Chronicle on Cuba - May 2010

Security

May 2: Venezuela President Hugo Chavez acknowledged that Cuban officials are involved in Venezuela's armed forces, but refused to provide details. “There is a mechanism of military cooperation" between Venezuela and Cuba, Chavez said, responding to a question from a reporter. “But I'm not going to get specific.” “Cuba has helped us a lot in security, in terms of analyzing, evaluating and being better prepared, because our armed forces and security organizations had been penetrated by the empire, drug trafficking and the mafias,” Chávez said
"Everything Cuba does for Venezuela is to strengthen Venezuela,” he said (The Wall Street Journal, 2/5/10; The Miami Herald, 3/5/10).

May 9: The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Soviet Red Army’s victory over fascism in 1945. The political and military ceremony took place at the Mausoleum to the Internationalist Soviet Soldier in Havana and it was presided by FAR’s Deputy Minister and Army Corps General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, and by the Minister of Basic Industry, Yadira Garcia Vera. Cintra Frias laid floral wreaths as a tribute to the 67 soldiers of the former Soviet Union who died carrying out their duty in Cuba and who rest in the monument that was inaugurated on February 23, 1978. Speaking during the ceremony, Garcia Vera reiterated Cuba’s gratitude to the former Soviet Union which, since 1959, “contributed to the training of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces and shared our fate even during the most difficult times.” Also present was the Ukrainian ambassador to Cuba, Tatiana Saenko. The ceremony included a military parade that was also witnessed by the ambassadors from the Russian Federation and Belarus as well as the military diplomatic corps in Havana and other guests (Granma, ACN, 10/5/10).

May 14: A retired army colonel in Ecuador has charged that Cuba is sending paramilitary advisers to his country to organize supporters of the government headed by Rafael Correa. Patricio Haro, leader of the Justice and Liberty Movement, said that the government has invited members of the Pardo Battalion, a special-forces unit that fought in Angola and maintains a presence in Venezuela and Bolivia, the online newspaper Vistazo reported. According to Vistazo and other media, Haro alleges that at least 50 Cubans “arrived as shock troops to reinforce the Citizens' Revolution and the committees for the defense of the [Correa] regime, which have gradually spread through an important central area" of Quito. Haro said he would present evidence of this development to the Attorney General's Office and request a formal investigation. A government spokesman said the charges have “no foundation and are neither serious nor responsible.” Justice and Liberty was launched in October 2009 to oppose the so-called 21st-Century socialism espoused by the Correa government (The Miami Herald, 14/5/10).

Mayo 16: El presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, consideró una “ ridiculez'' las denuncias sobre la supuesta “ injerencia'' cubana en la Fuerza Armada, y dijo que la misma forma parte de un plan opositor para alentar un golpe de Estado en su contra. “ ¡Que ridiculez esa que nos acusan de que los cubanos tienen aquí injerencia en la Fuerza Armada, que eso es traición a la patria”,  declaró Chávez en su programa dominical de radio y televisión Aló Presidente. El general retirado y ex aliado del gobierno Antonio Rivero denunció el pasado 3 de mayo ante la Fiscalía la presunta presencia de cubanos en la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana (FANB). El mandatario destacó que su gobierno tiene “ convenios de cooperación militar con distintos países”,  entre los que mencionó “ Francia, China, Rusia, Irán, Argentina, Brasil y Cuba''.
“ Pero ellos (la oposición) agarran el caso cubano'' porque “ creen que con eso van a salir los generales y los coroneles golpistas, que es lo que ellos buscan pues'' (EFE, 16/5/10).

May 21: The first stage of Meteoro 2010, a national civil defense drill that aims at improving the people’s readiness and carrying out actions to face the consequences of technological or natural
disasters, began in Cuba. The civil defense drills —carried out in Cuba since 1986— will take place in two stages: on May 21, 22 and 23 and on June 25 and 26. The first stage aims at reducing vulnerabilities linked to hurricanes, droughts and epidemic-related disasters while Defense Councils at all levels will improve their preparation to face high intensity seisms and seaquakes, said Lieutenant Commander Rolando Alvarez. He added that another objective of the drill in this first stage is to train military troops to protect the population and economic resources.   In June, he noted, participants in the exercise will focus on ways to face high intensity earthquakes and seaquakes (ACN, 21/5/10).

May 21: Chief of Staff of the Civil Defense of Cuba Major General Ramon Pardo Guerra attended demonstration manoeuvres of security techniques in several spheres at the Russian city of Noguinsk. Pardo Guerra and the delegation accompanying him saw the effectiveness of the exercises to combat toxins; detection and evacuation measures of citizenship, hostage rescue and anti-terrorism actions. The exercise involved combined forces of the Emergency Situations and the Interior Ministries, special troops and groups of the Organization of Collective Security Treaty, reported Prensa Latina news agency citing diplomatic sources. After the maneuvers, Sergei Shoigu, head of the Emergency Situations Ministry, held a brief meeting with Pardo Guerra, and discussed aspects of cooperation between his agency and the Civil Defense of Cuba. The parties were in favor of concrete joint actions of cooperation in Havana, to where a Russian delegation will travel to attend the VIII Congress on Natural Disasters, scheduled to be held on  June 14-18 (ACN, 21/5/10).

May 24: The first stage of Meteoro 2010, a national civil defense drill that aims at improving the people’s readiness and carrying out actions to face the consequences of technological or natural disasters, concluded in Cuba. The first stage aimed at reducing vulnerabilities linked to hurricanes, droughts and epidemic-related disasters while Defense Councils at all levels worked to improve their preparation to face high intensity seisms and seaquakes. Another objective of the drill in this first stage was to train military troops to protect the population and economic resources. Commander of the Revolution and Vice President of the councils of State and Ministers Ramiro Valdes visited a campaign hospital in Havana where Cuban health professionals that made their contribution in Pakistan and Haiti spoke of their experiences working in this kind of facilities. Present in the Central Unit of Medical Cooperation was Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer, who told reporters that the work in these health facilities has benefited from the experiences accumulated in several countries by the members of the Cuban Henry Reeve Medical Brigade for Emergency Situations. The second stage of the civil defense drills —carried out in Cuba since 1986— will take place on June 25 and 26 when participants in the exercise will focus on ways to face high intensity earthquakes and seaquakes (ACN, 24/5/10).

May 28: The Spanish National Intelligence Center (CNI) is back in business in Cuba. Exactly one year after four CNI agents – the agency's entire staff on the island – were expelled from Cuba, a new operative has quietly reopened the bureau, the Spanish daily El País reported. The CNI's director, General Félix Sanz, is credited with negotiating the organization's return with the Cuban government. Last year's expulsion followed the arrest of an influential Cuban businessman, Conrado Hernández, who was charged with passing confidential Cuban government information to the Spanish agents. Hernández's status is unknown. The scandal also touched Vice President Carlos Lage Dávila and Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, friends of Hernández's, who were fired by Raúl Castro in March 2009. According to El País, “the new representative of the Spanish secret service, who was not part of the previous team, has received instructions to 'keep a low profile” (The Miami Herald, 28/5/10).

May 28: Cuban President Raul Castro presided over a meeting of the National Defense Council to analyze the results of the Bastion 2009 Strategic Exercise and other actions carried out last year to improve the country’s defense readiness. During the meeting, participants discussed topics related to the improvement of the national defensive capacity including social economic activities and civil defense. During the presentation of the official report of the Bastion 2009 exercise, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Army Corps General Alvaro Lopez Miera, said that military commanding and leading organs at tactic and strategic levels continued to improve their cohesion. Raul Castro gave the closing remarks of the meeting and handed diplomas to participants in the Bastion 2009 exercise. Present were government, state and Cuban Communist Party leaders as well as representatives from grass-roots organizations and high-ranking officials from the Cuban Armed Forces and the Interior Ministry (ACN, Granma, 29/5/10).