Chronicle on Cuba - August 2004

Foreign Affairs

August 1: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez highlighted contributions by Cuban sports coaches working in his country, saying they have already won the people's hearts, according to Cuba's Juventud Rebelde daily. The newspaper said that during a speech to inaugurate the Mision Barrio Adentro Deportivo (Neighborhood Sports Mission), an enthusiastic Chavez told his Cuban guests: "You have been well rewarded with the endless love and the most sincere gratitude from the Venezuelan people." In the last weeks, over 5,057 Cuban sports coaches have arrived in Caracas. Addressing Havana’s ambassador in Caracas, Germán Sánchez Otero, the Venezuelan leader said: "Give President Fidel Castro once more our most sincere thanks, and convey our praise to the Cuban people, government and Revolution." (Prensa Latina, AFP, 1/8/04)

August 1: Thousands of people filled the Paseo de los Próceres in downtown Caracas for the so called "Voices for Unity" concert that brought together artists from across the Caribbean. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez himself took to the stage as Cuban singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, on his second visit to the country, began his performance. The Venezuelan president praised the presence of Silvio with what he called "his most powerful weapon: his guitar" and then joked that they would form a new duo called Silvio and Hugo before reciting a poem dedicated to the Liberator Simón Bolívar. (Radio Habana Cuba, 2/8/04)

August 1: The Plenary of the City Council of Granada, in Andalucia, Spain unanimously approved a proposal to grant political asylum to Cuban journalist and poet Raul Rivero. The motion—presented by members of the Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido Socialista (PSOE)—was passed unanimously against all predictions, considering that the Izquierda Unida (IU) coalition had reiterated that would oppose accepting the anti-Castro dissident journalist—imprisoned in Cuba—because he allegedly had collaborated with the United States. (El Nuevo Herald, 1/8/04)

August 2: The press has learnt from government sources that the Spanish government has proposed to its EU partners a reconsideration of the maintaining of the sanctions adopted by the 15 after Fidel Castro's regime executed three hijackers of a boat which they wanted to take the USA and imprisoned, with sentences of as long as 28 years, 75 dissidents convicted in trials without guarantees over a year ago. Spain's initiative is reflected in a veiled fashion in the statements made by the foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, during his recent visit to Colombia where he expressed the government's satisfaction at the freeing of anti-Castro dissident Marta Beatriz Roque. The minister's precise words were that: "Spain is in touch with the Cuban authorities and with its EU partners to examine the current state of relations and their possible evolution". (ABC, 2/8/04)

August 2: Jean de Dieu Samda, Minister delegate of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Burkina Faso, arrived in Havana, invited by the Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration (MINVEC). The high official was welcomed at Havana Jose Marti International Airport by Ramon Ripall, deputy minister of MINVEC and other representatives from the Cuban entity and the local Foreign Affairs Ministry (MINREX). (Prensa Latina, 2/8/04)

August 2: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has voiced gratitude for the Cuban medical staff participating in the "Barrio Adentro" grassroots health care program, as well as to Fidel Castro’s personal support to the successful endeavor. Addressing a rally at Caraca´s Teresa Carreño Theater, Chavez added that the health care mission represents a turning point for a new model of integration, likely to spread throughout the Latin American and Caribbean countries. (Prensa Latina, 2/8/04)

August 2: Fidel Castro has sent a letter of condolence and solidarity to the Paraguayan people, chiefly the families of those who died at the Ykua Bolaños supermarket in Asuncion, according to Havana-based National Information Agency (AIN). In his message, addressed to Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte, Fidel Castro said he was confident that the Cuban physicians working there would be helping the victims of the South American nation. (Prensa Latina, 2/8/04)

August 2: Spain’s Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, said that the Spanish government is “open” to the possibility that the European Union (EU) reconsiders its relations with Cuba after noting “positive steps” by the Fidel Castro’s regime, like the recent release from prison of dissident Marta Beatriz Roque. “We are still waiting for further releases. I think the place of political prisoners is in Parliament, in democratic frameworks, not in custody, and that’s the hope of the Spanish government” , he added. (Europa Press, 2/8/04)

August 4: Cuban dissidents Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Oswaldo Payá Sardinas, Félix Bonne Carcassés, Vladimiro Roca Antúnez, René Gómez Manzano and Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz met with Paul Gibbard and Simón Cridland, political counsellor and first secretary respectively of the Canadian Embassy in Cuba. The meeting was held at Mr. Gibbard’s residence at the end of his posting. Gibbard will be replaced by Simon Cridland. (Cubanet, 11/8/04)

August 4: Cuba sent 15 health specialists and medicines to Paraguay to treat the victims of the horrifying fire that killed more than 500 people in a shopping mall in the capital, Asuncion. Paraguay's ambassador in Cuba, Augusto Ocampo, said that a Cubana Airlines flight left Havana for Asuncion. Seeing the medical personnel off at the airport was Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Cuba's ambassador to Paraguay, Irma Gonzalez. (Radio Habana Cuba, 4/8/04)

August 4: While successfully completing a sea journey from Cuba to Florida has become more difficult, one 1998 federal policy announcement drew attention to a back door for Cubans thinking of crossing the Mexican border. That year then-INS Commissioner Doris Meissner issued a memo saying that Cubans who illegally crossed the Mexican border should be considered eligible for residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act. "All that's left now is the Mexican border and the sea," said one woman who made the trip two years ago. All they need is an invitation from a friend or relative in that country. Some Cubans go directly to Mexico; some first pass through other Latin American countries and hook up with smugglers to help them reach the Mexican border. Most Cubans now know that once there, they can simply walk across a bridge and ask an immigration inspector for political asylum. Like Cubans who come to South Florida by sea, most are detained several days. Sea crossers and border crossers alike almost always pass an initial "credible fear" interview with asylum officers and are released if they pass security checks. The dangers of sea travel make flying to Mexico a more attractive option for the Cubans who can afford it. (Sun Sentinel, 5/8/04)

August 5: Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning arrived in Havana in a private visit, carrying a heavy agenda. Manning highlighted the good relations between his country and Cuba and made reference to the fact that during his last visit to Havana, Fidel Castro advanced the possibility of creating a regional school of medicine. Trinidad and Tobago already has a direct flight to Havana and its government has the intention to encourage foreign tourists visiting its territory to also come to Cuba, and the other way around, the Prime Minister added. (Prensa Latina, 5/8/04)

August 5: The Gambian government’s special envoy, Bala Garba Jahumpa, said Cuba is his second homeland, upon his arrival in Havana on a working visit. Bala Garba Jahumpa, Minister of Public Works, Construction and Infrastructure in his country, highlighted the work carried out by the Cuban medical and paramedical staff in Gambia and other African countries. "We will always be thankful for their contribution," the Gambia official said. (Prensa Latina, 6/8/04)

August 5: More than 300 brigadistas from 10 countries in the region who are working in agriculture on the outskirts of the Cuban capital have met with the relatives of René González, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino and Fernando González, and are calling for the release of those five Cubans serving lengthy sentences in the United States. Brigadistas from Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Martinique, Ecuador and Peru committed themselves to redouble efforts in their respective nations to achieve the release of the Five, proclaimed heroes of the Republic of Cuba by their country’s parliament. (Granma International, 5/8/04)

August 5: Six former presidents and over 300 lawmakers from different Latin American countries have issued a public statement, in support of the Cuban dissident movement. In the statement, the Latin American politicians request from their countries’ embassies in Havana to “open” their doors to oppositionist leaders, following the European Union position. (Europa Press, 5/8/04)

August 6: The Spanish President, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, does not rule out meeting with Fidel Castro, and emphasizes that Spain will continue working to facilitate that “Cuba gets on a democratic path” in the future. “That will possibly happen (the meeting with Castro)”, said Zapatero in an interview with the Organización Editorial Mexicana (OEM), made up of over 60 Mexican newspapers. (Europa Press, 6/8/04)

August 7: Professor Luis Enrique Soto, denied that he or his colleagues (Dr. Gloria Echavarría, “professor of Immunology at the School of Medicine of the University of Venezuela”, and “Ivette Lorenzana de Rivera, a microbiologist with the National University of Honduras,” all members of the board of directors of the International AIDS Society) had criticized the Cuban program for AIDS epidemic during an international conference held in Bangkok, as a news distributed by Spanish EFE stated. “I’ve already read the article in which I am mentioned as well as my other colleagues, members of the International AIDS Society, and it saddens me very much the sensationalism about something that neither I nor my colleagues commented”, professor Soto said. In regard with the quality of anti-retroviral drugs produced in Cuba and bought by Latin American countries to treat their patients, Soto said that, “I did give my opinion, and according to the information presented by Cuban researches at the Latin American Forum held in Havana in 2003, stating that treatment with the drugs they make is below the one observed with brand drugs, for which its efficacy is doubtful, but I don’t know if other countries are importing them”. [For more on this, see Foreign Affairs, Chronicle on Cuba, July 2004] (Progreso Weekly, 7/8/04)

August 8: Naval vessels continued their search for 79 Dominicans who disappeared at sea trying to reach Puerto Rico, despite the fact that the Dominican consul in San Juan reported that they were in Cuba. Naval sources told the press that its ships and air force helicopters continued their search for the boat that set out early July 29 from the Rio Barracote estuary in the Bay of Samana. The Dominican consul in Puerto Rico, Fantina Sosa, told the press that General Antonio Imbert Barreras, assigned to the case by the Dominican Republic's Foreign Minister, told her that the missing citizens were alive in Cuba or on a nearby island. Nevertheless, the Cuban embassy in Santo Domingo denied any knowledge of their whereabouts. (EFE, 8/8/04)

August 9: The pope appointed a Cuban bishop to become an advisor to the Vatican on immigration issues. Rolando G. Suarez Cobian, a leading expert on immigration in the Cuban bishops' conference, was one of the eight new consultants named to assist the Pontifical Council for Migrants. The Council studies and provides 'pastoral' care to "people on the move", including migrants, exiles, refugees, and displaced people. (ANSA, 9/8/04)

August 9: The Cuban delegation has flatly refused to honor a request by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to remove posters bearing pictures of Fidel Castro and "Che" Ernesto Guevara from the outside walls of the athletes' apartments in the Olympic Village at Athens 2004. "Here is the poster, because we have not broken any IOC rule. We do not see why we should have to remove it," Pedro Cabrera, spokesman for the Cuban delegation, told the press. The IOC, alerted to the pictures of Castro and "Che", had requested a few hours earlier that Cuba remove the posters showing pictures of the Cuban president and the Argentine revolutionary fighter engaged in separate chess games. Referring to Castro and the late "Che", Cabrera said: "It is true that there was a suggestion by the IOC but the thing is that the pictures have nothing to do with politics. They represent solidarity, friendship and sport. These are people who did a lot about these values and continue to do so." (DPA, 8/8/04)

August 12: Daily Cuban radio and TV program, The Round Table, focused on the latest developments in Venezuela in connection with the upcoming plebiscite. The Round Table panelists noted that the true battle of Chavez' Bolivarian Revolution has been against the government of the United States, which “has not ceased its brazen efforts to overthrow the constitutional order in Venezuela”. The Round Table also made note of what it described as “desperate, last minute actions by the oligarchic, wealthy opposition”, such as a public rally they sponsored, which was countered by hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who showed up before the government's Palacio de Miraflores headquarters in support of President Chávez. (AIN, 12/8/04).

August 15: On the eve of the world’s largest library conference, prominent ex-dissidents from the former Soviet bloc issued a sharp rebuke to Fidel Castro for jailing librarians and called on the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) to condemn human rights violations in Cuba. Drawing parallels between present-day Cuba and the former Soviet bloc and citing newly-disclosed evidence as "irrefutable," the public letter released by the Czech-based People In Need Organization protested a 2003 crackdown on the island's dissidents, including volunteer librarians, and declared: “We know what it is like to live in a society where freedom is repressed in the name of democracy and national sovereignty, and where the voicing of dissent is banned in the name of safeguarding freedom of expression." The letter, signed by renowned human rights activists such as Vaclav Havel, Elena Bonner, Yuri Orlov, and the former Prime Ministers of Bulgaria and Estonia, was sent to Paul Sturges, the head of IFLA’s intellectual freedom committee, which is known by the acronym FAIFE. (La Nueva Cuba, 15/8/04)

August 13: A British man is in a coma in a Cuban hospital following an accident in which his wife died. Gillian Owens, 45, of Maryatt Close, Winnick, Warrington, Cheshire, died when the rickshaw she was travelling in with her family crashed. She had spent the day swimming with dolphins in Varadero, with her husband Tony and 12-year-old daughter Georgia. Tony, 55, is critically ill in a coma while Georgia has returned to the UK to be treated for burns. The British Consulate in Cuban capital Havana refused to comment on Mr Owens' condition. (BBC, 15/8/04)

August 17: Cuba has called the victory of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez "a historical lesson of true democracy and national sovereignty." A government statement published in daily Granma points out that Chávez has won electoral contests eight times in the past five years -- a fact that demonstrates the unquestionable legitimacy of the Venezuelan government. Cuba says that the results of the referendum constitute a victory for the Venezuelan people, many of whom of been traditionally deprived of their rights. And Havana strongly criticized the opposition to Chávez and the Boliviarian Revolution for falsely accusing the National Electoral Council of fraud and refusing to accept the clear mandate of the people. [Declaración del Gobierno de Cuba] (Radio Habana Cuba, 17/8/04)

August 18: Cuba and Spain have signed a sports cooperation agreement to foster bilateral links. Humberto Rodriguez, president of the Cuban National Institute of Sports, Physical Culture and Recreation, and Jaime Lissavetzky, Secretary of State and President of the Spanish Higher Council of Sports, signed the new accord. (Prensa Latina, 18/8/04)

August 19: Revolutionary "Che Guevara" was viewed by British officials as the second most important figure in Cuba after Fidel Castro, newly released documents show. Ernesto Guevara Serna was listed among 61 people in the 1967 Foreign Office report, Leading Personalities in Cuba. Havana embassy staff wrote: "He is an able and hardworking man who was perhaps the most competent and the clearest-headed of the inner circle." The papers were in a selection released by the National Archives. (BBC, 20/8/04)

August 20: Latin American and Caribbean foreign ministers wound up a two-day meeting in Brasilia without an agreement on the best way to break Cuba's isolation from the rest of the region. The foreign ministers of the 19 countries that make up the Group of Rio began meeting to prepare the groundwork for the Group's presidential summit, which is scheduled for November in Rio de Janeiro. According to Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who said Brazil wanted Cuba to rejoin "the Latin American family,'' the ministers failed to reach a "consensus on how to begin a dialogue'' to achieve this objective. The consensus was not reached because some ministers "consider this to be a very sensitive topic that requires consultations with their respective governments.'' "We cannot discuss Cuba in Cuba's absence,'' Amorim said. "What we did discuss was an eventual dialogue between the Group of Rio and Cuba.'' The initiative to establish this dialogue came from Brazil and has received the backing of Argentina and Peru, Amorim said. (AP, 21/8/04)

August 22: The Cuban government warned Panama that it will consider relations between the two countries "automatically broken" if that country's president, Mireya Moscoso, pardons the anti-Castro conspirators convicted in her country for planning an attack on Fidel Castro. An official communique from Havana said that "in the last few hours, talk of an imminent pardon has been building in Panama and Miami." Moscoso is supposedly willing to grant such a pardon before her term ends on September 1 st. [Official Statement] [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (EFE, 22/8/04)

August 23: Mexico’s Foreign Ministry announced that Mexico did not participate in the debate to include Cuba in the Rio Group—a proposal promoted by Brazil. Unofficial sources of the Ministry indicated that Brazil presented the proposal at the last minute and it was not very clear. (El Universal, 24/8/04)

August 23: Chile’s Foreign Minister, Soledad Alvear, rejected in Santiago Brazilian newspapers reports saying it had opposed Brazil’s proposal to include Cuba in the Rio Group. “During the meeting of the Rio Group, Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, suggested the possibility of beginning a dialogue with Cuba, which we as a nation support,” Alvear said. (El Universal, 24/8/04)

August 23: Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso denied that she had included the four Cuban exiles on the list of people she planned to pardon before leaving office on September 1, and ordered the immediate withdrawal of Panama's ambassador in Havana, Abraham Bárcenas. She said the decision came in response to "the disrespectful and intolerable statements" by Cuban officials "against the people and government of Panama." [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (IPS, 23/8/04)

August 23: The Panamanian Attorney’s General Office will investigate that country’s Ambassador to Cuba for irregularities issuing visas to Cubans, according to official statements. Panamanian authorities are investigating several Cubans who obtained Panamanian visas with fake identities. (AFP, 23/8/04)

August 24: About 200 union representatives and student group members asked President Mireya Moscoso not to pardon four anti-Castro plotters convicted of preparing to assassinate the Cuban leader. Union and student leaders marched to protest the possible pardons and delivered to Presidential Vice Minister Adalberto Pinzon an open letter to Moscoso stating their opposition to setting "such dangerous criminals" free, according to the document. The protesters asked Moscoso to "redouble measures to prevent the abovementioned terrorists from escaping from the installations" where they are incarcerated. The 200 people participating in the march included members of the Independent Union Confederation (CONUSI), the National Construction Workers Union (SUNTRACS) and several student groups which had been plaintiffs in the case against the anti-Castro plotters. [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (EFE, 24/8/04)

August 24: Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso told journalists that Cuba would have to "apologize" to the country for threatening to rupture bilateral ties over the matter. "I'm not going to tolerate it. It's unacceptable (…) Nobody threatens Panama," she said. The recall of Panama's ambassador from Cuba, and the Panamanian Foreign Ministry's decision to formally request the withdrawal of Havana's envoy in Panama City, have heightened tensions between the two countries. Foreign Minister Harmodio Arias met Cuban Ambassador Carlos Zamora and handed him a note ordering him to leave. [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (EFE, The Miami Herald, 24/8/04)

August 24: Members of the 12th Ernesto Che Guevara Canadian Solidarity Brigade have reaffirmed their total support of the Cuban people and their Revolution. In a statement released at the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp, located on the outskirts of Havana, the Canadian group said that the Cuban Revolution continues to serve as an example of a just society, pointing to respect for the dignity of all Cubans. (Radio Habana Cuba, 24/8/04)

August 24: Reporters Without Borders is concerned by the state of health of journalist Fabio Prieto Llorente, who has been on hunger strike since 11 August to protest against his prison conditions. "It is the third time since the beginning of the year that the journalist has been driven to take this course," said the international press freedom organisation, reiterating that it held the Cuban government responsible for his state of health. Also, the state of health of journalist and economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe, sentenced to 20 years, is giving rise to particular concern. His family says he is suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and cancer that was detected in February 2004. He can barely eat. Initially treated at the Carlos J. Finlay of Havana military hospital, he was moved on 12 August to the infirmary at Combinado del Este prison in Havana province before Hurricane Shirley hit the area. Despite promises, as of 19 August he had still not been returned to the military hospital. (RWB Press Release, 24/8/04)

August 25: Cuba reiterated its rejection of Panama´s decision to eventually pardon four convicted terrorists, saying it would lead to breaking up bilateral diplomatic relations for an indefinite period. Ambassador Carlos Zamora will leave Panama for Cuba, the statement noted. [Official Statement] [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (Prensa Latina, 25/8/04)

August 25: Cuba's ambassador to Panama, Carlos Zamora, left Panama City on a commercial flight to Havana after the Panamanian government demanded his withdrawal. Before boarding the flight at the Tocumen airport, Zamora had met with a group of union and student sympathizers at the Cuban diplomatic mission in Panama and read them a statement saying that Panama had "no proof allowing it to accuse the Cuban government of the smallest intervention in the internal affairs of Panama." [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (EFE, 25/8/04)

August 26: Cuba warned it will consider responsible of granting impunity and of collaborating with murderers those governments giving any form of protection to four anti-Cuban terrorists, if they are finally pardoned by Panama. The Cuban Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that, "representatives of the Miami-based Mafia are negotiating with Central American countries so that the latter authorize the passage of terrorists through their territories, or give them shelter." The statement recalled how some Central American countries had become safe havens for terrorist operations for many years, by allowing Luis Posada Carriles and his accomplices to act in total impunity. [Official Statement] [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (Prensa Latina, 26/8/04)

August 26: Cuba broke off relations with Panama in response to outgoing Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso's pardon of four Cuban-exile extremists accused of plotting to kill Fidel Castro. Cuba's reaction was swift, saying ``as of this minute, 4:15 p.m., diplomatic relations between the Republic of Cuba and the Republic of Panama are broken for an indefinite time.'' ``The president of Panama, accomplice and protector of terrorism, will carry the historic responsibility of this repugnant and treacherous action, and will also be responsible for the new crimes these assassins could commit in the future,'' the Cuban statement read. [Official Statement] [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (EFE, AP, The Globe and Mail, 26/8/04)

August 26: Panamanian President-elect Martin Torrijos said that when he takes office on September 1 he will begin the process of reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. In a communique, Torrijos said that "in accord with our intention to maintain respectful and cordial relations with all countries in the world, beginning on September 1 (we) will begin measures leading to the rapid normalization of diplomatic relations" with Havana. Torrijos said that is was "regrettable that President Mireya Moscoso and the Government and Justice minister have interrupted with a pardon the judicial process being applied to Luis Posada Carriles, Gaspar Jimenez, Pedro Remon and Guillermo Novo," the four convicted anti-Castro plotters. [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (EFE, 26/8/04)

August 27: Cuban dissident Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo considered the diplomatic crisis between his country and Panama, triggered by the pardon of four Cuban exiles convicted of plotting to kill Fidel Castro, a "transitory" situation. "I hope that very soon, relations will be re-established and improved," Gutiérrez Menoyo, a leading dissident who is in favour of dialogue with Cuba's socialist government, told the press. In his view, Moscoso was subject to pressure from the US to take a decision that perhaps "in her heart" she would have preferred to avoid. He said, however, that Moscoso's decision makes certain sectors of the Cuban exile community in the US "happy". "I believe this crisis is transitory" and that "very shortly, as soon as the new government begins to function, relations will improve," said Gutiérrez Menoyo. [For more on this, see Exile Community and Terrorism] (IPS, 27/8/04)

August 30: President Mireya Moscoso confirmed she spoke on the phone with former US Ambassador to Panama, Simon Ferro, to inform him she had pardoned four anti-Castro Cubans. “I called because he (Ferro) had called me asking whether or not I had pardoned the four Cubans,” added Moscoso. (El Nuevo Herald, 30/8/04)

August 31: “Si! Cuba!” a season of ten films celebrating forty years of film production in Cuba will be presented in Auckland and Wellington commencing late next month. The season is the second event in a New Zealand-Cuba Film Exchange that began in February this year with extensive New Zealand film programmes in Havana and Matanzas. (Scoop, 31/8/04)

August 31: The Cuban government decided not to send representatives to the inauguration of Panamanian President-elect Martin Torrijos on September 1, after both countries broke diplomatic relations for an unlimited time, a new government statement says. [Official Note] (Prensa Latina, 31/8/04)

August 31: Bombarded by criticism over his Rio Group proposal to help Cuba, Brazilian Foreign Affair Minister Celso Amorim may have tactically retreated, but he remains confident in his strategy. He makes it clear that the initiative in no way entails forming "a Friends of Cuba Group" similar to the one formed for Venezuela, but rather it entails starting a dialogue. Cuba has friends, he says. The Cuban case, he Amorim says, is different from the Venezuelan. The idea there is to start a conversation, to pave the way for an international dialogue that could one day, who knows, be instrumental in suspending the US blockade and in making progress in terms of human rights in Cuba. Amorim says: “At no time did I propose the creation of a Friends of Cuba Group. Someone fabricated that. What I am saying is that we ought to start a dialogue because the situation both in terms of the embargo and of human rights is bad for all countries. And there should be no preconditions for starting a dialogue. Otherwise, people will not come to the talks, he adds. (O Globo, 31/9/04)