May 29, 2003: Dissident Oscar Espinosa Chepe, serving a 20-year jail sentence, must be immediately transferred to Havana as his life is at risk both in prison and at the Guantánamo hospital, said his wife Miriam Leiva. In an open letter to the public, Leiva indicated that the Guantánamo provincial hospital -located about a 1, 000-km away from Havana-, where he was admitted after numerous attempts, lacks the necessary requirements to provide effective care for “a patient in critical condition.” (Notimex, 29/5/03)
May 29, 2003: A major Spanish publishing house has released a collection of news articles by Cuban poet and journalist Raúl Rivero, imprisoned in the Island. The book, entitled Sin Pan y sin Palabras (Without Bread, without Words), has a preface by Cuban novelist Eliseo Alberto. (El Nuevo Herald, 29/5/03)
May 29, 2003: Cuba 's Roman Catholic cardinal defended the church's role on the communist-run island, rejecting criticism that it was not doing enough to support the political opposition. Cardinal Jaime Ortega has called for political freedom in communist-run Cuba but said the church will not join forces with opponents of Fidel Castro. "The church's mission is not to be the opposition party that unfortunately does not exist in Cuba," Cardinal Ortega said in a talk on the future of Cuba. "I wish there were one, two or three different parties, but there are not," he said. Cardinal Jaime Ortega also called for reconciliation among Cuban Catholics during the conference attended by hundreds of people. The audience included US Interests Section Chief James Cason and other foreign diplomats, opposition members and well-known cultural figures with ties to Fidel Castro's government. "The church's mission is not to be on the side of the opposition," said Ortega, the Archbishop of Havana and the island's only Roman Catholic cardinal. "In the same way, you cannot ask the church to support the government." (Las Vegas Sun, Reuters, 29/5/03)
May 27, 2003: The organization Reporters Without Borders (RWB) informs that it could lose its consultative status at the UN, following the decision of the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to ask for a one-year suspension of RWB at Cuba's request. (AFP, 28/5/03)
May 26, 2003: Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez expressed his continuing support for Fidel Castro’s regime. He added that, although he is against the death penalty, it is important to give the government a vote of confidence to stay guarded “against the enemy that comes upon us.” (Radio Cooperativa, 26/5/03)
May 25, 2003: The coordinator for the Mexican non-profit organization Promotora Internacional de Derechos Humanos -International Promoter of Human Rights- demanded of the Cuban government freedom for the Cuban people, particularly for "over 700 political prisoners" serving "unjust sentences" in that country. (Notimex, 25/5/03)
May 21, 2003: A declaration condemning human rights violations in Cuba has been submitted before the 16th EU-Latin America Inter-parliamentary Conference by several European and Latin American political groups. (El Nuevo Herald, 22/5/03)
May 21, 2003: Czech Catholic Bishop Vaclav Maly returned from a one-week visit to Communist Cuba, where he met families of the imprisoned dissidents as well as Catholic Church representatives, Maly told reporters. Maly was invited to Cuba by Cuban peace activist Oswaldo Payá, the leader of the opposition Christian Movement for Liberation. He was accompanied by people from the People in Need humanitarian organisation which has been working in Cuba for a couple of years already. Maly got acquainted with the situation of the Catholic Church in Cuba and expressed his support to the families of imprisoned dissidents. (CTK, 21/5/03)
May 21, 2003: According to relatives, independent journalist and economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence, was urgently admitted to the Guantánamo provincial hospital, following deterioration of his health. “The triggering factor seems to have been his recent transfer to solitary confinement,” said his sister Clara Espinosa Chepe. (El Nuevo Herald, 22/5/03)
May 20, 2003: Dutch intellectuals called for the release of the dozens of Cuban writers and journalists imprisoned by Fidel Castro. The protest, organized by the Association of Dutch Journalists, involved placing 77 typewriters, each bearing the name and sentence of the Cuban writers or journalists, many of whom are human rights activists, in front of the Cuban Embassy in The Hague. On the typewriters one could read names such as that of poet and journalist Raul Rivero, beneath which appeared: 20 years in prison. (EFE, 20/5/03)
May 19, 2003: Deep divisions are again surfacing within the Organization of American States, as the 34-member group addresses Cuba's human rights record. Canada, Chile and Uruguay introduced a US-backed statement condemning rights violations on the communist-run island. But, the measure was withdrawn after several member nations, including Brazil and Venezuela, failed to endorse it. Later, 16 OAS members endorsed a revised text, which expressed deep concern about the sharp deterioration of the human rights situation on the island. (VOA, 20/5/03)
May 17, 2003: Director Oliver Stone has returned to Cuba to ask Fidel Castro about a recent crackdown on dissidents and interview some of his opponents for a controversial documentary that HBO considered incomplete. "The interviews and information will be added to the documentary," Stone's publicist Tony Angellotti said from Los Angeles. (Reuters, 17/5/03)
May 17, 2003: A court in Cuba has ordered life imprisonment for five men who attempted to hijack a passenger plane last month the island's authorities say in a statement published by the ruling Communist Party daily Granma. A judge in Havana said the men had been found guilty of acts of terrorism when they tried to force a plane on a domestic flight to head to the United States, an official statement said. Three other defendants received jail terms of between 20 and 30 years, it said. (BBC, 17/5/03)
May 15, 2003: A Cuban dissident coalition, Arco Progresista, released two letters; one to the Cuban government asking it to free recently jailed dissidents; the other to the United States, asking Washington to change its policy toward the island. Arco Progresista is "a group of social democratic parties, movements and organizations in and outside of Cuba," a spokesperson told the press. The letters were circulated along with a manifesto and a call to action. It was signed by Manuel Cuesta Morua of the Democratic Socialist Movement, Eduardo Ojeda of the Social Democratic Coordinator, Alberto Sosa of the Cuban Pro-Democracy Movement and Maria del C. Videaux of the Democratic Leftist Women's organization, among others. The manifesto states that Arco Progresista "arises as a political and cultural proposal" committed to "the defense of minority rights, the environment, new social movements and opposition to war, terrorism and unilateralism." (EFE, 15/5/03)
May 14, 2003: Miriam Leiva, wife of Oscar Espinosa Chepe, one of the Cuban dissidents in jail, sent a letter to US President George Bush asking him not to reinforce measures against Cuba: "It would be used as pretext to enhance the repression on those who have overcome fear, and express their ideas, continue informing as independent journalists, are human rights activists or pacific opponents", the letter says. "It would augment the hardship of the Cuban people, if the remittances were curtailed." "Hundreds of thousands of American visiting Cuba could contribute to the flow of ideas, and the progress of democracy". "The possible sale of medications and food could demonstrate if in fact the Cuban government is capable of buying, or if the lack of them is due to its economic and productive inefficiency". (Cubanet, 14/5/03)
May 13, 2003: Relatives of Cuban poet and journalist Raul Rivero, sentenced recently to 20 years in jail, called for solidarity and global pressure to gain his freedom and that of scores of other political prisoners on the island. The plea came from Rivero's daughter, Cristina, and Miguel Sanchez, the poet's stepson. The pair announced at a press conference that the writer was being kept incommunicado under miserable conditions at Canaleta prison in Ciego de Avila, some 480 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of Havana. (EFE, 13/5/03)
May 13, 2003: Cuba 's communist government is using its media to publish and promote a book titled "The Dissidents" containing what it calls evidence that scores of jailed democracy advocates and independent journalists are "mercenaries" at the service of Washington. The book, which will be published in the coming days, presents testimonials and documents that "prove the mercenary nature of the relations of the so-called 'Cuban dissident movement'" with Washington, according to Granma, the communist government's official newspaper. (EFE, 13/5/03)
May 11, 2003: Dressed in black and white to express both mourning and peace, about 30 women gathered at a Roman Catholic church in Havana to pray for the release of their imprisoned dissident relatives. The women attended the Mother's Day Mass at the Church of St. Rita, the patron saint of lost causes, four weeks after their loved ones were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 28 years. The wives and mothers of those arrested in the recent wave said Cuban authorities prohibited them from marching in silence for two blocks near the church, as they've done on past Sundays. "They thought it would be a provocative act," Delgado said. "They were prepared to arrest us." Miriam Leiva, wife of independent journalist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, said state security agents had visited her and other relatives to warn them against marching. (AP, 11/5/03)
May 11, 2003: The foreign ministers of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) want Cuba to grant clemency to the 75 dissidents who were recently convicted of attempting to undermine the socialist government and to improve its human rights performance, CARICOM said in a statement. While saying that governments have the right to respond to threats against the state or to the criminal act of hijacking, the ministers "expressed their concern at the conduct of the recent trials" and said they were "deeply disturbed at the severity of the sentences imposed" on the dissidents and upon three hijackers. "Ministers therefore strongly appealed to the Government of Cuba to show clemency towards those recently imprisoned," the ministers said at their meeting on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. (EFE, 11/5/03)
May 11, 2003: Spanish President José María Aznar once again condemned Fidel Castro's regime that, he said, continues "to crush, imprison, and execute by firing squad" those who do not share his ideas. Aznar's statements were made during a Spanish municipal electoral campaign meeting. (DPA, 11/5/03)
May 11, 2003: Chilean author Jorge Edwards urged the Latin American intelligentsia not to stifle their criticisms of Fidel Castro's record of human rights crimes and violations committed since his ascent to power 43 years ago. (AFP, 11/5/03)
May 8, 2003: During an interview with the Argentine daily newspaper Página 12, Fidel Castro reacted to the wave of criticism against his government, saying he shared the feelings of “abhorrence for the death penalty.” However, he claimed that it had to be resorted to, as it was “a matter of life and death.” With regard to Nobel Prize Laureate José Saramago’s pronouncements against the arrests of dissidents, Castro added that, “He should have voiced his disagreement without uttering a single word that encourages U.S. aggressive positions against Cuba.” (Reuters, 11/5/03)
May 8, 2003: Fara Armenteros, director of the Unión de Periodistas y Escritores Independientes - Association of Independent Authors and Journalists -, (UPECI), and Gilberto Figueredo, head of the Cartas de Cuba - Letters from Cuba - news service, were the targets of threats from State Security Department officers. The dissidents were warned that they would be prosecuted in accordance with Act 88, should they continue their informative efforts. (Cubanet, 9/5/03)
May 8, 2003: Three imprisoned Cuban dissidents were granted the International Human Rights Award, bestowed annually by the Fundación Hispano-Cubana (Cuban Spanish Foundation). The laureates are Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, and human rights activists Jorge Luis García Pérez and Juan Carlos González Leyva. (El Nuevo Herald, 9/5/03)
May 8, 2003: Chilean author Isabel Allende accused the governments of Cuba and the U.S. of violating human rights. "Just as I cannot accept U.S. human rights violations in Iraq, I cannot approve of what is happening in Cuba," said the writer. (AFP, 8/5/03)
May 6, 2003: Cuba has placed in solitary confinement most of the 75 people imprisoned in a recent crackdown on dissent that drew international condemnation, a human rights organisation says. "The immense majority, 60 in all, are in solitary confinement in the punishment wards of the country's maximum security prisons," said Elizardo Sanchez, president of the illegal, but tolerated, Cuban Human Rights Commission. Sanchez said the dissidents were being held in "inhuman conditions" in small cells where they received water and food "that does not meet minimum sanitary requirements". Sanchez, whose group has monitored Cuban prison conditions for years, said writer and poet Raúl Rivero and leading dissidents Hector Palacios and Oscar Elias Biscet were among those in solitary confinement. (Reuters, 7/5/03)
May 5, 2003: Cuban Ambassador Alfonso Fraga visited the Chilean Foreign Ministry headquarters shortly after the Minister of Foreign Affairs acknowledged that the diplomat would be called in to be handed a formal protest. Ambassador Fraga just told the media that "it was a private meeting." (AP, 5/5/03)
May 3, 2003: Members of Nicaraguan solidarity groups have frustrated a demonstration in front of the building of the Cuban embassy in Managua. According to reports from the Nicaraguan capital, the diplomatic mission was protected by local police while solidarity activists arrived to express their support for the Cuban government. The Cuban embassy's commercial attaché in Managua, Manuel Guillot, told reporters that two individuals attempted to chain themselves to the front of the embassy. For more than four hours, members of Cuba solidarity organizations confronted the individuals. (Radio Habana Cuba, 3/5/03)
May 3, 2003: The Committee to Protect Journalists places Cuba second in the list of the 10 worst places in the world to be a journalist. In a report released to coincide with World Press Freedom Day, the group says journalists face imprisonment and harassment in countries such as Vietnam and Cuba. (VOA, 3/5/03)
May 3, 2003: New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson, cancelled plans for a trip to Cuba with members of a civil group from that state, pointing that his visit would be inappropriate "in light of Cuba's recent actions against human rights." (El Nuevo Herald, 3/5/03)
May 1, 2003: More than 160 foreign artists and intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez, have come out in defense of Cuba even as many of their peers condemn recent repression on the Communist-run island, one of the campaigners said. Latin American Nobel laureates Garcia Marquez, Rigoberta Menchu, Aldolfo Perez Esquivel and South African writer Nadine Gordimer, also a Nobel prize winner, have signed a declaration of support, Mexican sociologist Pablo González Casanova said. US singer Harry Belafonte and US actor Danny Glover are also among the personalities who have signed the two-paragraph declaration "To the Conscience of the World". The two-paragraph message of support appeared to condemn US foreign policy without referring to it by name. "A single power is inflicting grave damage to the norms of understanding, debate and mediation among countries," it said. "At this very moment, a strong campaign of destabilisation against a Latin American nation has been unleashed. The harassment of Cuba could serve as a pretext for an invasion." Whilst supporting national sovereignty, the message does not specifically express support for Castro's policies. (The Washington Post, BBC, 2/5/03)
