Chronicle on Cuba - March 2008

Foreign Affairs

March 2: The President of the Republic of Mozambique, Armando Emilio Guebuza, arrived in Havana for an official visit at the invitation of Cuban President Raul Castro. The visitor was welcomed at the Jose Marti International Airport by Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez who was accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Yiliam Jimenez and the island’s ambassador to the African country, Eva Seoane, among other officials. (Prensa Latina, 2/3/08)

March 3: Cuban President, Raul Castro, met with the President of the Republic of Mozambique Armando Emilio Guebuza, who is paying an official visit to Cuba. Following an official welcoming ceremony for the visitor at the Revolution Palace in Havana, Raul Castro and Armano Emilio Guebuza held talks on the development of bilateral relations and on issues of regional, multilateral and international interest. Present at the encounter were Cuba's First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura; Vice-president Esteban Lazo; Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer; the member of the Secretariat of Cuba´s Communist Party Central Committee Fernando Remirez de Estenoz; Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Minister Marta Lomas; Education Minister Luis Ignacio Gomez, First deputy Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez; deputy Foreign Minister Yiliam Jimenez and the Cuban ambassador to Mozambique Evangelina Seoane. The President of the Republic of Mozambique was accompanied by several high-ranking officials. (ACN, 3/3/08)
 
March 3: A Spanish language edition of a book on Canadian- Cuban relations by Canadian researchers John M.Kirk and Peter McKenna was presented at the Friendship House in Havana as a symbol of the excellent ties existing between the two nations. The Spanish edition of “Canada-Cuba Relations: The Other Good Neighbor Policy” (“Sesenta años de relaciones bilaterales Canadá-Cuba”) was printed by Cuban Ciencias Sociales publishing house. (ACN, 3/3/08)

March 3: Cuba highlighted that the fact of being a founding member of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) proves that, in the end, reason defeats force, and principles impose over power and money. In his speech at the opening of the top-level segment of the Seventh HRC Session, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said that after 20 long years of "fighting devils" we end old coercive styles of the group. The island’s official noted that the United States, with several pretexts to legitimate its aggression against Cuba in the former Commission turned "into failed State in this matter, responsible for the most dangerous crimes and violations of human rights." " Perez Roque reiterated his country’s will to cooperate with the HRC, "with non-discriminatory and universal human rights mechanisms, with the strict respect to our sovereignty." The Cuban official adopted other reasons to support the UN organization, among them the abuses of outrages committed by Israel against the Palestinian people, the existence of 900 million hungry people and 800 million illiterate persons. [Statement by Perez Roque] (Prensa Latina, 3/3/08)

March 4: The 10th International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and Development Problems will focus on integration on its second day of discussion. Topics like the situation of the Latin American and Caribbean economies, employment, social exclusion and regional integration will be addressed by Jorge Mattar, from the Mexico-based Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Pablo Fajnziber, from the World Bank. Other lecturers are, Norman Girvan, former general secretary of the Association of Caribbean States, and Antonio Romero Gomez, director of Relations for Integration of the Latin American Economic System. Economist Oscar Ugarteche stressed that Latin America has made significant progress in regional integration. Chile´s Orlando Caputo, from the Center of Studies on Transnationalization, Economy and Society, stated that Latin America is aware of such changes, with deepening unequal development and underdevelopment. We have been witnessing the failure of neoliberalism and the asphyxiation of economic reproduction, he noted. (Prensa Latina, 4/3/08)

March 4: Fidel Castro waded into the growing dispute between Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela, backing Ecuador but aiming his fire mainly at arch-enemy the United States. Cuban allies Ecuador and Venezuela broke diplomatic ties with Colombia after its forces killed a rebel inside Ecuador in a raid that sparked troop deployments and warnings of war. "Imperialism has just committed a monstrous crime in Ecuador," Castro wrote in his latest column for Cuban state-run media, this one on his relations with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa. "Deadly bombs were dropped in the early morning against a group of men and women whom, with few exceptions, were sleeping (…) they were Yankee bombs, guided by Yankee satellites." Fidel Castro blasted the Colombian and US rationale for the attack -- that the FARC is a terrorist organization. "The concrete accusations against these human beings do not justify the action (...) absolutely no one has the right to kill in cold blood," he said. "If we accept this imperial method of war and barbarity, Yankee bombs guided by Yankee satellites could fall on any group of Latin American men and women in the territory of any country," Castro said. He insisted Cubans "are not enemies of Colombia" but said "to remain silent would make us accomplices (…) Ecuadorean territory was occupied by troops that crossed the border." The Cuban government, now headed by his brother Raul, has yet to comment on the Latin American crisis. [Rafael Correa] (Reuters, 4/3/08)

March 4: The European Union welcomed as a "positive development" Cuba's decision to sign two UN human rights pacts, in an unprecedented gesture days after Raul Castro took over as president. The Slovenian president of the EU said that, “in becoming a State Party to these legally binding international human rights law instruments, Cuba is freely assuming the obligations contained in these international documents”. “The Presidency looks forward to the implementation of these legally binding human rights obligations by Cuba”, it concludes. (EU Press Releases, 4/3/08)

March 5: The European Union’s top development aid official started a four-day trip to Cuba in a bid to heal strained relations with Havana. Louis Michel's mission, which was planned before the official hand-over of power from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul, will be the first high-level visit of an EU official to the Caribbean island since 2005 and the first since Raul became president. Officials at EU headquarters say they are keen to hear out senior Cuban officials on whether changes, including economic and political reforms, are in the works now that Fidel has retired. Michel's spokesman, John Clancy, said the European Commission wanted to see “the resumption of an open and constructive political dialogue” with Cuban leaders, a move Havana remains hesitant to endorse after the EU slapped political sanctions against the island in 2003. The EU has since suspended those measures, but ties have remained icy. Clancy said Raul's appointment as president “constitutes a new situation” and Commissioner Michel has expressed his willingness to engage in a constructive political dialogue with President Raul Castro. He added that Michel was “particularly interested to learn more, to listen, to hear about” Raul's intentions over possible political administrative and economic reforms that might happen. Clancy said the EU was eager to resume talks on a wide range of issues related to climate change, the environment and on closer cooperation with Cuba on humanitarian aid issues. Michel was scheduled to meet senior Cuban lawmakers and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. (AP, 5/3/08)

March 6: Mozambican President Armando Emilio Guebuza wound up his official visit to Cuba with the certainty that relations between his country and the Caribbean island have strengthened, the head of State said in Havana. “I’m satisfied with this visit,” said Guebuza, adding that bilateral cooperation is growing in various directions, especially in the healthcare and education sectors.  The African leader and his delegation closed their agenda with a tour of the Iberostar Varadero Hotel. Cuba’s deputy minister of Tourism, Maria Elena Lopez, updated the visitors on the development of this industry in Cuba. (ACN,6/3/08)

March 6: The Slovene presidency of the European Union (EU) is confident that significant changes will take place in Cuba. "We have seen some cosmetic changes, but no substantial transformation. We are still confident that they will come around," indicated the Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Dimitrij Rupel. In declarations following an EU - Canada ministerial meeting in which international issues were discussed, the Slovene chancellor stressed that the Union is "in favor of promoting democratic reform and human rights" on the island. As regards the political prisoners, he expects that issue "to be removed from the agenda as soon as possible," referring to their release from prison. (EER, 6/3/08)

March 6: Cuba, through its ambassador Juan Antonio Fernandez and in its capacity as current chair of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), is promoting a resolution to condemn Israel at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva. The resolution, which condemns the new escalation of violence and Israel’s recent aggressions in the Gaza Strip, will be presented under the auspices of the NAM, the Arab League, the Islamic Conference and the African group. It will be another effort to condemn Israel during the Seventh Session of the HRC that will conclude on March 28th. The text condemns the Israeli violation of human rights and its constant military attacks and raids in the occupied Palestinian territories, and particularly its massacres in the Gaza Strip. (Prensa Latina, 6/3/08)

March 6: The European Union's top development aid official arrived in Cuba to sound out the plans of its new President Raul Castro and relaunch ties that were largely frozen under his brother Fidel Castro. EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel is expected to meet over the next day or two with Raul Castro, who succeeded his ailing brother on February 24 as communist Cuba's first new leader in almost half a century. "This first transfer of power constitutes a new situation. Michel has expressed his willingness to engage in a constructive political dialogue with Raul Castro," John Clancy, a spokesman for the EU official, told the press in Brussels. "Michel is keen to listen and to learn about President Raul Castro's possible intentions to undertake some restructuring of the state administration and a number of economic reforms." Brussels froze relations with Havana in 2003 after Cuba jailed 75 dissidents in a political crackdown and executed three men who hijacked a ferry to flee to the United States. Fidel Castro then told the EU that Cuba did not need its aid. (Reuters, 6/3/08)  

March 7: Capitalism is a formidable system of economic terrorism now exercised as a habitual practice, Cuban economist Osvaldo Martinez told the 10th international meeting on Globalization and Development Problems. The director of the Cuban World Economy Research Center reminded the nearly 1,200 delegates from 55 countries and 24 international organizations that capitalists have rationalized economic terror and converted the victims into the guilty. In his closing remarks at the Havana Convention Center, Martinez said that with unbridled speculation, without bombs or bullets, capitalism provokes hunger, poverty, unemployment and exclusion. Defenders of capitalism do not seek to repair social shames, nor use technical and scientific progress to eradicate them, he added. (Prensa Latina, 7/3/08)

March 7: Fidel Castro welcomed the resolution of a dispute between Ecuador and Colombia reached at a Mercosur summit, saying in a statement that the only loser was US "imperialism." Noting that no US diplomats were present at the gathering, Castro wrote that "peace was immediately sealed, along with the knowledge that we are not obligated to wage war among nations that share solid ties of brotherhood." “I underscored the importance of this meeting in one of my reflections. It did not take place within the OAS. Most importantly, US diplomats were not in attendance. In one way or another, despite the profound ideological and tactical differences, everyone shone and showed the virtues that earned them important positions in office”, Castro wrote. [El único perdedor] (AP, 8/3/08)

March 8: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his first visit to Cuba since the presidency passed from Fidel Castro to his younger brother Raul, state television reported Broadcast footage showed Raul greeting Chavez when he arrived in Havana the night of March 7 along with Yolanda Pulecio, the mother of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, and Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba. The two women have conducted an international campaign for the release of Betancourt, who is the highest-profile hostage held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the rebel group known as the FARC. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters that Chavez had met with Raul Castro. But he did not mention that the women had accompanied the Venezuelan president to Cuba and it was unknown if they were at the meeting. Chavez made the unannounced visit on his way home from a summit in the Dominican Republic, where he and the presidents of Colombia and Ecuador agreed to end a bitter dispute over a Colombian cross-border raid on rebels in Ecuadorean territory. (AP, 8/3/08)

March 8: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez paid a visit to his close friend Fidel Castro, making his first trip to Cuba since the ailing 81-year-old was replaced as president by his younger brother Raul. ''I talked for a long time with Chavez today,'' the elder Castro said in a statement distributed by the Foreign Ministry. In the unannounced trip after the summit of Latin American leaders in the Dominican Republic, Chavez also met with Raul Castro, Cuban officials said. Before returning to Venezuela, Chavez told Cuban state television that he found Fidel “happy, splendid and full of ideas.'' Castro wrote that the Venezuelan president was “euphoric from that battle for peace and his role'' at the summit, where Andean leaders agreed to end a bitter dispute over a Colombian raid on rebels in Ecuadorean territory. He also joked that Chavez initially didn't want to see him because he didn't want to risk giving him the flu. Castro said that he was not going to reveal all the topics he discussed with Chavez. “I had a long conversation with Chavez. We are like brothers. The decision to publish what we discussed is not mine to make, as it has never been and will never be. Venezuela is not Brazil”, he said in a reference to the five articles he wrote on his conversation with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during the Brazilian President’s visit to Havana. [La visita de Chávez] (AP, Prensa Latina, 9/3/08)

March 8: The European Union's top development aid official said he found a new "open-mindedness" in Cuba, but he and his hosts noted that EU diplomatic sanctions remain a hurdle to improved ties. EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel spoke on the second day of the first trip to Cuba by a senior European official since ailing communist stalwart Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raul Castro last month. "In my opinion, the time and moment is right to have a dialogue with Cuba," Michel said in a joint news conference with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. "I decided to come to Cuba in these important times because the normalization of relations between Cuba and the European Union is a very important question," the development and humanitarian aid commissioner said. "The first obstacle to normalization is the sanctions" that the EU imposed in 2003 and suspended two years later, Michel said, adding that they should be reviewed "to see if they can be eliminated." The sanctions were imposed after the Cuban regime arrested 75 dissidents in a crackdown. Michel said he would have to brief the European parliament and Council of Europe about his trip and try to convince them to remove the sanctions. Perez Roque said his conversation with Michel was "positive" but that "obstacles that need to be removed remain." "We are not yet immersed in a political dialogue," he said. "We considered the possibility of reaching an agreement for a political dialogue that includes all topics ... including the human rights issue," the foreign minister said. [Joint communiqué] (EUBusiness, Reuters, 8/3/08)

March 9: For many years, the word cancer was taboo in Cuba. "No one would say 'cancer' and that was part of the problem," says Dr. Rolando Camacho, speaking from Havana. For the last decade, Cuban health educators have been working to dispel the secrecy and shame about cancer. At the same time, Terry Fox – the Canadian hero who boldly showed the world the effects of cancer (he wore an artificial leg) and how one could fully livewith cancer – played a pivotal role in turning Cuban thinking around. On March 15, in the 10th Terry Fox Run for cancer research, 2.5 million Cubans are expected to walk, run, ride, roller blade – do whatever they can – remembering a young Canadian who has become a hero in their own country. Camacho, who heads Cuba's National Oncology Group, says Terry's message echoes the objectives of the island nation's national health program: "If you don't accept cancer as a common disease you will not fight against it." He's watched as participants swelled from about 800 in 1998 to 2.3 million in 2007, becoming the world's largest outside of Canada. (The Toronto Star, 9/3/08)

March 9: Representatives of the Cuban domestic opposition claimed disappointment regarding the visit to the island by the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, whom they criticized for returning to Brussels without meeting with them. The leader of Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), Oswaldo Payá, said that if Michel’s attitude "reflects the stand that the European Union (EU) is going to take from now on, then it will be abandoning an ethical position and ignoring the rights of the Cuban people." Oscar Espinosa Chepe, member of the group of 75 dissidents imprisoned in the spring 2003, lamented that Louis Michel’s visit turned out to be "disappointing." According to Martha Beatriz Roque, leader of the Assembly to Promote Civil society, opposition activists do not even know "what the purpose of the visit was." (EER, El Nuevo Herald, 10/3/08)

March 10: The UN special rapporteur on the Right to Nutrition, Jean Ziegler, presented a report in Geneva, that called on the United States to end its 45-year-old economic embargo against the communist-ruled island. Ziegler recommended to the United States "in a very firm manner" that it lift "the illegal blockade against Cuba." "Cuba should have free access to export markets assured, and the unnecessary costs and inconveniences that the embargo causes in the food import system should be eliminated," he said. The Swiss sociologist visited the island last fall at the invitation of Cuban authorities. (EFE, 10/3/08)

March 10: Cuba's culture minister said that Chile will have an "important role" in the 2009 International Book Fair on the island, where it will be the specially invited country, and announced that the event will pay homage to singer-songwriters Violeta Parra and Victor Jara. Abel Prieto told the official Prensa Latina news agency that "Chile will play an important role" at the fair, the island's biggest cultural event, and said that "some preliminary ideas have already been sketched out" with the president of the Writers Society of that country, Reinaldo Lacamara Calaf. With regard to the homage to the Chilean musicians, the culture minister recalled that Cuban singer-songwriters Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes have a great devotion for Violeta Parra, and considered her to have had a lasting influence on the work of the two founders of the island's Nueva Trova (New Troubadour) movement. As for Jara, Prieto stressed his standing as a "symbol of art" against fascism and his "exceptional values." (EFE, 11/3/08)  

March 11: Cuba said before the UN Human Rights Council that it is ready to invite other special rapporteurs to visit the island after the trip of Swiss sociologist Jean Ziegler, the international body's special rapporteur on the Right to Nutrition. Cuban envoy Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios thanked UN special rapporteur Jean Ziegler for his request directed at Washington to end the embargo, and he expressed Havana's desire to invite other rapporteurs if "the constructive environment continues in the heart of this new entity and if unfair campaigns are not relaunched." Fernandez Palacios thus referred to the new UN Human Rights Council, which, after replacing the Commission on Human Rights, eliminated the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cuba. "Pressure never has worked and never will work," the Cuban ambassador added. (EFE, 11/3/08)

March 11: Fidel Castro may have retired after 49 years as Cuba's leader, but he is still busy preparing editions of his memoirs, now aimed at Asian readers. The Communist Party newspaper Granma said that editions in Hindi, Farsi and Sinhalese are underway, following publication of his memoirs in China. "Many of the great challenges facing humanity will have no solution without the active and pivotal role of China," Castro wrote in the prologue to the Chinese edition, which was published in Mandarin. The memoirs, written in question-and-answer style, give a definitive account of Castro's views on major events since he seized power in 1959, from the Cuban missile crisis to Cuba's military role in Africa and the fall of Soviet communism. [Al pueblo de China] (Reuters, 11/3/08)

March 11: The President of Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez, highlighted the benefits received by his people thanks to the Cuban cooperation for the inauguration of a modern ophthalmological center in Montevideo. During a ceremony held in Paso de los Toros, a central locality in Uruguay, Vazquez said: “we have a top level ophthalmological center thanks to the cooperation of our Cuban brothers and sisters and the government of the island.” The Hospital of the Eyes, as Uruguayans call it, was inaugurated last November by President Vazquez. (ACN, 12/3/08)
 
March 11: The ambassador of Mexico to Havana, Gabriel Jiménez Remus, declared that his country is intent on maintaining relations with Cuba, "regardless of whom is" at the helm of the government on the island. "It is of no consequence who is at the head of the Cuban Government. We respect the principles of the Republic of Cuba and its domestic regime, no matter who is in charge," said Jiménez during a press conference held to announce the upcoming visit to the island of the Mexican Foreign Secretary, Patricia Espinosa. (EFE, 11/3/08)

March 12: Reporters Without Borders has initiated the first Online Free Expression Day. "From now on, we will organize activities every 12 March to condemn cyber-censorship throughout the world," Reporters Without Borders said. "A response of this kind is needed to the growing tendency to crack down on bloggers and to close websites." "Today, the first time this day is being marked, we are giving all internet users the opportunity to demonstrate in places where protests are not normally possible. We hope many will come and protest in virtual versions of Beijing's Tiananmen Square, Cuba's Revolution Square or on the streets of Rangoon, in Burma. At least 62 cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned worldwide, while more than 2,600 websites, blogs or discussions forums were closed or made inaccessible in 2007." (RWB Press Release, 12/3/08) 

March 12: A message from five Cubans who remain held in US prisons since 1998 was read at the UN Council of Human Rights Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Olga Salanueva, wife of Rene Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five- as they are internationally known -, read the document signed by her husband and Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon Labanino and Fernando Gonzalez. The president of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Leila Zerrougui, recalled that almost three years ago the office she heads declared the detention and imprisonment of the Cuban Five illegal and arbitrary. (ACN, 12/3/08)

March 12: Having a close relationship with Cuba that transcends decades of political turbulence on both sides of the Atlantic, the Czech Republic is among the countries spearheading the discourse regarding Cuba’s future following Fidel Castro’s resignation. As one of the European Union’s sharpest critics of the totalitarian regime in Cuba, the Czech government views the conclusion of Fidel Castro’s reign as a positive development. In a February 18 statement, the Czech Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed hope that this development would steer Cuba toward political and economic reforms that would “lead this beautiful country out of the freeze-up of the past years,” and urged the new Cuban leadership to reject the repressive tactics that characterized Fidel Castro’s reign. According to the ministry statement, “future development should be aimed toward the liberation of all political prisoners, initiating a dialogue with the political opposition and holding a free election.” Although ambitious in its recommendations, the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s views echo the international community’s skepticism toward Cuba’s new leadership. “There is a whole club of young [communists] under Raúl Castro,” Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said in a February 21 interview on his party’s Web site. “These people are between 25 and 40 years old, and they are just now getting to power. If a whole generation leaves with the old master, they have an immense opportunity to take its place.” (The Prague Post, 12/3/08)

March 13: The President and scientific director of Canada’s Terry Fox cancer research center, is in Havana to attend the 10th Marathon of Hope scheduled for March 15. Victor Ling is going to give a lecture at the Cuba-Canada Workshop on Cancer at the Hotel Nacional, in Havana. Also present on the Terry Fox Run along with Ling will be the president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Michael Chambers. Carlos Gattorno, director of the organizing committee of the Race, told the press, that some 30,000 people have volunteered to participate in the run, with the longest stretch being 3 kms and the shortest 1 km. The signal will be given at 10 am on March 15 through the national radio station Radio Reloj to start at the same time in all the municipalities of the country, as well as rural and mountainous communities. More than 5,000 runs are expected to take place throughout the country, said Gattorno. In addition, foreign visitors have been invited to join the race as well at all tourist facilities of the island, whose most important tourist market is Canada. (AIN, 13/3/08)

March 13: The Cuba Initiative has announced that Ian Taylor MP, the Conservative MP for Esher and Walton, has accepted an invitation to take on the role of UK Chairman of the organisation, in succession to Lord Moynihan. His counterpart in Havana is Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Minister of State in the office of the President. Commenting on his appointment, Taylor said: “This is an interesting moment to attempt to create new momentum in the relationship with the Cuban government. I am convinced that with the proximity of Cuba to islands of considerable importance to UK interests, such as Jamaica, we have an opportunity to play a role in improving exchanges between our two countries.” (Caribbean Net News, 13/3/08)

March 14: The Spanish government expects the new president of Cuba, Raúl Castro, to facilitate an opening in the island, said Trinidad Jiménez, State Secretary for Ibero-America. "The European Union has always supported political dialogue, which might entail criticisms, but is still important nonetheless," indicated Jiménez. "If (the Cuban government) ever considered implementing reforms, a dialogue would be required. I believe that now would be a good time,” she added. "We all believe that politics cannot continue to be carried out the same way it has been conducted in the last 50 years," commented Trinidad Jiménez. (BBC Mundo, 14/3/08)

March 14: Cuba and Mexico declared their once-chilly relations fully restored, and Cuba's foreign minister said he will soon deliver a formal invitation for Mexico's president to visit the island. ''Relations between Mexico and Cuba are fully normalized,'' Cuban Foreign Minster Perez Roque said after meeting with his Mexican counterpart, Patricia Espinosa in Havana. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said he wants warmer ties with Cuba -- which historically have been good but soured under his predecessor, Vicente Fox, who feuded publicly with Fidel Castro. Perez Roque and Espinosa signed a series of agreements to reactivate cooperation. The pair applauded Mexico's agreement last month to restructure US$400 million (euro273 million) in Cuban debt in an effort to boost trade between their countries. [Comunicado conjunto]

March 14: As Raul Castro was formally invested as Cuban head of state, a Reporters Without Borders' special correspondent was in Cuba examining the state of press freedom, five years after the "black spring" of March 2003. On the eve of the fifth anniversary of this unprecedented crackdown, which made Cuba the world's second largest prison for journalists, the worldwide press freedom organisation - banned from visiting Cuba - released the report of this visit. Five years after "black spring" in which 27 journalists were arrested and unfairly sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 27 years in prison, 19 of them are still in jail in very harsh conditions, the report says. The report also stresses the extreme difficulties for those who are not in prison to manage to work as journalists in a country in which the state has a monopoly on news, printing and broadcasting. It also reveals however that the independent Cuban press has done better than just survive the "black spring" which almost crushed it. A new generation born out of an emerging civil society, has taken over websites and the very few underground magazines, people like the blogger Yoani Sanchez. [Black Spring Five Years After] (Canadian Press, 14/3/08)

March 15: The slower ones made it to the finish line in front of the Kid Chocolate sports center in Havana either walking or in wheelchairs, half an hour after Radio Reloj radio station gave the signal for the 10th Terry Fox Marathon of Hope to begin simultaneously in some 5,000 locations throughout Cuba. In all 169 municipalities of the country and the tourist resorts of Varadero, Cienfuegos, Ciego de Avila and Holguin, volunteers ran to raise funds for cancer research and pay homage to Terry Fox, who pioneered a cross-Canada run to raise money for this purpose in 1980. The president and scientific director of Canada’s Terry Fox cancer research center, Victor Ling, and the president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Michael Chambers, attended the run in Havana. (ACN, 15/3/08)

March 15: Pope Benedict XVI approved the decree that will allow the beatification in the near future of Cuban priest Jose Olallo Valdes, the Vatican press office announced. According to the note from the Vatican, Benedict XVI signed the decree that attributes a miracle to the intercession of Valdes of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, who was born in Havana on February 12, 1820 and died in Camaguey on March 7, 1889. The postulant in the cause of beatifying the priest, Felix Lisazo Berruete, had announced that the Catholic Church confirmed the intercession of Olallo in the "miraculous cure" of a 3-year-old. Olallo Valdes attended to cholera patients during the 1835 epidemic in Camaguey, and during his visit to Cuba in 1998, the late Pope John Paul II expressed his hope that the Cuban religious could achieve sainthood. (EFE, 15/3/08)

March 16: The Russian frigate Pallada, which is making a voyage around the world, arrived in the Cuban capital city of Havana. The ship came from Venezuela almost a day earlier than planned thanks to the fair wind, Russian vice-consul in Cuba Alexei Nekrasov told the press. More than 100 cadets will board the ship during the brief stop in the course of a partial rotation of the crew. The Pallada crew will meet with Cuban officials, Russian diplomats and colleagues from the training vessel of the Far Eastern State Fishery Technical University. The current voyage of the Pallada, which is the quickest sailing vessel in the world, is dedicated to the 190th anniversary of the round-the-world voyage of Russian ships led by Fabian Gothlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev and the 50th anniversary of the Russian research in Antarctica. Four hundred cadets of Russian naval schools will be trained in three shifts aboard the Pallada during the 270-days voyage. (Itar-Tass, 16/3/08)  

March 17: Michael Andrew Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said his visit to Cuba to participate in the Terry Fox ¨Run for Hope¨ gave him the opportunity to explore possible agreements with the Cuban sports institutions, in the near future. On his first trip to Cuba, Chambers said he felt ¨very impressed¨ after visiting several important Cuban sports centers, including the anti- doping laboratory, recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-doping Agency. At a press conference, shortly before returning home, the Canadian sports official praised the enthusiasm he saw in Cuba for the celebration of the event honoring the memory of handicapped Canadian athlete Terry Fox and above all for the impressive participation figures received from the Cuban organizers. (Periódico Ahora, 18/3/08)

March 18: Cuba, on behalf of the Non Aligned Movement, noted the importance of intercultural dialogue in terms of human rights and outlined a means to brace it on world scale. At a United Nations Human Rights Commission (HRC) panel, Rodolfo Reyes, director of the Cuban Foreign Ministry for Multilateral Affairs, recalled the efforts at UNESCO to protect and develop cultural diversity. However, he regretted that neither the late commission nor the current Council have paid due attention to the issue resulting in what they consider to be a shortcoming. Reyes said Cuba protects and develops national cultures just as the sovereignty of states and bracing multilateralism help consolidate global cooperation based on solidarity and respect for diversity. (Prensa Latina, 18/3/08)

March 18: The Communist parties of China and Cuba are taking steps to further strengthen bilateral exchange as well as relations based on friendship and cooperation. For this purpose, Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, head of the Foreign Relations Department at the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, is in Beijing conducting a working visit. In his first day in the Chinese capital, Remirez de Estenoz met with Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party. During his stay in the Asian nation, Remirez de Estenoz will visit the Central School of the Chinese Communist Party, the Cuba-China Friendship School and facilities that will host competitions during next summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. (ACN, 18/3/08)

March 18: The president of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, expressed his public support for the demand that all political prisoners should be released in Cuba, reported the wife of one of those sentenced. Laura Pollán, a member of Ladies in White, read before foreign journalists the message sent by the head of State. According to the text read by Pollán Rodríguez, Zapatero said that “Spain will continue to do everything within its power to obtain the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including her husband.” The Spanish President also voiced his “admiration for the tenacious work of Las Damas de Blanco,” wives and relatives of the prisoners. (La Jornada, El País, 18/3/08)

March 18: The European Union must publicly condemn human rights abuses in Cuba and demand an immediate release of all Cuban political prisoners, former Czech president Vaclav Havel and French philosopher Andre Glucksmann say in their statement published by the Austrian daily Der Standard. The appeal entitled What Europe Owes the Dissidents of Castro's Regime was also signed by other members of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba. The signatories include former Slovenian president Milan Kucan, former Lithuanian president Vytautas Landsbergis, former Estonian prime minister Mart Laar, former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell and former Polish finance minister Leszek Balcerowicz. [Europe Needs Solidarity Over Cuba] (CTK, 18/3/08)

March 18: On the 5th anniversary of the largest crackdown against political opponents in Cuba, Amnesty International called on the new Cuban authorities to immediately release the 58 dissidents still being held in jails across the country. “Five years is five years too many. The only crime committed by these 58 is the peaceful exercise of their fundamental freedoms. Amnesty International considers them to be prisoners of conscience. They must be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Kerrie Howard, Deputy Director for Amnesty International’s Americas Program. [Cuba: Five Years Too Many] (AI Press Release, 18/3/08)

March 18: Whether to lift European Union diplomatic sanctions or not on Cuba created a lively debate in Ljubljana, during the fifteen session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the African Caribbean Pacific Group and the EU. This brief debate was sparked by a question from Michael Gahler, from Germany, to Louis Michel, European Commissioner for development, asking him to draw up a balance sheet of his recent visit to Cuba (7-9 March) and to, “communicate his impressions on the future of this island in terms of democracy and human rights”. Michel said, “there is a sincere desire and real political will from the Cuban government to open a true partnership with the EU” but there is a blockage on the sanctions that are not understood because they have been suspended but not been gotten rid of. Michel appealed for these sanctions to be definitively lifted. Gahler sarcastically posed the question of what was a post Castro period and described the transition from Fidel to Raul Castro as a “monarchic succession”. He criticised Michel for not having met the democratic opposition. (Agence Europe, 20/3/08)

March 18: During the current month, the Cuban Embassy in Pakistan has held three meetings with groups of Pakistani students who were selected to study Medicine in Cuba, said a spokesman of the Cuban embassy. The spokesman said these students are part of the 1,000 free of charge-scholarships granted by the Cuban government to Pakistan after the devastating earthquake that affected the country in October 2005. These meetings took place in the cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad and were organized by the Cuban Embassy with the cooperation of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC), he added. (PPI, 18/3/08)

March 21: Cuba’s first Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura met with Kenny Davis Anthony, former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, who is in Havana. The leader of the parliamentary opposition in the sister Caribbean island said he deeply admires Cuba for its “greatness in giving without asking for anything in return”, and mentioned the unconditional support given to his nation since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979. Machado Ventura for his part praised the unity and strength of the Labor Party of Saint Lucia and called it an example to follow by other peoples. Both leaders talked about the agenda of the visiting delegation, which will return to Santa Lucia on March 23. Activities include a visit to the Infirmary School in Jaguey Grande, Matanzas, where young people from Saint Lucia study. The visitors will also tour the oil refinery of Cienfuegos and the new community of “petrocasas” (houses built from oil derivates), a Cuba- Venezuela joint project, some 250 kilometers east of Havana. Kenny D. Anthony had previously visited Cuba as Prime Minister in May 2006. (ACN, 21/3/08)

March 21: Pope Benedict XVI donated the collection from a Holy Thursday Mass to a Cuban orphanage -- a gesture seen in Havana as a sign the Roman Catholic Church wants to be a key moral force in Cuba's future. On the heels of a historic leadership change and a high-level diplomatic visit from the Vatican, Pope Benedict's nod to Cuba is the latest example of how the church and this communist government have taken small, quiet steps toward healing a once-adversarial relationship. (AP, 21/3/08)

March 22: Cuba rejected criticism of China for its crackdown on recent riots in Tibet, which has led to calls for a possible boycott of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing. In an e-mail statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, Havana also accused US-funded Radio Free Asia of being the principal voice behind talk of a boycott. "The government of Cuba condemns with all of its energy attempts to organize a crusade aimed at undermining this noble undertaking," the government said. Protests against Chinese rule in Tibet have drawn a harsh response from Beijing, and Chinese authorities say 16 people have died and 325 were injured. The Dalai Lama's exiled government says 99 Tibetans have been killed. Cuba’s government added that it believes the Tibet riots were "promoted from outside the country," and expressed opposition to "any attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of China." (AP, 22/3/08)

March 22: A photo exhibition portraying the Cuito Cuanavale Battle was inaugurated, in Havana, by the general Antonio Enrique Luzon. The exhibition shows the "greatest moments" of the historic battle of Cuito Cuanavale that marks the defeat imposed by the ex-Peoples Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), jointly with military officers of Cuba, on the extinct South African Apartheid regime. The ambassadors of Angola, South Africa and of Namibia accredited in the Republic of Cuba, Antonio Jose Condesse de Carvalho, Thenjiwe Mtintso and Claudia Grace Ushona, respectively, as well as other representatives of the diplomatic body, attended the ceremony. (ANGOP, 23/3/08)

March 22: The Russian sailing vessel Pallada left the port of the Cuban capital and headed for the Azores Islands (Portugal) to begin the second stage of its months-long sail around the world. The Pallada continues the travel with a new crew aboard after ending the first stage that was started in Vladivostok on November 2. In Havana, 110 new crewmembers, students from Russian nautical institutions, boarded the vessel. They replaced 126 crewmembers who took a flight to return home. The permanent crew and students, those who went ashore and newcomers, have very good impressions of Havana, Pallada captain Nikolai Zorchenko said. It is not the first port the vessel visited, and Havana impressed the crew with its warm and friendly nature. Cuban authorities provided assistance for the stay and continuation of the sailing. The Pallada was the first Russian sailing vessel that visited Havana in the post-Soviet times. (Itar-Tass, 23/3/08)

March 23: Canadians who are interested in experiencing Cuban life first-hand should consider becoming a volunteer with the Che Guevara Work Brigade. While it’s nice to visit the various tourists resorts, there is also another side of Cuba few people get to see and experience and they should consider it, said Fernando Duque Gomez, Canada Specialist from the Instituto Cubano de Amistad con los Pueblos, in Havana, Cuba. Gomez, who is on a cross Canada tour organized by the Canadian Network on Cuba, was in Fort Erie during a luncheon meeting at the May Wah Restaurant. “Sometimes people like to get out of the tourist resort and connect with the real people of Cuba. They should give it a try,” said Gomez. The Che Guevara Volunteer Work Brigade is a non-profit project of the Canadian Network on Cuba for friendship and solidarity with Cuba. (Review, 24/3/08)

March 23: For his support of Africa’s liberation struggles, Namibia granted the Order of Welwitschia to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro. According to Granma news daily, on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of the independence of Namibia, the medal was presented by Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba to Cuban Army Corps General Leopoldo Cintra Frias during a ceremony held in Windhoek, the Namibian capital. During the ceremony, Cintra Frias said that this medal represents the gratitude of the Namibian people and added that it is a well-deserved homage to all Cuban internationalists who died fighting in Africa and to the Cuban people, in general. (ACN, 24/3/08)

March 25: Cuban Public Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer arrived in Beijing on an official visit, invited by Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu. His agenda in China also includes meeting with other officials of the sector, and presiding over the official opening of the China-Cuba Friendship joint ophthalmologic hospital of Hebi city, Henan province. A Cuban ophthalmologic team has already carried out thousands of inquiries in that population and its surroundings to learn of several eye pathologies, prior to the work to be started in the coming days. The hospital will have one hundred beds and the most modern equipment, to diagnose and treat eye afflictions. (Prensa Latina, 25/3/08)

March 25: Haiti’s Senator Maxime Roumer thanked Cuba for its assistance to the development of his country in the area of renewable energy sources. In statements to the press in Ciego de Avila, the visiting Haitian senator said that the Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Environmental Respect, Cubasolar, and Haiti’s Grand'Anse association have strengthened relations aimed at implementing Cuba’s experiences in his country. Roumer, who heads Grand’Anse, is attending an international workshop on energy, environment and sustainable development underway in Ciego de Avila. “We believe that the Cuban experience will also contribute to lowering contamination levels with the treatment of residuals, the use of wind-based energy and the production of biogas,” said Roumer. (ACN, 25/3/08)

March 25: Twelve Cubans landed on a remote Honduran island after spending almost two weeks adrift in the Caribbean aboard a makeshift wooden boat, Honduran officials said. The Cubans set out March 12 from the Cuban city of Manzanillo, heading for the United States aboard a boat equipped with two tiny outboard motors, armed forces spokesman Ramiro Archaga said. They landed on the Cisne Islands, 600 miles north of the Honduran capital. Soldiers stationed on the island are providing the Cubans with food, water and medical treatment until they can be turned over to immigration authorities on the mainland, Archaga said. (AP, 25/3/08)

March 25: The First Secretary of Ukraine's Communist Party, Piotr Simonenko, said the Cuban government has an iron will, as he referred to the medical assistance provided by the island to the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear incident for nearly 20 years. The Cuban authorities are the only ones that have kept a special treatment program over 18 years for the victims of the accident at the nuclear plant in April 26, 1986, said Simonenko, speaking with the direction board of the Paediatric Hospital of Tarara, located in the outskirts of Havana, in the municipality of Habana del Este. Simonenko thanked the doctors at the hospital who, in coordination with other national institutions, have provided treatment to more than 23,000 children, teenagers and adults from the Ukraine that traveled to Cuba accompanied by relatives. (ACN, 25/3/08)

March 26: The Christian Democratic Organization of America (ODCA) wants to meet with the Government of Raúl Castro to step up the political opening of the island, said its president, Manuel Espino. The organization submitted a request to that effect before the Cuban embassy in Mexico. Espino explained that his organization intends "to encourage the Cuban Government” to move towards democracy, “to reassure (Raúl) that he will lose neither face nor power," and that the ODCA is not going to "stir up resentment against him on the continent." (EFE, 26/3/08)

March 26: A new report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), places Cuba 51st in a list of 177 countries regarding human development levels. The document, for the 2007-2008 period, is published every year by the UNDP and on this occasion places Cuba sixth among Latin American countries. According to Juventud Rebelde news daily, it also states that Cuba is included in the list of nations of high levels of human development, which is comprised mainly of industrialized countries. Susan McDade, resident representative of the UNDP in Havana, said that this report combines three aspects: a long and healthy life, education and decent living standards. [The Human Development Index: Cuba] (ACN, 26/3/08)

March 27: Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque is in Syria to participate at the 20th Arab League Summit on behalf of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), chaired by Cuba. During his stay in Damascus the top Cuban diplomat will also hold talks with the heads of the participating delegations and meet with Syrian authorities. (Radio Habana Cuba, 27/3/08)

March 27: The UN Human Rights Council renewed the one-year mandate of its investigator for North Korea, overcoming objections from several countries. Countries including China, Russia and Cuba had sought to end the post, which they characterized as unnecessary and unduly confrontational. They generally oppose country-specific human rights investigators. (Reuters, 27/3/08)

March 27: Cuban Public Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer and his Chinese counterpart, Chen Zhu, met in Beijing, China, to check on the state of bilateral cooperation in the health sector. According to Prensa Latina news agency, during the meeting, the officials expressed both countries’ interest in further developing the exchange of experiences and cooperation in this sector. Also present were Chinese ministerial officials and the Cuban ambassador to Beijing, Carlos Miguel Pereira, as well as members of Balaguer’s accompanying delegation. Balaguer also gave a lecture in the venue of the Chinese Public Health Ministry about the island’s experiences on the development and advances in the training of specialists and the health services offered to the people. The Cuban Health Minister also visited the city of Datong, in the Chinese province of Shanxi, some 250 kilometres to the East of Beijing, where a third Cuba-China Friendship ophthalmologic hospital will soon be inaugurated. (ACN, 28/3/08)

March 29: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent a message of greetings to his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro and to Fidel Castro. Al-Assad met for nearly 45 minutes with Cuba Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who traveled to Syria to attend the 20th Arab League Summit on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The statesman expressed gratitude for Cuba’s historic solidarity with Syria and the cause of the Arab peoples, while praised the Caribbean nation’s performance as the current NAM leader. Perez Roque, who concluded his two-day visit to Damascus, also met with Palestine National Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar. The Cuban minister told the press he had delivered a letter from Cuban President Raul Castro to the top authority of that Arab-Persian Gulf emirate. Perez Roque’s agenda also included meetings with Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Shaikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al- Khalifa, and Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal. Perez Roque spoke in the segment of the Arab League summit, on behalf of the NAM presidency, and rejected Islam phobia against Muslim countries, while exhorting the Arab community to work for unity. [Discurso de Felipe Pérez Roque en la Liga Árabe] (Prensa Latina, 30/3/08)

March 29: Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, called for expansion of bilateral ties between the two states. During the meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the 20th Summit of leaders of Arab states being held in the Syrian capital, the two officials underscored the need for further promotion of mutual economic cooperation. The two foreign ministers also agreed on the date of holding a foreign ministers meeting of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Tehran in late July 2008. In related developments, Mottaki conferred with Secretary-General of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC), Abdul- Rahman al-Attiya. The two officials underscored the need to start negotiations on free trade between Iran and the PGCC states. The Iranian foreign minister then invited al-Attiya to pay a visit to Tehran in the near future to follow up the discussion. (IRNA, 29/3/08)

March 30: A US-based press freedom organization has criticized Venezuela's growing restrictions on freedom of the press, Cuba's jailing of journalists and US court pressure on reporters to reveal confidential sources. The Inter American Press Association wrapped up its midyear meeting in Caracas with a statement that accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of using attacks and intimidation to curb criticism of his government. The IAPA also said Cuba's detention of 25 journalists amounted to a demonstration of total intolerance. The Inter-American Press Association held its first meeting in 1942. It monitors press freedom in the Americas. The group has members throughout the Americas, although many of its leaders are North American journalists. (VOA, 31/3/08)

March 30: Fidel Castro highlighted the labor carried out by the Cuban medical brigade in Peru, after the August 15, 2007 earthquake hit that Andean nation. In an article entitled "The Detachment Returns, Undefeated," the Cuban Revolution leader stated, "the glorious pages in history they have written cannot be erased. Such dignity and conscience are a bulwark against the rusted armaments of imperialism." "The earthquake," Fidel Castro wrote, "took place on August 15, 2007. It measured 7.9 on the Richter scale. The detachment arrived in Cuzco on August 18. Their two-month relief work plan had been designed to address the most urgent needs." "The real needs were to require more than double this time. They saw 153,292 patients, 65,299 of whom were visited in their homes. They remained in Peru until March 25, 2008, seven months and seven days," the article says. [El destacamento regresa invicto] (Prensa Latina, 31/3/08)

March 31: Cuban official media published an extensive article by Fidel Castro on China’s history, which gives details of Marco Polo’s trip to Asia in 1298 until Japan’s attack to China in 1904. In “China’s victory (I)”, Castro begins by asserting that, “without knowing certain basic historic elements, the topic I’m addressing couldn’t be understood”. “I will continue tomorrow”, Castro wrote. [La victoria china (I)] (AFP, 31/3/08)

March 31: Reporters Without Borders today expressed concern that Cuban Internet users are struggling to get access to blogs on the desdecuba.com platform that hosts, among others, one of the most popular in the country, Generacion Y, a blog run by Yoani Sanchez. The platform (www.desdecuba.com) has been inaccessible from public connection points in cybercafés and hotels since March 20. The few private connections used for professional reasons or in secret, take at least 20 minutes to download the home page. Editing and moderating posts has become impossible. "It is hard to believe that after ten days desdecuba.com is simply having technical problems, even if there is a real problem getting an Internet connection from Cuba. This situation is in contradiction to recent steps taken by the authorities to ease access for Cubans to communications, especially the Internet," the worldwide press freedom organisation said. (CNW Telbec, 31/3/08)  

March 31: Cuba plans to expand its medical cooperation program from the current 73 countries to 81 nations during this year, expanding its presence in the Pacific region, officials said. We are "working to train the new groups of aid workers who will travel soon to different countries," the head of the Public Health Ministry's aid unit, Alberto Gonzalez, told state media. The new medical teams will be sent to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Nauru and Papua New Guinea, all in the Pacific, as well as Congo and Benin, in Africa, and the Southeast Asian nation of Laos. Currently, Cuba has health cooperation agreements with 73 countries, the majority of them in Latin America and Africa, with a total of 36,578 doctors and other health-care workers in its medical brigades.  (EFE, 31/3/08)