Chronicle on Cuba - March 2008

Domestic Affairs

March 1: Just a week into his job as Cuba's new president, Raul Castro discussed the island's prisoners with a visiting Vatican official and directed his government to sign two international human rights treaties that his older brother, Fidel, opposed. Some dissidents and human rights activists see reason for cautious optimism, but others don't expect improvements. "He wants to give the Cuban government a new image," said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who became an anti-communist dissident. "In the areas of human and social rights, the government surely needs one." But dissident Oswaldo Paya, who won the European Union's Andrei Sakharov prize for human rights in 2002, said the very succession from one Castro brother to another was a disappointment. "The driving force of society should be the sovereignty of the people, not the Communist Party," Paya wrote in a statement distributed to international media on the island. "The people of Cuba want changes that signify liberty, open expression of their civil, political, economic and social rights." Former political prisoner Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo said the treaties had "tremendous importance" and could open the door to creating more than a single political party in Cuba. The president of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, Elizardo Sanchez, said once parliament ratifies the newly signed rights treaties, Cuba will be compelled to release 55 dissidents still behind bars after a 2003 crackdown that rounded up 75 people. Many of those freed since Raul took power were already close to completing lengthy prison terms. Sanchez acknowledged a new crop of prisoners has not been jailed since then, but said there has been an increase in short detentions and beatings of dissidents.  "They have changed tactics, but the level of repression is the same," he said. (AP, 1/3/08)  
    
March 2: The Assembly to Promote Civil Society, an illegal Cuban opposition organization, denounced that 10 dissidents were "beaten" and nine arrested on March 1st, when they were distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in downtown Havana. Marta Beatriz Roque, the head of the Assembly, told the press that four women and six men were passing out the copies of the rights document amid a "heavy police operation" when a plainclothes officer "jumped at Guillermo Fariñas, and "put a hold on him to immobilize him throwing the declarations to the ground." Roque said that the dissident group was made up of herself, Lourdes Esquivel, Idania Llanes, Iris Perez, Jorge Luis Garcia (known as "Antunez"), Felix Bonne, Lucas Galvez, Jose Diaz Silva, Carlos Cordero and Fariñas. Roque said that a woman was beaten at the scene but was not arrested. She added that she and Bonne were taken directly to their homes and seven others driven to a police station, where their copies of the rights document were seized, after which they were taken to their homes. "This is the ratification of the civil and political rights pact," she added, referring to the UN human rights treaties signed by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque in New York. "They did it (by) beating us," said Roque. (EFE, EER, 3/2/08)

March 3: The 10th International Meeting on Globalization and Development Problems began in Havana with the participation of more than one thousand local and foreign specialists who will discuss topics of economic interest and their impact on society. During the inaugural session of the event, participants will watch the documentary “Ten Years Later”, regarding the history of these events that began in 1998 at the initiative of Fidel Castro. The program also includes the conference “Globalization: Potential Justice” by Monsignor Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, Bishop in charge of Foreign Affairs of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican. In addition, Canadian Robert Mundell, 1999 Nobel Prize on Economics laureate, will deal with the topic of global economy. The first day of sessions will conclude with a panel entitled "International Financial Crisis and Instability” with the participation of renowned scholars from the United States, Chile, Germany and Cuba. Representatives from nearly 20 regional and international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization are taking part in the meeting. (ACN, 3/2/08)

March 3: Fidel Castro is having a good chuckle at reactions in the United States and elsewhere to his decision to retire from the Cuban presidency, the communist country's foreign minister said. Felipe Perez Roque also told the United Nations Human Rights Council that the old leader's younger brother Raul, who some outside commentators have said might introduce some liberal reforms, "is also Fidel." "Back in Cuba, Fidel is enjoying the petty and pathetic reaction of those who thought that his authority stemmed from his office, who thought that if he was removed from office or assassinated that would be the magic formula for the defeat of the Cuban Revolution," Perez declared. "But it turns out otherwise, that Fidel is the people, that his ideas are those of the people." "Raul, with all the authority that his own life story gives him, is also Fidel in his loyalty to the fatherland, to the revolution, and to socialism," declared Perez. "At the end of the day, Fidel is every man and woman in the world who fights for justice and liberty for people everywhere," Perez said. [Perez Roque’s statement] (Reuters, 3/3/08)

March 3: Verónica López denounced the subhuman conditions her daughter has to endure at the women's prison El Bellote, in Matanzas. Ms. López León said that her daughter Daisy Mercedes Talavera López, an activist with the Democratic Party known as November 30 “Frank País” is not allowed walks in the sun or access to medical care. Daisy Mercedes is accused of committing a felony and an act of disobedience, for putting up a sign that read, "Freedom without exile for all political prisoners.” (Cubanet, 7/3/08)

March 4: The Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs of Cuba denounced that in February alone the authorities arrested 82 dissidents and 12 new trials were initiated "for political reasons." According to a report from the organization, “12 people are currently facing trial for political reasons, eight of which remain behind bars, and there have been 82 verified arrests in February while dozens of dissidents have been summoned to police stations and threatened with jail." (EER, 5/3/08)

March 5: Cuba has invited the Catholic Church to open a new monastery on the island, and a German Benedictine order said it would send four monks to establish a "spiritual centre”. The church has been officially banned in the past from building new churches on the communist island. The four monks will be provided by the Missionary Benedictines, also known as the Ottilien Congregation, an order of monks with its world headquarters at Landsberg am Lech, west of Munich. The new site will be in the archdiocese of Havana, the order's spokesman said. The foundation had been requested by the archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, and had been expressly approved by Fidel Castro before his retirement last month as Cuban leader. The spokesman said Cuban authorities had been helpful in the preparations to set up the monastery, which was likely to open this year. (DPA, 5/3/08)

March 5: Political prisoner Juan Bermúdez Toranzo, vice-president of the Cuban Human Rights Foundation, was sentenced to four years and six months in jail after being convicted of "three counts of assault on the local chief of police, his wife and daughter," denounced the opposition group Council of Human Rights Rapporteurs of Cuba. The trial against Bermúdez Toranzo had been scheduled to begin on February 20 at the Municipal People’s Court of San Miguel del Padrón but it was postponed, allegedly because the prosecution had no witnesses to support their case. (EER, 5/3/08)

March 6: A growing underground network of young people armed with computer memory sticks, digital cameras and clandestine Internet hookups has been mounting some challenges to the Cuban government in recent months, spreading news that the official state media try to suppress. Last month, students at a prestigious computer science university videotaped an ugly confrontation they had with Ricardo Alarcón, the president of the National Assembly. Something similar happened in late January when officials tried to impose a tax on the tips and wages of employees of foreign companies. “It passes from flash drive to flash drive,” said Ariel, 33, a computer programmer, who, like almost everyone else interviewed for this article, asked that his last name not be used for fear of political persecution. “This is going to get out of the government’s hands because the technology is moving so rapidly.” Cuban officials have long limited the public’s access to the Internet and digital videos, tearing down unauthorized satellite dishes and keeping down the number of Internet cafes open to Cubans. Only one Internet cafe remains open in Old Havana, down from three a few years ago. People who have smuggled in satellite dishes provide illegal connections to the Internet for a fee or download movies to sell on discs. Others exploit the connections to the Web of foreign businesses and state-run enterprises. Employees with the ability to connect to the Internet often sell their passwords and identification numbers for use in the middle of the night. Hotels catering to tourists provide Internet services, and Cubans also exploit those conduits to the Web. Even the country’s top computer science school, the University of Information Sciences, set in a campus once used by Cuba’s spy services, has become a hotbed of cyber-rebels. Students download everything from the latest American television shows to articles and videos criticizing the government, and pass them quickly around the island. “There is a whole underground market of this stuff,” Ariel said. (The New York Times, 6/3/08)

March 6: Néstor Pérez González, a second-year Law student at the University of Pinar del Río was expelled on “political grounds.” The decision was based on opinions the twenty-five year old Néstor expressed during a class debate and for contributing the article "The Spanish transition according to Victoria Prego,” to "Convivencia”, an online magazineedited by Dagoberto Valdés. “I was reported by a professor of Constitutional Law, after voicing my views in a debate. They decided to do it even against the expressed wishes of my fellow classmates," said Pérez González. [La transición española según Victoria Prego] (EER, 6/3/08)

March 6: Daymí Nazaret Pereyra García was sentenced to a year of home imprisonment by the municipal court of San Miguel Padrón, Havana, for allegedly committing the crime of disobedience. According to Pereyra García, she was victim of a trial that lacked the most fundamental procedural guarantees. (Cubanet, 6/3/08)

March 6: President Raul Castro presided over a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Rebel Army’s Mario Muñoz Third Eastern Front, in the province of Santiago de Cuba. Also attending was Vice President Juan Almeida Bosque, a founder of the Third Front. Thousands of residents gathered to recall the significant date and the profound social and economic changes witnessed in the area over the last half century. Among the activities, a local museum was inaugurated and a stamp was issued marking the 50th anniversary, reported Granma newspaper. Revolutionary Commander Guillermo Garcia Frias, the first farmer to join the rebel movement in the Sierra Maestra mountains, recalled that during the struggle against the Batista regime, the combatants of the Third Front held of an offensive from the dictatorship and attacked dozens of enemy garrisons while liberating several towns along the Central Highway. (Prensa Latina, 6/3/08)

March 8: Students role in the continuity of the Cuban Revolution is on the table of the 11th Congress of the Middle School Student Federation (FEEM), starting Havana’s Conference Center. FEEM president Patricia Flechilla told the press that attendees will analyze in commissions the organization's internal labour, culture, international relations and their participation in the defence of Cuba. The event will be attended by 700 delegates and dedicated to Commander Ernesto Guevara, the 50th anniversary of the Revolution, and Cuban women. Cuban President Raul Castro and comrade Fidel will be the honorary guests of the gathering, in addition to the five Cubans imprisoned in US jails since 1998, represented by their relatives, the student leader said. (Prensa Latina, 8/3/08)

March 10: The abbot of the Congregation of the Benedictines of Saint Ottilien, Father Jeremias Schroder, said the religious order will open a new house in Cuba by the end of the year in response to a request from the Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino. Cardinal Ortega hopes the new community and the exemplary life of its four members will help bring about a spiritual renewal in Cuban society. Father Schroder said that after the visit by Pope John Paul II ten years ago and the recent visit by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, “the role of the Church in Cuban society is not only no longer rejected, it is even appreciated.” “I hope that this openness continues,” he said.  “Our community has also been supported by Cuban officials, for example, concerning the simplification of bureaucratic procedures,” Father Schroder emphasized. (CNA, 10/3/08)

March 11: “A picturesque clamour," was the figure of speech used by the president of the National Assembly of the People’s Power, Ricardo Alarcón, to refer to the shockwaves generated by Internet-posted video footage of his meeting with students from the University of Computer Sciences (UCI), who confronted him about the limitations imposed by the regime. Alarcón referred to the issue for the first time in an essay entitled "The two Cubas," published in the weekly online magazine “La Jiribilla”. [Las dos Cubas] (AP, 11/3/08)

March 11: Cuba’s President Raul Castro attended the military ceremony in Segundo Frente, Santiago de Cuba, marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Frank Pais Second Eastern Front. Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and civilians gathered at the monument to fallen Second Front combatants in Segundo Frente. First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura took the podium and stated that Cuba has continued to resist a powerful, determined enemy for several decades because of the tireless efforts of its leaders and the support of the people. Machado alluded to the hardships experienced by the first members of the Rebel Army and stated that though they were poorly armed, they took strength from their convictions and the character they developed under those difficult conditions. He also said that Raul Castro played a "decisive role" as the young leader of the Second Front, and added that Castro was known for his humility and maturity and was admired by his subordinates and fellow officers. Machado encouraged Cubans to "increase production and offer better services" and improve efficiency, which he maintains is "the only realistic way" to gradually improve living conditions. He also emphasized that all citizens are obligated to work to this end. [Discurso de Machado Ventura] (BBC Monitoring, 11/3/08)

March 12: Storytellers from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Cuba will offer personal shows during the International Festival of Oral Narration, headquartered in Havana on March 17-23. Coinciding with the celebration of the World Day of Oral Narration, the official opening will take place March 20 at the Gran Teatro de la Habana. (Prensa Latina, 12/3/07)

March 13: Communist Cuba has authorized the sale of computers, DVD and video players, and other electrical appliances in the first sign President Raul Castro is moving to lift some restrictions on daily life. "Based on the improved availability of electricity the government at the highest level has approved the sale of some equipment which was prohibited," said an internal government memo It listed computers, video and DVD players, 19-inch and 24-inch television sets, electric pressure cookers and rice cookers, electric bicycles, car alarms and microwaves that can now be freely bought by Cubans. The new memo circulated within the state-run retail system said Cubans would have access to a second group of products in 2009, including air conditioners, which are much in demand to help endure the hot summer days in the tropical country. (Reuters, 13/3/08)

March 13: Yuri Martínez Sánchez, a peaceful political activist, was arrested at home by the police. That same day, José Castelnau was also picked up by the authorities. Both are members of the illegal organization Political Prisoners’ Attention Committee. (Cubanet, 17/3/08)

March 14: Cuban authorities arrested two independent journalists and detained four others in their home to prevent them from attending a videoconference journalism workshop run by Florida International University, an independent Cuban journalist reported. Journalist Jose Antonio Fornaris reported that Richard Rosello -- one of the two journalists arrested and held by state security agents for several hours -- was warned by the agents not to attend the workshop. The six journalists were all detained or arrested on March 10, when the conference took place in the offices of the US Interests Section in Havana. (Editors & Publishers, 14/3/08)

March 14: About two-dozen women marched in Havana to demand the release of their husbands and other political prisoners ahead of the fifth anniversary of a crackdown on dissent. Of the 75 government critics arrested March 18-19, 2003, and given long prison terms, 55 remain imprisoned. Sixteen were released early on medical parole and another four were freed into forced exile in Spain last month. Next week's anniversary "is very painful for us," said Laura Pollan of the Ladies in White, a support group for wives of political prisoners. Pollan's husband, Hector Maseda, was arrested and sentenced to 20 years. [Declaración de las Damas de Blanco] (AP, 14/3/08)

March 14: Granma newspaper, the mouthpiece of Cuba's ruling Communist Party, has doubled the page count of its Friday editions to provide more information in a country debating its future. The larger edition -- 16 pages instead of the usual eight -- points to changes in the Cuban press since Castro, 81 and sidelined by illness, handed over the running of Cuba in July 2006 to his brother Raul Castro, who has encouraged debate on the country's economic problems. Granma and its sister paper, Juventud Rebelde of the Communist Youth organization, have begun to print stories on inefficiency, theft and corruption in the state-run economy. Top party officials are now following Raul Castro's cue and encouraging journalists to be more hard-nosed. "The Cuban revolution needs analytical and investigative journalism that can help solve the central issues of today's society," Rolando Alfonso, head of the party's ideology department, said. Cuban journalists are more accustomed to toeing the official line than digging up dirt in a one-party government that censors the media and allows no independent press. (Reuters, 14/3/08)

March 15: Accidents represent the first cause of death for Cubans under 20 years of age, and the fifth cause for the rest of Cubans, the official media reported. Preliminary data by the National Direction of Statistics of the Cuban Public Health Ministry said that in the first nine months of 2007, 198 persons were killed in accidents. Every 33 hours, a person under 20 dies in Cuba, Granma newspaper said. Accidents also rank fifth as the cause of death in all ages, only surpassed by heart illnesses, heart and brain diseases, tumors, influenza and pneumonia. Specialists consider that prevention of accidents should be regarded as a public health emergency. The main causes of death are originated by falls, accounting for 38 percent of the total, traffic accidents (27 percent), drowning and submersion (6.1 percent), strange bodies (3.4 percent), electrocution (1.2 percent), as well as food bronco-aspiration, fire and hit by objects. Granma said that a survey carried out in hospitals of three Cuban provinces which were not identified, showed that 44 percent of 4,346 people assisted by that cause had an accident at home. (Prensa Latina, 15/3/08)

March 15: Cubans are spending too much time waiting for reforms they hope will bring luxuries such as electronics and trips, while what the country needs to advance is the sweat of their brow, according to an editorial in the ruling Communist Party newspaper.
The editorial, penned by Granma newspaper director Lazaro Barredo, appeared aimed at deflating expectations for change that have ballooned since Raul Castro took over the presidency from his ailing brother Fidel last month. ``I am worried that some people are waiting for the announcement of specific measures that would immediately resolve household or spiritual needs, or ones that would automatically lead to more consumption,'' Barredo wrote. Barredo wrote that without an improved economy, changes cannot be sustained. ``We can't expect more needs to be resolved if people don't work more, if they don't produce more,'' he wrote, adding: ``Unfortunately, there is a not-insignificant part of our society (..) that wants to live without working.'' (AP, Sun Sentinel, 15/3/08)

March 15: Cuban President Raul Castro presided the celebration of the 130th anniversary of the Baragua Protest led by General Antonio Maceo against Spanish colonialism. Described by Jose Marti as "one of the most glorious events in our history", the Baragua Protest is seen as a symbol of revolutionary resistance in the struggles for national independence. (Prensa Latina, 15/3/08)

March 16: Cuban doctors are treating circulatory ailments with innovative adult stem cell techniques, the official newspaper Juventud Rebelde reported. Cuban researchers first tested treating circulatory ailments with stem cell techniques in 2002 in a Havana clinic, as stem cells have the ability to regenerate tissue. The technique is now being used in four Cuban regions. Doctors are also studying the possibility of using the technique in treating eye ailments like pterygium, a fleshy growth in the eye caused by excessive exposure to ultraviolet light. (Xinhua, 16/3/08)

March 17: Activism against AIDS is uniting a group of transvestites and crossdressers in western Cuba in a project that is going beyond peer education and making inroads into the world of culture. "The time has come to take us seriously. We are in a position to demand our place in society, to contribute to AIDS prevention through our art, and to be respected for our abilities and knowledge," a Cuban transvestite, whose artistic name is that of Mexican actress and singer Ninel Conde, told the press. "I never felt so sure of myself as I do now. When I used to dress in male clothes, I would always hang my head. Since I put on a pair of high heels, I have felt proud of being who I am. I began to be happy with myself, and I walk down the street with my head high," she said. A volunteer worker at the state Provincial Centre for Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS at Pinar del Río, 162 kilometres from Havana, Ninel Conde won one of the prizes at Transarte, a cultural festival that concluded with a performance at the city’s main theatre. Fourteen crossdressers and transvestites took part in the gala, along with some of the best-known singers in Pinar del Río, with a panel of judges made up of personalities from the world of culture. (IPS, 17/3/08)  

March 18: Super-heavyweight Robert Acea beat American Michael Hunter to cap off a dominating display by Cuban boxers at the Americas Olympic qualification tournament with nine fighters earning tickets to Beijing. The results marked a stunning return to the international ring by the powerhouse Cubans, who did not send a squad to Chicago for last year's world championships where the first Olympic qualifying spots were up for grabs, following a string of defections. (Reuters, 18/3/08)

March 18: The Boys choir from Hanover, Germany, which is recognized around the world for its high quality, was introduced for the first time in Cuba at the Milanes Theatre, in Pinar del Rio. Invited by the Cuban Music Institute, they will perform in different venues in the Cuban capital. (Periódico Ahora, 18/3/08)

March 19: An independent Cuban blog defies the “censorship, blocked pages” and “other limitations imposed on Cubans” to impede their access to the Internet. In addition to offering software to circumvent the blocking of web pages, “Potro Salvaje” (www.desdecuba.com/potro) seeks solutions that allow Cubans easier access to the Internet. The identities of the blog authors are not known. (El Universal, 19/3/08)

March 19: Political prisoner Adalberto Ramos Monteagudo, sentenced to 24 years in jail in 1991, was released for humanitarian reasons. 43-year-old Ramos Monteagudo underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in September 2007. The cancer has since spread to other areas in his body. His relatives had been petitioning to have his sentence commuted to house arrest by reason of ill health since 2005, when the prisoner first showed symptoms of the disease. (El Nuevo Herald, 20/3/08)

March 20: Spanish artist Luis Eduardo Aute and his wife, Maria del Carmen Rosado, received in Havana the Cuban National Culture Distinction, the highest award granted by the Cuban Council of State in this field. Culture Minister Abel Prieto presented the Distinction during the inauguration of Aute’s exhibition “Transfiguraciones” (Transfigurations), at the Museum of Fine Arts in the Cuban capital. This exhibition includes Aute’s pictorial works from 1951 to 2005 and it will remain open to the Cuban public until June 2. “I am living a dream that I want Cuba and Spain to share. I hope that we can further improve our cultural relations. Let us work for a just society and for an independent Latin America,” said the versatile artist upon receiving the award. The inauguration of the exhibition was attended by the Spanish Ambassador in Cuba, Carlos Alonso Zaldivar, and by personalities of the Cuban culture sector such as painters Zaida del Rio and Roberto Fabelo as well as singer-song-writers Silvio Rodriguez and Vicente Feliu. (ACN, 21/3/08)

March 21: A book on Argentinean-born guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara titled "Evocación" (Evocation), was released at Casa de Las America, in Havana, by the author, Aleida March. During the presentation ceremony, Alfredo Guevara, who wrote the prologue for the book, highlighted the value of the work by Aleida March, who was Che's life companion after 1959. Guevara said "Evocación" will show the readers, and in particular new generations, Che's different facets. He recalled that the Argentinean fighter was an inspiration in the fights for independence and an important figure in the development of the bases for today's social revolutionary ideas. (Prensa Latina, 21/3/08)

March 21: Cubans have a new vehicle to express their opinions: letters to the editor of the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma. Letters for and against reforms under consideration by Cuba's new President Raul Castro were published by Granma. One writer called for the elimination of the dual currency system, a major source of complaint among Cubans, who are paid in Cuban pesos but must buy many consumer goods in Cuba's hard currency Convertible pesos worth 24 times more. Publication of the letter was a novelty in a country where the press is controlled by a one-party state that allows no independent media and has a record of suppressing dissent. (Reuters, 21/3/08)

March 22: The Central Workers Union of Cuba (CTC) calls on its members to analyze the February 24 speech by Raul Castro Ruz, President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Granma newspaper reported. The news was revealed in the CTC general secretaries and national unions meeting, presided over by Salvador Valdes Mesa, member of the Central Committee and general secretary of the organization. The analysis of the speech by the second secretary of the Cuban Communist Party's Central Committee in the conclusions of the Seventh National Peoples' Power Assembly Legislature constitutive session will be run in this month and in April in the workers' movements meetings at the national, provincial and municipal level, and assemblies with workers. The meeting will prepare councilors from union executives in all entities, to present the content of the speech, explain the main issues and foster debate with workers, the daily states. (Prensa Latina, 22/3/08)

March 23: Fidel Castro published an article defending the penitentiary system in Cuba, and referred to the dissidents sent to jail in 2003 in derogative terms. “March 18 marked the fifth anniversary of the arrest of more than 70 quislings, the capos of imperialism's fifth column in Cuba who, paid by the US government, violate the laws of the land and share the opinion that this dark corner of the world should be swept off the map”, he said. “Not one of the mercenaries was tortured or deprived of lawyers or trial, even if it was of a summary nature, provided by the law in cases of danger of aggression; they have the right to receive visits, access to family facilities as well as the other legal prerogatives of all prisoners; and if at any time their health seriously requires it, they are released”. Castro also referred to the term “Black Spring”, applied to the period of March-April 2003 when over 70 dissidents were sentenced to long-term periods in jail, as “racist”. “A Department of State spokesperson described the event as the “Black Spring”, a term with racist overtones.  We could call it “White Spring.” Darkness does not exist in space, only in the mind”, Castro wrote. [Bush in Heaven (II)] (AFP, EFE, 23/3/08)

March 23: Three of four ex-political prisoners released by the Cuban authorities who arrived in Spain on February 17 will not request political asylum so as not to affect the possible release of other prisoners who remain in Cuban jails for their opposition to the Castro regime. In declarations to the media, Omar Pernet, Alejandro González Raga and Pedro Pablo Álvarez, accompanied by some relatives, showed their willingness to accept the permanent residence permits offered by the Spanish government so they could remain in Madrid. The former prisoners of conscience were forced into exile by the Cuban authorities. (EFE, 23/3/08)

March 24: The Raul Castro government authorized the sale to Cuban citizens of various electronic products including computers in the first known reform since he succeeded ailing elder brother Fidel exactly one month ago. According to Resolution 43/08 of the Interior Commerce Ministry, to which the press had access, the measure will take effect April 1. The ruling also includes the sale of video players of all kinds, television sets, electric pressure cookers and rice cookers, electric bicycles and car alarms. He warned, however, that the articles will be coming on the market "gradually" as they are acquired by the stores in charge of selling them. Stores must make certain, the ruling says, that the brands, models, pieces and accessories are similar to those sold within the energy-saving program that the government has promoted since 2005. Cuba currently has around 600 computer clubs where some 100,000 members study and have access to the domestic Intranet. Even so, the International Telecommunications Union says that Cuba has the lowest Internet usage in Latin America, since a mere 0.9 percent of the 11.2 million Cubans use the Web. Private citizens are not permitted access to the Internet from their homes, while professionals - mainly in the fields of culture, education and health - can visit the government-controlled Intranet, and most of the latest technologies require restricted licenses specifically for their use. (EFE, 24/3/08)  
  
March 24: Ailing former leader Fidel Castro made a rare mention of his government's crackdown on political opponents five years ago, defending the action and exhorting the United States to treat its prisoners with the same humanity he said Cuba uses with its inmates. "What an enormous difference between the methods of the United States and of Cuba!" Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, apparently referring to how the US government treats terror suspects. "None of the mercenaries were tortured or deprived of attorney or trial," Castro said of the 75 dissidents rounded up beginning on March 18, 2003. Cuba accused them of being mercenaries working with the United States to undermine the communist government, a charge the dissidents and US officials denied. Twenty of the original 75 have since been released, 16 on medical parole and four into forced exile in Spain. "They have the right to visits, access to (conjugal visits) and all the other legal prerogatives of all inmates," Castro wrote. [Bush en el cielo (II)] (AP, 24/3/08)   

March 25: Cuba's most popular blogger Yoani Sanchez said that Cuban authorities had blocked viewing of her blog and then allowed slow access to the website from Cuba. Sanchez, whose critical Generacion Y blog received 1.2 million hits in February, said government censors had placed "filters" that delayed viewing of her web page on a server in Germany. "This effectively blocks access to the blog. What Cuban with limited access to internet is going to wait 15 minutes to see it?" Sanchez said. On the weekend (March 22-23), attempts to view the site from Cuba met with a notice "The page cannot be displayed." The state telecom monopoly ETECSA is Cuba's only internet service provider. The 32-year-old Sanchez, a philology graduate, has drawn a considerable readership by writing about her daily life in Cuba and describing economic hardships and political constraints. She has criticised Cuba's new leader, Raul Castro, who formally took over from his ailing brother Fidel Castro last month, for his vague promises of change and minimal steps to improve the standard of living of Cubans. Who is the last in line for a toaster?" was the title of a recent blog that satirised the lifting of a ban on sales of computers, DVD players and other appliances Cubans long for, though toasters will not be freely sold until 2010. In a country where the press is controlled by the state and there is no independent media, Sanchez and other Cubans have found in the internet an unregulated vehicle of expression. "They are admitting that no alternative way of thinking can exist in Cuba, but people will continue reading us somehow," she said. "There is no censorship that can stop people who are determined to access the internet," she said. (Reuters, 25/3/08)

March 25: Nearly 500,000 children -from one month to two years of age- will be immunized as of March 28 during the 47th national anti-poliomyelitis vaccination campaign underway in Cuba. Some 343,195 under three-year-old toddlers will receive two oral doses. On May 9-15, those children will receive the second doses and, also in the same date, the vaccine will be reactivated for 141,857 nine-year-old children. Granma newspaper published that since the first anti-polio campaign in 1962, more than 76 million doses of the vaccine have been administrated to children, so all of Cuba’s population under 61 years old is currently protected against that disease. (Prensa Latina, 25/3/08)

March 25: Cuba has lifted a rule that forced people to pick up prescription drugs from a pharmacy assigned by the state, adding to steps by President Raul Castro to cut excessive regulation in the Communist country. Public health sources said that Cubans can now buy prescription drugs at any pharmacy. Until now, they had to fill prescriptions at a single pharmacy attached to hospitals or local clinics, a bureaucratic measure introduced during a severe crisis in the 1990s when resources were scarce due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. "People used to have to go to our pharmacy and if there wasn't the right medicine or it would take a while to make, they would have to come back even if they lived far away," said Maribel, a Havana doctor. "Now they can go wherever without getting new prescriptions or having to travel long distances." The restriction was unpopular and Raul Castro has set about eliminating some of the "excessive regulations" governing all aspects of Cuban society since he took office as president. "There were lots of complaints. The authorities want people to be happy," said a Havana pharmacy manager, who did not want to be named because she was not authorized to speak to a reporter. (Reuters, 25/3/08)

March 25: Cuban President Raul Castro met with Spanish academic and artist Luis Eduardo Aute, Granma newspaper reported. In the meeting, Aute and his wife Maria del Carmen Rosado spoke with the Cuban head of State about the cultural week on the couple’s work held in Havana, as well as the islands crucial historic events and Cuban and Spanish culture in general. Culture Minister Abel Prieto and Deputy Culture Minister Abel Acosta Damas attended the encounter. (Prensa Latina, 26/3/08)

March 26: Lisandra Guerra of Cuba won the first gold medal of the world track championships, taking the women's 500-meter time-trial in 34.021 seconds. Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania took silver at the Manchester Velodrome, and Sandie Clair of France finished to get the bronze. Guerra had taken silver a year ago, behind a world record-setting Anna Meares of Australia. (AP, 26/3/08)

March 27: Raul's daughter, Mariela Castro is fighting to introduce radical changes in Cuba. As head of the government-funded National Centre for Sex Education, she is trying to change people's attitudes towards minority groups in the community. She is currently attempting to get the Cuban National Assembly to adopt what would be among the most liberal gay and transsexual rights law in Latin America. The proposed legislation would recognise same-sex unions, along with inheritance rights. It would also give transsexuals the right to free sex-change operations and allow them to switch the gender on their ID cards, with or without surgery. There are limits: adoption is not included in the bill and neither is the word marriage. "A lot of homosexual couples asked me to not risk delaying getting the law passed by insisting on the word marriage," Mariela Castro said. "In Cuba marriage is not as important as the family and at least this way we can guarantee the personal and inheritance rights of homosexuals and transsexuals." She says that her father is supportive of her work, although he advises her to move slowly. "I've seen changes in my father since I was a child. I saw him as macho and homophobic. But as I have grown and changed as a person, so I have seen him change." (BBC, 28/3/08)

March 27: Cuba, Chile and Colombia study families with multiple members suffering schizophrenia, said Doctor Migdyrai Martin, from Cuba's center of Neuro-Sciences. The expert addressed the Third Pan-American Congress of Child and Youth Mental Health, to unfold at Havana's Palace of Conventions until March 28 with 350 experts from ten countries. Martin said they wish to track the cultural and biological roots of the disease and its the hereditary features. Experts from Diego Portales University, in Chile, already work with Cuba's results, and several countries are helping to improve the Latin American Psychiatry Guide. (Prensa Latina, 27/3/08)

March 27: Political prisoner Héctor Maseda, one of 75 dissidents imprisoned in the spring of 2003, sent Fidel Castro a written testimonial account of the situation in the jails of the island. The book was dropped off at the Citizens’ Attention Office of the State Council by the wife of the dissident, Laura Pollán, a member of the Ladies in White. In the book dedication, Maseda refers to an article authored by Castro where the former-president sings the praises of the penitentiary system in Cuba. (EER, 30/3/08)

March 28: Cuba announced that it would allow unrestricted use of mobile telephones by all Cubans for the first time in the latest step by new President Raul Castro to improve access to consumer goods. Cuba has the lowest rate of cellular telephone use in Latin America. The Cuban telecommunications monopoly ETECSA announced it would begin mobile phone service for the general public in the next few days, in a statement published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma. ETECSA said the new service would be paid for in hard currency in order to fund telecommunications development in Cuba. (Reuters, 28/3/08)

March 28: Every March, the Pepe Sánchez International Trova Festival is organized in Santiago de Cuba, taking into account that the 19th is the birthday of the man for whom the event is named, which later became Trova Day. This year, the 125th anniversary of the first recorded bolero is being commemorated: "Tristeza," by Pepe Sánchez. There is no need to convene singer-songwriters for the festival in Santiago; they are in the street, in parks, plazas and “peñas” (cultural clubs). It is not at all staged; it is something that is part of everyday life in this city of “trova” traditions, of serenades and jam sessions. The organizing committee’s president is Eliades Ochoa, a “trova” musician who used to play for tips in Santiago de Cuba’s bars. "This city holds a lot of memories for me; this is where I met many of the old guard “trova” musicians. It really makes me happy to see Céspedes Park full of people for the festival’s opening, and how the Casa de la Trova gets packed to overflowing." The International Trova Festival is considered to be Cuba’s oldest. This year, its 46th edition, featured visitors from Mexico, Spain and Japan. Artists came from Havana and other provinces, including the Compay Segundo Group, Mongo Rives and his Sucu Sucu, and Marta Campos. (Granma International, 28/3/08)

March 29: Cuban writer Eduardo Heras Leon said that the upcoming Congress of the Union of Cuban Writers and Artists UNEAC will help strengthen the revolution and socialism. Heras Leon who is part of the Congress' s Organizing Committee noted that this is a historic moment for Cuba; and that he hopes that vital decisions will spring from the meeting. Heras Leon who is also Director of the Onelio Jorge Cardoso Literary Center said there is a high cultural standard in Cuba, which is essential for the development of any social project, and constitutes a pillar of the revolution as well. Artist Gilberto del Rio Leon said that this next Congress challenges new generations to follow the example of those before them, and to maintain the spirit of the great Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen alive. Gillen became president of UNEAC since its foundation in 1961, until the time of his death in 1989. The seventh UNEAC Congress will take place April 1-4 at Havana's International Conference Center. (Radio Habana Cuba, 29/3/08)

March 30: Raul Castro's government quietly lifted its controversial ban keeping Cubans from staying at tourist hotels. "We've had no Cuban guests so far but the hotel is overbooked right now," said Sandra, a young woman working the front desk at the Hotel Nacional. She said a tourism ministry official informed hotel management of the change. Employees at the Ambos Mundos, Nacional, Valencia and Maria Isabel Hotels in Havana said Ministry of Tourism officials told them Cubans would be allowed to stay in hotels. Like other guests, they will be charged in hard currency worth 24 times the Cuban pesos state employees are paid in. Granma, the Community Party daily newspaper, made no mention of the change on its website on March 31, but several hotel and rental-car employees said they were informed of the move. Cubans who live solely on government salaries, which average about $20 a month, struggle to survive, even with free health care and education and subsidized rations of food. (Sun Sentinel, AP, 30/3/08)

March 31: A family was evicted from his home in Nuevo Amanecer, a shantytown in the eastern city of Holguin, and now they are camping along the Mirador road. Over 2,000 people have been threatened by local authorities with losing their homes under the Ley de Enfrentamiento a las Ilegalidades de la Vivienda (Law Against Illegal Housing). Authorities in Holguin province have the goal of eliminating almost 40 settlements that have emerged in the outskirts of the province capital city during the last ten years. (The Miami Herald, 31/3/08)