Chronicle on Cuba - February 2005

Foreign Affairs

February 1: Brazil's Culture Minister Gilberto Gil, is in Cuba heading a delegation from his country to participate in Havana's International Book Fair. The Brazilian representation will also include 85 publishing houses as well as prestigious intellectuals from that country like Antonio Nóbrega, Thiago de Mello, Fernando Morais and theologist Frei Betto. (Radio Habana Cuba, 1/2/05)

February 1: In one of his most combative speeches in some time, Fidel Castro expressed disdain for what was meant to be a conciliatory gesture by the European Union, saying his Communist island does not need either Europe or the United States. Barely a day after Brussels agreed to lift the diplomatic sanctions it imposed in 2003, Castro said defiantly that Cuba "had learned to do without" the United States and Europe. When the Cuban leader, age 78, appeared about to complete his address, he referred to Europe briefly but emphatically. "They are treating us as if we are condemned to death and they have pardoned us for a few months, until June, while they observe how I behave," Castro said, visibly irked. "What are they going to forgive us for?" he asked, alluding to the EU's decision to temporarily lift, until July, the mild sanctions it imposed a year and a half ago in protest against the jailing of dissidents and execution of three men who attempted to hijack a ferry as a means of fleeing the country. "I have to shut up, because I don't want to help the worms," he said with references to Miami's Cuban exiles, "now that they are saying Europe is treacherous, that Europe has abandoned champions of freedom, that Europe is playing along with and has sold out to the tyrant Castro." "No doubt some people in Europe have acted in good faith, but in what kind of world are we living in that to take a step forward, to rectify great mistakes, you have to put a country on tenterhooks and forgive it," said Castro. "Gentlemen, Cuba does not need the United States; Cuba does not need Europe. It has learned to do without them," he added. (EFE, Reuters, 2/2/05)

February 1: European ambassadors to Cuba defended the European Union's decision to restore normal diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro's government, expressing optimism that the end of the freeze would lead to several improvements. They also assured opponents of Cuba's government that the EU would continue to raise human rights issues on the Caribbean island and maintain contact with dissidents. "There is no reason to lack trust in our desire to try and do both things at the same time -- improve dialogue with the (Cuban) government, and with civil society, including the peaceful opposition," Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, the EU's business attache in Cuba, told the press. Kuhn von Burgsdorff spoke while attending the opening of a state-sponsored photography exposition in Havana. During the crisis, many European diplomats abstained from going to such events. (AP, 1/2/05)

February 2: China jails more journalists than any other country and, along with Cuba, Eritrea and Myanmar, accounts for more than three quarters of journalists imprisoned around the world, a new report showed. The Committee to Protect Journalists said its annual snapshot of the situation on December 31, 2004, had found 122 journalists imprisoned in 20 countries for practicing their profession, 16 fewer than at the same time a year earlier. For the sixth year in a row, China was the leading jailer of journalists, with 42 imprisoned, followed by Cuba with 23, Eritrea with 17 and Myanmar with 11 behind bars. "These four countries operate outside the international mainstream," said Ann Cooper, the group's executive director. [In imprisoning journalists, four nations stand out] (Reuters, 3/2/05)

February 2: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque met in Brazil with President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva and Foreign Minister Celso Amorin. The Cuban foreign minister assured his host that Havana will support Brazil's candidacy to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council when the international institution decides to expand its membership. Perez Roque stated that one of the objectives of his visit to Brazil is to demonstrate the island's support for Brazil's desire to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. (Radio Habana Cuba, Reuters, 3/2/05)

February 2: Cuban vice president Carlos Lage, met in Kingston, Jamaica with his Chinese counterpart Zeng Quinhong and Jamaican prime minister Percival Patterson, in the 1st Economic Cooperation and China-Caribbean Forum. The Cuban official told the press that China's interest in the Caribbean is extremely important as is the Chinese vice president's visit to Latin America. While in Jamaica Carlos Lage will hold talks with representatives of Chinese banks before the Forum's official opening. He will also participate in a plenary session, meet with Cubans who are working in Jamaica and will visit sites of interest among other activities. (Radio Habana Cuba, 2/2/05)

February 3: Hans-Gert Poettering, head of the European Parliament Conservative Group, declared that Cuba must make headway on the human rights and democratic front by July or face new European Union sanctions. “When the decision to lift the sanctions is reviewed in mid-2005, the human rights situation in Cuba must be carefully assessed once again,” reminded Poettering, leader of the European People’s Party (EPP-ED), the majority parliamentary group in the Chamber. (AFP, 3/2/05)

February 3: A Mexican Secretariat of Public Safety press release informed that the Mexican Federal Preventive Police arrested in Campeche 16 illegal Cuban migrants and two alleged human smugglers, one of which was also Cuban. According to the Mexican National Migration Institute, out of 10,089 illegal immigrants "detained, repatriated or turned back" between January and December 2004, 141 were Cuban. (AFP, 3/2/05)

February 3: Moscow has welcomed a decision by European Union foreign ministers to suspend political and diplomatic sanctions against Cuba which were imposed on June 5, 2003. "We hope that this move will help normalize political contacts between EU member-nations and Havana and settle the situation surrounding Cuba in general," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report. (Interfax, 3/2/05)

February 4: Reporters Without Borders deplored the "continuing farce" of "leading repressive countries" - this year China, Cuba and Zimbabwe - being chosen by the United Nations to decide which cases its Human Rights Commission will consider at its annual meeting. "We know for sure that no case about violations in any of these three countries and their allies will be heard," the worldwide press freedom organization said. "This is a very grave matter and we don't understand why the United Nations allows it. It would be comical if it wasn't so serious." (RWB Press Release, 4/2/05)

February 4: Ricardo Cabrisas, The Cuban Minister of Government, who attended the 1st China-Caribbean Forum on Economic and Commercial Cooperation, noted China is capable of understanding problems affecting the Caribbean small states, as well as establishing cooperation relations with them. "Everything we can do to foster relations," highlighted Cabrisas, "will be for the benefit of the Caribbean states, Cuba and China." Besides Cabrisas, the Cuban delegation to this forum was also made up of Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, Chamber of Commerce chairwoman Berta Delgado and ambassador to Kingston Gisela Garcia. (Prensa Latina, 4/2/05)

February 6: A leading Spanish politician wrapped up a visit to Cuba after meeting separately with Fidel Castro and dissidents in what appears to be the first test of a new European Union policy to reach out both to the Cuban government and its critics. Socialist Party President Manuel Chaves, also a regional leader in Andalusia, Spain, was the first high-ranking European politician to visit Cuba since the new EU policy was approved. Chaves met behind closed doors with Castro, then several hours later met separately with several well-known dissidents including Oswaldo Paya, Elizardo Sanchez and Eloy Gutierrez-Menoyo. "Dialogue always bears more fruit than unilateral imposition," Chaves told a news conference earlier in the day of the new EU policy. "It was a transparent and close meeting," Paya said of Chaves' meeting with dissidents. Paya heads Cuba's Christian Liberation Movement and is lead organizer of the Varela Project, a signature gathering drive aimed at forcing a voters' initiative on civil rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. Paya said a central issue of the talks was the 61 dissidents who still remain behind bars following a spring 2003 crackdown that rounded up 75 opposition members. Of those arrested, 14 have since been released for health reasons. (AP, 6/2/05)

February 6: King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero have no plans to travel to Cuba either this year or in 2006, Spanish officials told the press. The officials were responding to a statement by the head of the Andalusian regional government, Manuel Chaves, who ended a visit to the island and said he and Fidel Castro discussed a possible visit to the Caribbean nation by the king and Zapatero. Sources close to Chaves, who also holds the mostly ceremonial post of chairman of the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers Party, said the meeting, which lasted for an hour and 40 minutes, was "very cordial." The Spanish government will host the 15th Ibero-American Summit in Salamanca in October, and Chaves told the Cuban leader of the desire on the part of the king and Zapatero that he assist the gathering. Castro's answer was noncommittal, according to the Andalusian leader. (EFE, 6/2/05)

February 6: Cuba has offered Malaysians scholarships to study at the International School for Physical Education and Sports. The university churns out graduates in sports management, physical education and recreation. The courses, which are to be completed in a five-year period, will enable the graduates to seek employment as physical education teachers as well as coaches. At present, the university has students from 37 countries with the bulk coming from Africa and Asia. Entry to the university is by means of a Cuban state programme devoted to providing scholarships to students through the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations (MINREX) and its embassies in the concerned countries. (The Star Online, 6/2/05) 

February 7: In a visit to Havana's “Lázaro Peña” School for Trade Union Professionals, Venezuelan education and sports minister, Aristóbulo Istúriz, thanked the Cuban revolution for its contribution to raising the educational level of “the peoples of the world”. The school's director, Lázara García, presented Istúriz -who concluded his studies at her center in 1987- with the Graduate of Honor acknowledgement. For his part, the Venezuelan minister conferred upon García Santiago, on behalf of the school's staff, the commemorative medal for the anniversary of the birth of Simón Bolívar, for the work of the educational center in the formation of Cuban and foreign trade union leaders. (Radio Habana Cuba, 7/2/05)

February 8: As efforts continue in Guyana to recover from the worst floods in the last 100 years, volunteer Cuban doctors are assisting hundreds of patients a day, according to AIN News Agency. The Cuban medical team, made up of 40 doctors and other specialists, arrived in that South American nation last week to offer assistance to victims in the most affected areas. (Radio Habana Cuba, 8/2/05)

February 10: During an official visit to Spain, Mexican President Vicente Fox said that US traditional policy towards Cuba is “good for nothing” and expressed “total” support for the new European Union strategy toward the island, promoted by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. (Notimex, 10/2/05)

February 10: Uruguay's designated foreign minister, Reinaldo Gargano, said that the future Uruguay government will no longer support resolutions in the United Nations Human Rights Commission that criticize human rights in Cuba. The current Senator will officially take up his position as Uruguay's foreign minister on March 1st, the same day

President-elect Tabare Vazquez replaces Jorge Batlle as head of state. Stressing that "Cuba needs to be helped," Gargano said Uruguay opposes the four-decade-old US economic embargo against the island. When a reporter asked him whether the incoming Vazquez administration would urge Cuba to be more flexible with dissidents and to release more political prisoners, the future foreign minister said those were internal matters for Havana to resolve. Gargano rejected the notion that the planned rapprochement with the Castro regime could create strains between Uruguay and the United States. "What we want is respect for international law and for the right of every country to set the guidelines of its internal policies," he said. (Radio Habana Cuba, 11/2/05)

February 11: Cuba’s successful battle against the dengue epidemic and infectious Hepatitis C disease needs to be studied and, if possible, emulated in Malaysia. Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said that during a recent visit to Cuba he had learned that the country’s methods were very effective in combating the two diseases. “I will inform the Government about Cuba's ability to combat dengue and Hepatitis C disease so that we can observe how they did it,” he told reporters at Kuala Lumpur. (The Star Online, 12/2/05)

February 11: Cuban authorities should make a greater effort to rekindle diplomatic relations with the European Union, the bloc's commissioner for humanitarian aid and development told the press. Belgium's Louis Michel said that he would travel to the island at the end of March to try and narrow the gap between the Cuban and European positions. “I hope that the Cuban authorities will take advantage of the opportunity to re-launch a positive political dialogue with the European Union," he said. Michel said that it was possible for the Cuban authorities to "give a little bit more" on the matter. "They must take the steps, the Cuban authorities, because the European Union has already done its part (...) and Cuba must make an effort, and I hope they take that course," he declared. (EFE, 11/2/05)

February 11: Cuba officially announced Venezuela as the guest of honor at the 15th International Book Fair in February 2006 and Brazil will transfer the banner in a public ceremony to Ambassador Adan Chavez Frias. The Governor from the state of Anzoategui, Tarek Williams Saab, arrived in Havana for the preliminary arrangements for the annual book fair at the old fortress Morro-Cabaña. (Prensa Latina, 11/2/05)

February 12: Argentinean Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa said that there was a possibility that Fidel Castro might visit Buenos Aires in March and meet with his counterpart Néstor Kirchner. “It is a possibility but it has not been confirmed through any of the usual channels,” said the Minister. (EFE, 14/2/05)

February 12: Musician Gilberto Gil, Brazil’s Minister of Culture, said that he will promote cooperation between the two countries. According to Gil, the agreement signed with his Cuban counterpart, Abel Prieto, comprises collaboration on how to put Spanish and Portuguese to the best use possible, as well as on the areas of historical heritage, cinema and the audio-visual arts in general. (AP, 12/2/05)

February 14: Cuba's primary health care system and specialized services are playing a crucial role in disease prevention and treatment, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) official in Havana. Dr. Jack Chow, Assistant Director-General of WHO for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, described the Cuban health system as "exceptional." The expert visited a facility in Havana, where he learned of the specialized attention being provided to HIV/AIDS patients. (Radio Habana Cuba, 14/2/05)

February 14: Just before her departure from the island after completing her posting to Havana, Mexico’s outgoing Ambassador to Cuba, Roberta Lajous, said that the crisis in Cuba-Mexico relations “had already been overcome.” Before boarding her flight back to Mexico, Lajous told the press that “(…) bilateral relations are back on track and any obstacles that need clearing before they can move on to the next step have been established.” (EFE, 15/2/05)

February 14: Cuba's top anti-drug agent and European officials launched a course on drug interdiction in the Caribbean, marking one of the first renewed programs since diplomatic relations between Havana and the EU were restored last month. John Dew, the British ambassador to Cuba, said he was enthusiastic about the weeklong course, as well as recent improvements in political relations with Cuba. "This is a positive time, and there will be more of this kind of cooperation, especially on drugs,'' Dew said. The course, which also involves France, brings together dozens of anti-narcotics agents from countries including Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Belize and Curacao to receive training. (The New York Times, 14/2/05)

February 15: In light of the growing exodus of Cubans through the southern coasts of the Cuban territory, the Cayman Islands authorities have implemented new restrictions aimed at discouraging the arrival of illegal immigrants. Under the new guidelines, in effect since last January 11, no migrant encountered on territorial waters or who come ashore on any of the three islands that make up the Caribbean country, will obtain authorization to remain there and will only receive humanitarian aid to prevent loss of life in the event of their vessel becoming disabled or in distress. “Any Cuban rescued (at sea) will be repatriated,” says the declaration. Hundreds of Cuban migrants have used the Cayman Islands territory to replenish their food and water provisions as well as to repair their vessels before continuing on to Honduras or Costa Rica, where they seek temporary refuge until they are able to reach US soil. During 2004, nearly 400 Cuban nationals arrived in the Cayman Islands. (El Nuevo Herald, 15/2/05)

February 16: In a lengthy speech closing the 9th Congress of the National Health Workers' Union, Fidel Castro criticized several developed nations - especially those who frequently voice concerns about human rights - for not doing more in the field of health. "All of Europe together couldn't pull together the 500 doctors and health care workers we have over there," he said, referring to Cuban teams of specialists working in Haiti. Castro advised those who continue to accuse Cuba of human rights violations to focus on their own problems. "They'll have to shut their mouths, or (...) start admitting that revolution can be just," he said, calling his brand of socialism much more humane than the "imperialism" he said is being imposed around the world. (The Washington Post, 18/2/05)

February 16: Fidel Castro would have immunity from arrest if he visited Chile, the government said, clarifying an earlier statement that had appeared to suggest the Cuban leader could face possible arrest if he set foot on Chilean soil. Chilean government spokesman Francisco Vidal, asked earlier about the possibility Cuban exile groups could press for Castro to be arrested on human rights charges, commented: "that's a new process (...) we have seen it with Pinochet." However, in a subsequent statement issued by Vidal, the government said Castro would receive immunity if he visited Chile as he is a serving head of state. (AFP, 16/2/05)

February 16: Cuba and Venezuela are not respecting international norms regarding freedom of expression and human rights, says a global coalition of press freedom advocacy groups. The coalition - known as the Global Coordinating Committee of Press Freedom Organizations - issued resolutions on the state of press freedom for Cuba and Venezuela, as well as a resolution on Haiti. The Global Committee is composed of the Miami-based Inter-American Press Association, which is a watchdog organization for press freedom in the Western Hemisphere; the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers; the North American Broadcasters Association, with headquarters in Toronto; and several other groups. The committee issued the resolutions on Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti when it met in Geneva. In its resolution regarding Cuba, the committee said the recent release from prison of several journalists by the regime of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro "is not sufficient, since 26 colleagues" of the freed journalists "still remain behind bars under the pretext of having committed a crime for the mere act of expressing their ideas or criticizing" Castro's government. The Global Committee said it will "keep vigilant and work with governments and international organizations until achieving the release of all journalists and dissidents in Cuba." (Washington File, 28/2/05)

February 17: Russia and Cuba are finding common grounds in their respective foreign policies in consultations the two countries are holding in Moscow on multilateral issues, particularly on human rights. According to Rodolfo Reyes, deputy director of the Department of Multilateral Relations in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, the two parties agree that reforms should immediately be implemented to improve the work of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, with headquarters in Geneva. (Prensa Latina, 17/2/05)

February 18: According to a source with the soon-to-be-appointed staff of the Uruguayan Foreign Affairs Ministry, Fidel Castro will visit that country to attend the swearing-in ceremony of left-leaning President-elect Tabaré Vázquez on March 1, the same day that Havana and Montevideo will resume diplomatic relations, suspended since 2002. The source added that the new building for the Cuban embassy in Montevideo is nearly ready. (El Nuevo Herald, 18/2/05)

February 18: Dominica's Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, is scheduled to hold talks with Cuban government officials to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations. Roosevelt Skerrit, also Finance, Planning and Caribbean Affairs Minister, arrived in Havana for a working visit. The Prime Minister's agenda includes a meeting with Fidel Castro and interviews with other officials such as Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas and the head of International Relations of the Cuban Communist Party, Fernando Remírez de Esténoz. (Prensa Latina, 18/2/05)

February 19: The Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, who arrived on a working visit to Cuba, is due to meet with Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas, in charge of relations with the Caribbean Community, which Havana authorities consider of paramount importance. The two officials will examine the Cuba-CARICOM joint meeting to be held in March 2005, and preparations for the 2nd Cuba-CARICOM Summit, slated for Barbados next December. The Caribbean PM will also exchange views with Fernando Remírez de Estenoz, who heads the Cuban Communist Party's International Relations Department. Fidel Castro welcomed the visiting dignatary at the Revolution Palace, where they held cordial but intensive working talks, a source close to the meeting said. (Prensa Latina, 19/2/05)

February 21: Fidel Castro officially received Roosevelt Skerrit, prime minister and minister of finances, planning and Caribbean affairs of the Commonwealth of Dominica at the Palacio de la Revolución, when the latter carried out a working visit to Cuba. The Dominican delegation included Osborne Riviere, minister for foreign affairs, trade and marketing; Reginald Austrie, minister for communications, construction and housing; Clarkson Thomas, honorary consul; and Floyd Capitolin, an official from the ministry for foreign trade. (Granma International, 21/2/05)

February 21: Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the now-dismantled Soviet Union, has accepted an invitation to attend in an observer’s capacity the Assembly for the Promotion of Civil society in Cuba, to be held on May 20 and organized by Marta Beatriz Roque Cabello. Other personalities attending the meeting are Elena Bonner, president of the Sakharov Foundation, Serguei Kovaliev, Irina Preskaya, Mikhail Roy, and other important figures in Russian human rights activism and politics. Lech Walesa, founder of the Polish trade union Solidaritet; former French Prime Minister and former leader of the French Socialist Party, Laurent Fabius; Vaclav Havel; and other prominent personalities in world politics have also applied for visas at the corresponding Cuban embassies. (Netfor Cuba, 21/2/05)

February 23: Three Cuban skaters, two of them members of the national team, defected from their training camps in two cities of the Yucatan Peninsula and their whereabouts remain unknown. According to Tamara Campos Medina, president of the Yucatan Rollerblading Association (APSRY), the two Cuban National Team members are Adaly Pérez and Rolando Bravo. Neither athlete has been heard from since February 20. Another unidentified Cuban skater also defected in Cancun. (Notimex, 23/2/05)

February 26: Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno Fernández said the 14th Non-Aligned Summit that would be held in Havana next year, exactly 30 years after the Colombo Summit, would redefine the objectives of the Movement and provide methodological guidelines. In a lecture at the Cuban Embassy in Sri Lanka, he said the Third World countries needed a forum to join hands and take a common position in the international arena. Moreno Fernández said that no country could take unilateral measures in the present day world. Countries of the world, especially in the South, must cooperate with each other in solving common problems. (Sunday Observer, 26/2/05)

February 26: Ten years of partnership between Canada World Youth (CWY) and Cuba were celebrated in the island. A group of thirty people from Canada’s business and philanthropic sectors were in Cuba to visit participants and observe them in action in their host communities, host families and work placements. The week wrapped up with a reception attended by the founder of CWY, Senator Jacques Hébert, the Cuban Minister of Education, Luis Ignacio Gómez Gutiérrez, and the Canadian ambassador to Cuba, Her Excellency Alexandra Bugailiskis. (Canada World Youth, 4/3/05)

February 27: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque arrived in Buenos Aires as a prelude to his visit to Uruguay, where he will lead the Cuban delegation attending President-elect Tabaré Vázquez’s inauguration. Although Argentina and Cuba maintain difficult open negotiations over the case of dissident doctor Hilda Molina, sources with the San Martín Palace said there are no plans for a bilateral meeting in Buenos Aires. Cuba’s National Information Agency (AIN) announced Pérez Roque’s trip and, in clarifying that he would be leading the delegation, put to rest rumors of a Fidel Castro visit. (La Nación, 28/2/05)

February 28: The human-rights arm of the Organization of American States held its first hearings on Cuba in five years, with the Miami-based Cuban American Bar Association stating its case against the Fidel Castro government for the 75 arrested dissidents before a panel of judges. The International Human Rights Commission can recommend that countries pay reparations to the victims or their families, or refer the cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Tribunal in Costa Rica. Cuba, which was suspended from the OAS in 1962, does not recognize the commission's jurisdiction. (The Miami Herald, 1/3/05)