that is taking place at Havana's Conference Center includes attention to the university of the 21st century, teaching improvement, social inclusion and membership in higher education. (Prensa Latina, 11/2/08)

February 11:  In response to the statement by popular singer Silvio Rodriguez that political transition is taking place in Cuba, the president of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya, said changes on the island can only be considered to be taking place when there is true respect for human rights. “Cubans have learned through various media, but not through state-run sources, of the statements by singer and former congressman Silvio Rodriguez in which he speaks of transition as a fact,” Paya said in a statement. He praised Rodriguez, who is an admirer of the Castro regime, for expressing his desire to see Cubans be allowed to stay in hotels and to enter and leave the country without having to request permission, but Paya stressed that many Cubans are serving unjust prison sentences and in inhumane conditions, only for demanding respect for basic rights. “We have the obligation to express solidarity with these Cubans and demand these peaceful political prisoners be released.  That would be justice and moral consistency,” Paya said. He added that while there may be different opinions about Cuba’s past, about the current situation and about the future, “What we must all agree upon is that we all have rights.” (Catholic News Agency, 11/2/08)

February 11: An earth tremor measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale was felt in four Cuban eastern provinces. The National Center of Seismic Research (CENAIS) in Santiago de Cuba reported that the tremor was felt in localities of that province, as well as in Granma, Holguin and Guantanamo provinces. The epicenter was located south of Baconao, on the outskirts of Santiago de Cuba city, at a depth of 14 kilometers. (ACN, 11/2/08)

February 11: A human rights group reported that a Cuban university student was arrested over the weekend after being shown on video being critical of the government despite a flurry of international attention on the case. The BBC posted a video of students at the Computer Science University near Havana asking National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón tough questions about restrictions on travel and the use of dual currencies in Cuba. Human rights activists in Cuba said one of the students, Eliécer Avila, was taken from his home in rural Las Tunas province by state security agents on February 9. The Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs, an umbrella organization for Cuban human rights groups, released the news after one of its activists, Esilia Carreoso, was contacted by Avila's mother. Efforts by The Miami Herald to reach Carreoso or the student's mother, Elsa Sicilia, were unsuccessful. (The Miami Herald, EER, El Nuevo Herald, 11/2/08)

February 12: Havana’s Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Ortega confirmed the upcoming visit of the Vatican’s Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone to the island at the invitation of the local Catholic Church and the Cuban government, reported the evening TV news. Cardinal Bertone will be in Cuba from February 20-26 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba, said Ortega, as reported by Granma daily. John Paul II was welcomed with great affection by the people and was well received by the country’s authorities, Ortega recalled. “John Paul’s visit to Cuba left a more lively presence of the Catholic Church in Cuban reality and closer relations between the church, society and the state,” the archbishop said. “I believe it is significant that Pope Benedict XVI sends his secretary of state to Cuba for the commemoration of a landmark in the history of the Catholic Church in our country,” he noted. Cardinal Bertone will celebrate a mass at the Cathedral Plaza in Havana on February 21. He will also travel to the city of Santa Clara, to Santiago de Cuba to visit the Santuario del Cobre (Shrine of our Lady of Charity) and the province of Guantanamo, Ortega said. (ACN, 12/2/08)

February 12: A Cuban student who appeared in a video grilling a top Cuban official is denying reports that he was arrested afterward, and maintains that his questions were aimed only at bettering socialism. In the video news agencies obtained and aired days ago, Eliecer Avila was seen grilling Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly, about low wages and why Cubans are banned from tourist hotels and from traveling abroad. The student's questions came during a meeting between Alarcon and students at the University of Computer Science in Havana. In a new video, the Cuban government says it is responding to "manipulation" by the overseas press and "media terrorism." In the new tape, Avila says his questions were meant to improve socialism. When asked by an interviewer about reports that he was arrested over the weekend, Avila acknowledges that while his absence from the university might have seemed mysterious to some, "At no point was it an arrest. My family is completely calm. There is no problem." Avila says the foreign media twisted his words out of context. The new video follows an article in Cuba's state-run newspaper warning that if the media outside Cuba is attempting to make Cubans criticize themselves in public, they will not succeed. The new video, not the previous one, was aired in national TV. [Videos publicados por la prensa oficial cubana] (CNN, BBC Mundo Latino, EFE, 12/2/08)

February 12: The concerns expressed by students of the University of Computer Science (UCI), during a meeting with the president of the National Assembly, were described as "normal" by César Lage Codorniú, president of the University Student Federation (FEU) at UCI. In a video published by Granma, Lage Codorniú, the son of Vice President Carlos Lage, said the videotape of the entire meeting with Alarcón at the UCI was placed on the university’s Intranet and was fully accessible to all students. Several versions of this video were distributed by news agencies based in Havana, including BBC Mundo. The criticism voiced by the students was similar to questions raised last year in spontaneous debates in Cuba conducted by email and on several blogs and web sites, and in public discussions of the country’s most pressing problems, which were convoked by acting president Raúl Castro. (IPS, 12/2/08)

February 13: The mother of Cuban neurosurgeon Hilda Molina asked Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state of the Vatican, to intercede with Havana so that doctor Molina may travel to Buenos Aires, where her son and grandchildren live. Hilda Molina, who broke with the government long ago, has requested in vain for 14 years that Havana allow her to visit her son and grandchildren in Argentina. (EER, 13/2/08)

February 14: Writers, artists and academics from 31 countries are expected to attend the 2008 International Book Fair, starting in Havana. About 145 exhibitors, 90 of them from publishing houses like Mexican "Ediciones B," Australian "Ocean Press" and German "Junge Welt" will take part in the expo, to be extended to another 40 Cuban cities. The main venue is Havana"s San Carlos de la Cabana Fortress and the guest of honor is Galicia, Spain. Over eight million copies, nearly 1,300 titles and proposals from foreign publishing houses will be on sale throughout the island, including the mountain range zones in the eastern provinces. The exhibition’s agenda includes book launchings, round tables, talks, magisterial lectures and colloquiums dedicated to Cuban writers Graziella Pogolotti and Anton Arrufat. (Prensa Latina, 14/2/08)

February 14: More than a year after the outbreak of the so-called "e-mail war", the debate on cultural policy has not died down in Cuba. And although the issue is not addressed in the national media, the discussion continues, and is spreading to embrace other aspects of life in this socialist island nation. Lectures, book launches, and the airing of works previously censored by national television have been occurring in recent months, less frequently and with a weaker public impact than many people would like, but systematically enough so that the call to dialogue is not forgotten. "What’s happening shows how much we still need opportunities and spaces for this debate," psychologist Norma Guillard told the press, following a talk on the portrayal of lesbians and gays by Richard Dyer, a professor of film studies at King’s College, University of London. Organised by the Criterios Theoretical-Cultural Centre, with the support of the International School of Film and Television in San Antonio de los Baños, the goal of the meeting was to promote theoretical reflection from the standpoint of culture on issues of sexual diversity and human rights, which are being raised in present-day Cuban society. A second lecture by Dyer on the portrayal of race also promises an intense debate on the problem. While racial issues have been studied and analysed by a number of academics and intellectuals in Cuba, their conclusions have largely been filed away in dusty corners and have barely appeared in the national press or wider forums. (IPS, 14/2/08)

February 14: With Raúl Castro, first vice president of the Council of State and Ministers, the 17th International Book Fair was officially opened, to continue through next February 24 in the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress in Havana. In a statement to the press, Vice President Raúl Castro, also minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, praised the originality of the pavilion presented by Galicia, the guest of honor at the literary event. In a possible hint of a busy future, Raul Castro said his official duties leave him little time to read, and that he will likely die well short of completing his ideal reading list. "I've got little time to read books. I'll die with hundreds of books I've got waiting there for me to read some day (...) but for now, lots of (official) papers" to handle, Raul said on opening the International Book Fair in Havana. Suggesting that he might continue in his busy capacity as Cuba's top leader for some time to come, Raul repeated that he would die with many books left unread. "There they are waiting. Sometimes I read two at a time," he said. (Granma International, AFP, 15/2/08)

February 15: A study by the Cuban Institute of Legal Medicine, based on 246 cases opened in 2001 involving complaints of sexual abuse of children and teenagers under the age of 16, found that over half of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 15 and that 75 percent were girls. The head of the Interior Ministry’s office on minors, Colonel Enrique Pérez, told the press in late January that these cases represent less than five percent of all reported crimes. "The main objective is to obtain tape recorded proof that meets the requisites for being presented as evidence in court," said Niurka Ronda, director of the governmental Centre for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, which opened in February 2005 in Havana and is the only one of its kind in Cuba. The Centre dealt with just over 100 cases in 2007, most of which were referred to it by the police, who received the complaints, although some victims came directly to the Centre itself. "These incidents are reported more frequently now than they used to be. I think that’s because there is a greater openness to information about and understanding of these issues. Nevertheless, she said, few people know about the Centre for the Protection of Children and Adolescents or are aware of where to turn in such cases or of how to detect incidents of child abuse. Ronda said most of the cases involve molestation without rape, and that very few cases of severe abuse like rape are reported. (IPS, 15/2/08)

February 15: Almost 4,000 participants in the Sixth International Congress "Universidad 2008" successfully wind up five days of sessions in Cuba, in which they advocated for integrating higher education and societies. Before concluding the forum at the Havana's International Conference Center, delegates from 50 countries expect to analyze ways to internationalize that kind of education in the region. Also on the list is to tackle the function of new information technologies in training human resources and its incidence in the cooperation among universities and nations. In a panel of education ministers, that of Venezuela Higher Education Luis Acuna called to foster students' training to defend their peoples' interests. "It is necessary for universities to support revolutions in the area," stated Acuna, alluding to the processes of changes in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela. (Prensa Latina, 15/2/08)

February 15: In a move that human-rights activists condemned as ''forced exile,'' four Cuban dissidents jailed since a harsh crackdown five years ago will be freed and sent to Spain with their families. Another three prisoners will be freed soon, the Spanish government announced. The dissidents were arrested in a political crackdown ordered by Fidel Castro in March 2003 that put 75 of his opponents in prison with sentences of up to 28 years. Sixteen had already been freed on health grounds. One of them, economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, said the new releases were a step in the right direction by acting President Raul Castro. "This is a rational step by the Cuban government and by the reformist sectors within that want change," Espinosa Chepe said. "It reflects a climate of change and will benefit that climate of change," he said. Another dissident, Manuel Cuesta Morua, said the government of Raul Castro was responding to requests by the international community for improved respect for human rights in Cuba. But, the move was decried by hard-line members of the Cuban opposition, who cast it as a cynical ploy to boost Spain's socialist government, which faces a general election next month. ''This is not what the opposition needs,'' said Martha Beatriz Roque, one of the original 75. ``They are using the political prisoners for their own political gain (…) The position the Spanish government has taken on this makes me nauseous.'' The four to be released were identified as Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos, serving a 25-year sentence; Omar Pernet, serving 25 years; José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, sentenced to 20 years; and Alejandro González Raga, serving 14 years. They were expected to leave Havana on a flight to Madrid, Elizardo Sánchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said from Havana. The ensuing group of three to be released was not identified. (Reuters, The Miami Herald, 15,16/2/08)

February 19: Fidel Castro stepped down as the president of Cuba after a long illness, according to Granma, the official publication of the Cuban Communist Party. Just days before the National Assembly is to meet to select a new head of state, Mr. Castro resigned permanently in a letter to the nation and signaled his willingness to let a younger generation assume power. He said his failing health made it impossible to return as president. “I will not aspire to neither will I accept — I repeat I will not aspire to neither will I accept — the position of President of the Council of State and Commander in chief,” he wrote. In the letter, he expressed confidence that the country would be in goods hands with a government composed of elements of “the old guard” and “others who were very young when the first stage of the revolution began.” Mr. Castro asserted he declined to step down earlier to avoid dealing a blow to the Cuba government before “the people” were ready for a traumatic change “in the middle of the battle” with the United States over control of the country’s future. “To prepare the people for my absence, psychologically and politically, was my first obligation after so many years of struggle,” he said. [Message from the Commander in Chief] (The New York Times, AP, Reuters, Granma, 19/2/08)

February 19: In a press release issued in response to the news that Fidel Castro has stepped down as president of Cuba, the leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, said the Cuban dictator’s retirement should mark the beginning of an era of freedom and reconciliation in the country. Paya said the news “undoubtedly is of importance both historically and for the lives of Cubans both inside and outside of Cuba,” because “one man’s almost five decades of power has ended, and we have always said the successor of Fidel Castro should be the sovereign people.” The leader of the Christian Liberation Movement is calling on Cuba’s National Assembly to “immediately work to transform the laws so that citizens may enjoy freedom of expression and of association, to transform election laws, hold free elections, free peaceful political prisoners so that, in order and in peace, in an atmosphere of reconciliation, the Cuban nation can begin a new phase in its life.” [Declaración del Movimiento Cristiano Liberación] (Catholic News Agency, 19/2/08)

February 19: The main leaders of Cuba’s internal dissidents reacted between apathy and hope to the possibility of change after Fidel Castro’s announcement that he will neither aspire to nor accept “the position of president of the Council of State and Commander in Chief.” “I think he’s done the most sensible thing (...) but in any event in the year and a half without Fidel there has been no change, and there will be no change now either,” said Vladimiro Roca, spokesman of the All United movement. Roca did not give much importance to the fact that Castro preserves the post of first secretary of the Communist Party. “The Party stopped being an entity of power long ago. Here the power was Fidel Castro, himself, with all the titles (…) it was Fidel and his will,” he said. Social democrat Manuel Cuesta said that, “Cuba will begin to normalize as a country after this decision that I call brave on the part of the Cuban ex-president, of looking at reality and realizing that Cuba needs a different course and that Cuba has changed,” he said."The most vulnerable part of his persona as a politician is precisely his continued defense of a totalitarian model that is the main cause of the hardships, the misery and the unhappiness of the Cuban people," said Elizardo Sanchez, a human rights advocate and critic of the Castro regime. (AFP, CNN, EER, 19/2/08)

February 19: The president of the National Assembly of the People’s Power, Ricardo Alarcón, called on all Cubans to remain “united” to be consistent with the legacy of Fidel Castro, who resigned from the positions of president of the Council of State and of Commander in Chief. “We must commit ourselves with him (Castro) that united we will be capable, now and always, of keeping high the dignity of our homeland, of making it a more and more just, freer, more independent, more sovereign, and more beautiful homeland,” said Alarcón. (AFP, EER, 19/2/08)

February 19: In Cuba, half the women who die as a result of domestic abuse are murdered in the home, while the other 50 per cent die very close to the family circle, according to University of Havana professor and one of the most renowned researchers on the topic in Cuba, Clotilde Proveyer. During the International Conference on Violence / Counterviolence in the Culture of Latin-American and Caribbean Women, which took place in Casa de las Américas, Proveyer indicated that 52 per cent of women's deaths as a result of domestic abuse happened at home. (IPS, 19/2/08).

February 20: The main topic of discussion at the upcoming 9th Congress of the Cuban Federation of High School Students (FEEM), will be the continuity of the Revolution, FEEM leader Patricia Flechilla announced. "This is our responsibility today. Not only to preserve what we have been given to, but to improve and move it forward," Flechilla told the press. According to the student leader, the congress will be held from March 8 and 9 at the Havana International Conference Center, with 750 delegates from all over the country and an important number of guests attending. "Other subjects related to FEEM´s organic functioning and its role in the defense of the nation." "We will cover all forms of healthy, cultural and useful recreation; cultural and sports movements in secondary education; work of information and international relations," she added. "It will not be a formal meeting but a space from the school to the rest of society in search of solutions," she commented. "We are closing an important meeting and rather than concluding we are beginning a new period of work in organization, expressed in daily tasks such as studies," she emphasized. (Prensa Latina, 20/2/08)

February 20: The resignation of Fidel Castro as Cuba's supreme leader means that changes in the socialist economy he guarded for nearly 50 years are inevitable — but experts say no one should expect too much, too soon. “We need time and there is time for transforming the economy, but it must be based on addressing first distortions such as pricing policy and sectors that directly impact the population such as agriculture,” Cuban economist Juan Triana recently told a class of university students. Another Cuban economist, who requested anonymity, said Raul Castro would have to fight both Fidel Castro and entrenched bureaucratic interests who oppose change. “I expect we will see some new measures in the coming months to improve our lives a bit, but they will be populist more than structural in nature,” he said. The government under Raul Castro has raised the prices it pays for some farm products and is expected to make more land grants to small private farmers and cooperatives. The agriculture, sugar and fishing ministries may be merged and minor changes made to the state food collection and distribution system. “Agriculture is decapitalized and needs vast amounts of resources, foreign capital and market mechanisms to make any significant progress,” the economist said. (Reuters, 20/2/08)

February 21: An outspoken Catholic priest whose church in Cuba was recently raided by state security agents said in Miami that ''something very, very profound'' is happening in Cuba and that Fidel Castro's resignation as president this week may spur people to demand wider freedoms -- whether the Cuban regime wants to loosen control or not. Even if the post-Fidel Castro government does not allow more liberty, the Reverend José Conrado Rodríguez said, Cuban civilians and church leaders likely will push for ''spaces'' in which to act more freely. Rodríguez's remarks during the first day of a two-day conference on Cuba at Florida International University provided the first reaction by a prominent member of the Cuban Catholic Church about Cuba's new political situation. ''Evidently, a new time is beginning,'' Rodríguez said, "but only if we want it to be so, only if we decide it to be so, that this time be truly new and truly different.'' He added: "The church has not been given space, and the people have not been given space, but the church is conquering space and the people are conquering space. It is not a question of whether they want to give it to us or not. We are going to take it anyway. I think the hour has arrived and we can all unite in that common effort.'' (The Miami Herald, 22/2/08)

February 22: As provisional president, Raul Castro has raised expectations for tiny pockets of private initiative. With the resignation of Fidel Castro, Cubans are hoping for an even greater loosening of the economy. The easiest such reform might be to allow more people to work for themselves. But to understand the economic issues facing Raul, who will likely be named president, one has to consider the degree to which Cuba controls private enterprise with licensing, taxes and enforcement, not to mention an onerous approval process. To be self-employed in Cuba means a lot of hard work and patience. ''There are good months and bad,'' said Gonzalez, 54, pulling a pair of pliers from his battered worktable and straightening a silver ring. ''It's worth it. Not working, that's not worth it.'' They are tutors, tire repairmen, taxi drivers and dozens of other professionals who are licensed by the Labor Ministry and forced to pay stiff taxes -- $19.20 per month -- slightly more than an average state salary. Owners of small family restaurants, musicians and artists who earn money abroad, and small farmers who sell excess produce above government quotas are also among those lawfully allowed to earn their own money. Far more Cubans work without approval in the underground economy in a country where most people need a second income to make ends meet. (AP, 22/2/08)

February 22: The Lawton Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba demanded the immediate release of Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, a Catholic pro-life leader who attracted the ire of the Cuban government after publicly protesting against abortion and the death penalty, which are both legal in the country. In its statement, the Lawton foundation—founded by Biscet himself—demands "the release of Biscet and all Cuban political prisoners, so that this peaceful human rights activist may continue his struggle for justice in Cuba.” “We urgently ask all men and women of  good will, the international press, human rights organizations, world health organizations and dignitaries of democratic nations to denounce before the Cuban government the unjust incarceration, criminal accusations, and imminent trial of this Cuban physician whose only crime is to honor the Universal Declaration of  Human Rights in his own country," the organization said. The demand coincides with the visit of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to Cuba, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit to the island. (CNA, 23/2/08)

February 23: Chile will be the guest of honor at the next International Book Fair in Cuba. The 2008 Book Fair was closed after 10 days of successful activity. Organizers closed the event officially but the installations of the Morro Cabana Park in Havana will still be open until February 24. The International Book Fair will be extended to 43 cities and towns of Cuba, including mountainous zones until March 9 in Santiago de Cuba. A total of 900,000 books were sold, said the Organizing Committee. The 10th day program included the presentation of books by Mexican Raquel Tibot, Soledad Acosta de Samper, and famous writer Elena Poniatowska. There was a special moment dedicated to recently deceased Cuban writer Lisandro Otero, 2002 National Literature Award winner, with a re-edition of his book “Temporada de Angeles”. The International Book Fair of Madrid donated books by Miguel de Cervantes, Maria Teresa de Leon and others to the National Library of Cuba. (Prensa Latina, 23/2/08)

February 23: For the seventh time new Cuban filmmakers will be able to see their works on the big screen of Havana’s movie theaters during the festival to take place this year from February 26 to March 2. Over a hundred short movies by independent filmmakers will be exhibited at the Charles Chaplin movie theater, the usual venue of the festival in the Vedado district. (Prensa Latina, 23/2/08)

February 24: Raúl Castro formally became Cuba's president, ending his older brother's 49-year rule, but he tempered any hopes for change by declaring that Fidel Castro will remain the "commander in chief" and will be consulted on important state matters. The Cuban National Assembly skipped over several younger candidates for the No. 2 spot and named orthodox Communist Party member Jose Ramon Machado, 77, as the first vice president. Machado, a physician who fought with Castro's guerrillas and treated their wounded, has served in the Communist Party hierarchy for decades and is known to be a close ally of Raul Castro. He was responsible in recent years for infusing revolutionary principles into the education system. In his first speech as president, Raúl Castro said, "Fidel is irreplaceable and the people shall continue his work when he is no longer physically with us." The fact that Fidel Castro will retain some influence over the government, and the decision to name an original member of the revolution as the first vice president and next in line to become president, has some thinking that nothing substantial has changed in Cuba. Others appointed to the 31-member Council of State, which serves as an executive body and adopts laws between assembly sessions, included several renowned "Raulistas" -- friends and cohorts of the longtime defense minister. [Key Address by Raul Castro to the NA and Members of the Council of State] (USA Today Los Angeles Times, 25/2/08)

February 24: The 76-year-old Raúl Castro announced that the creation of the new Council of Ministers would be decided after a careful analysis of the current system. “Every decision and resolution that is adopted begins to age the very next day”. “Everything must be renewed and renovated, and at every moment, it is necessary to do what that moment requires," Jaime Crombet, who was confirmed in his post as vice president of the National Assembly, told the press. For his part, Eliades Acosta, head of the cultural department of the Communist Party Central Committee, said that since Marxists believe that the economic base determines the superstructure, the top priority of the new government must be the economy. "Vigorous action will be taken. What the people expect from the revolution is precisely that: that it will solve a series of pending problems," he told the press. Although he did not specify the changes that lie ahead, President Raúl Castro said the dual currency system is being studied. But, he warned, any decision to that respect must avoid "traumatic effects and incongruencies" and must take into account the current wage system, retail prices, free services and subsidised products and services. (IPS, 25/2/08)

February 24: Vladimiro Roca, a Cuban economist who was imprisoned for his opposition to the Castro regime, said he was not surprised by the National Assembly selections to rule the country. "They raised expectations, people believed them, and now they did this," Roca said from his home in Havana. One of Cuba's most respected dissidents, Oswaldo Paya, called the election "tragicomic" and insisted that the changes "were not the choice of the people." Although sweeping reforms are unlikely, Raul Castro has talked about the need for "structural change" to combat widespread corruption and theft from state enterprises. Oscar Espinosa, a Cuban economist who was part of a group of 75 dissidents jailed during a 2003 roundup, said all the talk of economic changes had raised the expectations of Cubans to a level he had never seen before. "People are forced to rob, to live through the black market and to cheat and steal. It's a terrible situation. We've lost our values," said Espinosa, who is on a conditional medical release from prison after serving two years. Espinosa said many of the changes Cubans want are simple ones, such as the ability to buy a cellphone or stay in a hotel now reserved for tourists. He said it's nearly impossible now to buy a car or move into a new home. Cubans hope those types of changes lead to more business opportunities. "If (Raúl Castro) doesn't make these changes, the possibility of social instability is quite probable," he said. (USA Today, 25/2/08)

February 25: In a letter to Cuban journalist Katiuska Blanco, Fidel Castro wrote that in the election for members to the Council of State he did not vote against any candidate, but for all the names in the ballot. This way "defense is hermetically sealed against the empire's plans," he added. (Prensa Latina, 25/2/08)

February 25: The bishops of Cuba have given President Raúl Castro Ruz their "vote of confidence," and urged the new leader to take the "transcendent measures" necessary to respond to the tensions and anxieties of the nation's populace. The prelates, meeting in general assembly, published the statement one day after Raúl Castro was elected the country's new leader, replacing his brother Fidel Castro. The bishops stated, "At this time our prayer goes up to the Lord and to Our Lady of Charity, our Mother, patroness of Cuba, so that" the president and Parliament "would have the light of the Almighty to carry out with determination those transcendent measures that we know must be gradual, but which can satisfy the longings and worries expressed by Cubans." "As we did at Christmas," continued the statement, "we want to renew our vote of confidence, and with Christian hope, formulate these desires to the new President Raúl Castro Ruz, (...) having always before our eyes the common good of the Cuban people whom we serve, and asking our Lord for the gift of peace for our nation." [Mensaje de los Obispos] (Zenit, 25/2/08)

February 26: The president of Cuba's National Assembly Ricardo Alarcon assured that his country relies on the people's unity with their leaders, to undertake together steps aimed at improving the Cuban society. In an exclusive interview with TeleSUR in Havana, Alarcon called the recent elections "a moment of much historic significance" in which Raul Castro emerged president of the Council of State. According to Alarcon, the most important outcome "is a message of very solid unity among all revolutionaries and patriots, among several generations." He noted that the existing combination of generations secures the continuity of the Revolution, and what is very important, he said, its founder, the Commander in Chief (Fidel Castro), is still present. (Prensa Latina, 26/2/08)

February 26: Entitled "Social indiscipline is the cancer of our society," Granma newspaper slammed this acute problem, and exhorted all Cubans to face it, noting that “our social model essentially requires discipline and order." The article states as unacceptable attacks on public transportation and the destruction of collective telephones and garbage containers. Also included are car races in the city's main streets at daybreak endangering the life of passers-by, loud music in the evening, lack of good manners or a bad response in a store, coffee shop or hospital. Those expressions are also playing with an enemy trying to prove that this is an unfeasible model. The offering of this homeland affects all Cubans, and this is not only a police problem, the daily reports. If a society has authority, not only to fight indiscipline, but also to impede it, this is ours, and is the only thing that will let institutions and organizations function. (Prensa Latina, 26/2/08)

February 27: Cuban President Raul Castro is taking over leadership of a country whose government believes its citizens are not working hard enough. The state-run newspaper recently ran an article headlined "Work: Option or necessity?" The writer pointed out that, judging by the number of people in the streets during the day, many Cubans don't seem to be on the job. They have few motivations to buckle down: Salaries average about $15 per month on the island, and Cubans get monthly food rations even if they don't work. "There is a strong desire to protect and to gradually increase the incomes and savings of the population, particularly of those least favored," said Raul Castro, 76. The black market is so widespread that Cubans have coined a special term for breaking the law to make ends meet: "resolver" -- literally, "to resolve." The new president, who took the reins of power Sunday from his ailing brother, Fidel, 81, has said the country must become more productive. "The country's priority will be to meet the basic needs of the population, both material and spiritual, based on the sustained strengthening of the national economy and its productive basis without which, I'll say it again, development would be impossible," Raul Castro said in a speech on February 24. With a new president steering the island nation for the first time in 49 years, some Cubans have allowed their expectations to rise. "I think those expectations are really very large indeed and it'll be the Achilles heel, potentially, of this new government if it doesn't attack them with some vigor," said Hal Klepak, a professor of history and warfare studies at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. (CNN, 26/2/08)

February 26: For two days Cubans swamped currency exchange offices in a brief but intense speculative frenzy fueled by rumors that new President Raul Castro would end the island's reviled dual currency system. Hoping to make a quick profit, many Cubans traded the country's valuable "convertible pesos" -- a currency primarily used by tourists, foreign-owned businesses, the elite and black-market vendors -- for the weak Cuban national peso, which is used for the salaries and pensions of nearly all Cubans. The speculators believed that Castro, who hinted about gradually changing the dual money system after being named president, would double the value of the weak national peso or abolish the stronger convertible peso. The money swapping became so intense that some exchange offices ran out of national pesos, according to Cubans who stood in line at the offices and to other observers. Faced with what amounted to a small-scale run on its banks, the government aired a report on the morning news program "Buenos Dias" emphasizing that any changes to the money system would be gradual. As word of the report spread, the speculation seemed to end. (The Washington Post, 26/2/08)

February 27: The Christian Liberation Movement, led by Oswaldo Paya, has announced the publication of the first edition of “Liberación,” an independent Christian magazine that will now be the official voice of the movement. The first edition, published electronically, explains that the new magazine takes up the mantle left by a previous Catholic publication, “Pueblo de Dios,” which “was created 20 years ago at the Parish of the Hill, as an initiative of a group of lay Christians who wanted to proclaim liberty and the rights of all Cubans and of all human beings, who ‘have the right to have rights because they are children of God’.” “Pueblo de Dios” was the “first free publication to proclaim the great and good news of the liberation of Cubans, amidst the oppression that our people suffer.” “That humble but radical publication,” the new magazine Liberation noted, “was the voice of the Christian Club of Cuban Thought, a group that met to think and debate and was predecessor to the Christian Liberation Movement.” “Pueblo de Dios” ceased publication and the Christian Club was disbanded, but some of its members founded the Christian Liberation Movement in September of 1988. “Today,” the magazine stated, “the periodical ‘Liberación’ is born, on the 155th anniversary of the passing to eternal life of Father Felix Varela,” the precursor of Cuban independence whose cause for beatification is open. Liberation exists “for the people and as the people’s voice, to serve with the Truth, inviting all to seek it with a sincere heart.  Rather than define it, we want to embrace the Truth and encourage everyone to do so,” the magazine’s editors said. (CNA, 27/2/08)

February 28: The executive secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Cuba, Father Jose Felix Perez, said the recently concluded visit by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to Cuba has opened more room for the Church to carry out her mission. The presence of Cardinal Bertone led to “a more fluid exchange with authorities, in which the concerns of the Church could be discussed with more trust and realism,” Father Perez said. The visit by Cardinal Bertone “opens more room than already existed, as occurred with the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1998,” he continued. Asked by reporters if there would be significant changes in relations between the local Church and the government, Father Felix underscored that “it’s only been a short time since the visit, and so anything new I think will be seen in the coming days or weeks.” He also said the visit was important because of the message the cardinal conveyed on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, which was one of encouragement and support. (Catholic News Agency, 29/2/08)

February 29: Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, called the signing of human rights treaties by Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque, "positive news because the signing of these pacts is an old demand from inside Cuba and from the international community." "I hope it honors the letter and spirit of the law of these pacts, but I am not sure it will," Sanchez said of Cuba's government. (AP, Reuters, 29/2/08)

February 29: A legend in the Cuban cultural world and president of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP), Sergio Corrieri, died in Havana. Born in Havana on March 2, 1938, Corrieri leaves behind a legacy in the performing arts. Attracted to acting, he enrolled at the University Theater and debuted at sixteen in the play “El nieto de Dios”, by Joracy Camargo of Brazil. Corrieri was a founder of the Teatro Estudio group along with Raquel and Vicente Revuelta . In his stage career, he played many diverse roles in plays by Miller, Chejov, Lope de Vega, Albee, Brecht, Schnitlzler, Dragun and Maiakovski. He found the Escambray Theater Group in 1968, along with his mother Gilda Hernandez, a popular actress of her time. He was also identified by moviegoers for his role as hero Alberto Delgado in “El Hombre de Maisinicu” by Manolo Perez. In 1985, he was named vice president of the Cuban Radio and Television Institute (ICRT). In 1987, he became the head of the Cultural Office of the Communist Party Central Committee and since 1990, had been the president of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAC). He accepted to head the organizing committee for the Seventh Conference of the Association of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC), an effort highly appreciated by artists and intellectuals who always saw him as an example. (Granma, 1/3/08)

February 29: Fidel Castro said in an article published in the Cuban official media that it was his idea to promote two three-star generals to the country's top leadership under his younger brother and successor as president, Raul Castro. They were his first comments since the younger Castro became Cuba's new president and appeared to be aimed at dismissing reports of a rift between the brothers or a militarization of the government under Raul Castro. Castro said his brother and successor consulted him on naming hard-line Communist Party ideologue Jose Ramon Machado Ventura as deputy leader as well as other appointments to the governing Council of State. "It was also my decision to ask the nominating committee to include Leopoldo Cintra Frias and Alvaro Lopez Miera on the list for the Council of State," Fidel Castro said. Lopez Miera, 64, is army chief of staff and Cintra Frias, 66, is commander of Cuba's Western Army. "The chess board pointed to these alternatives. This was not the fruit of Raul's supposed militaristic tendencies, nor was it about generations or parties fighting with bared teeth over power," Castro wrote. Castro's critics, mainly among the Cuban exile community in the United States, see the change of leaders in Cuba as an undemocratic charade, with the ailing Fidel Castro still pulling the strings from behind the scenes. "For many, our country was a boiler full of steam and about to explode," Castro wrote, adding that their "illusions" have come undone. "You can now hear the howls of wolves trapped by their tails," he wrote. "They are so rabid over the election of Machadito as first vice president." [Espero no tener que avergonzarme] (Reuters, 29/2/08)