Chronicle on Cuba - June 2008

Domestic Affairs: Several activists and opposition leaders denounce repression and harassment by Cuban authorities against dissidents. The Cuban government allows sex change operations. Fidel Castro says that he is not and will not be the head of any faction or group within the Communist Party. Cuban scientists unveil a therapeutic lung cancer vaccine.

Economy: The Cuban government implements different measures to deal with increasing international food and fuel prices. Cuba and Venezuela will install an undersea optical fibre cable connecting the two countries. Cuba’s egalitarian wage system comes to an end. Bilateral commerce between Cuba and Venezuela is continuing upwards this year.

Exile Community: The Cuban American National Foundation advocates to reverse a regulatory measure that makes it difficult to send money to dissidents on the island.

Foreign Affairs: Cuba’s First Vice President heads the island’s delegation to FAO Summit on Food Security in Rome. Armed men hijack a bus carrying 33 Cubans migrants detained in southern Mexico. Fidel Castro meets with the presidents of Venezuela and Uruguay, and with a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official. Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Minister welcomes the European Union’s lifting of sanctions on Cuba, while Fidel Castro slams the decision.

Security: A Venezuelan military delegation meets with Cuban military personnel.

US-Cuba Relations: A US court upholds the convictions of five Cubans imprisoned in the US but opens the door to lighter sentences for three of the men. Cuba rejects US claims that it does not do enough to combat human trafficking. Cuba’s next year oil drilling in the Gulf zone stirs controversies in the US. Cubans trying to cross Florida Strait is rising.