Chronicle on Cuba - December 2006

US-Cuba Relations

December 2: In a major foreign policy declaration, Raúl Castro opened a massive military parade in his brother's honour and in commemoration of the Day of the Armed Forces by extending an olive branch toward negotiations with Washington. "We take this opportunity to once again state that we are willing to resolve at the negotiating table the longstanding dispute between the United States and Cuba (...) as long as the said resolution is based on the principle of equality, reciprocity, non-interference and mutual respect," he said. ''We patiently await the moment there's common sense in the circles of power in Washington,'' Castro added. [Speech by Raul Castro] (The Miami Herald, BBC, 2/12/06)

December 2: In response to Raul Castro’s speech at the military parade in Havana’s Revolution Square, US State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus said that "the dialogue that needs to take place is one between the Cuban regime and the Cuban people about the democratic future of the island. "Any deepening of our engagement with Cuba depends on that dialogue and the Cuban regime's willingness to take concrete steps toward a political opening and a transition to democracy," she added. (AP, 2/12/06)

December 3: Monsignor Robert Sheeran, president of Seton Hall University, made a trip to meet religious and government leaders in Cuba. Rabbi Arthur Schneier, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in New York, which organized the trip, accompanied Sheeran and said "there's a lot of suspense" in Cuba right now. "President Castro is in the picture but out of the picture," he said. "You have the guessing game. What will the brother's policy be like? What will the new team be like?"  Schneier, whose group promotes peace, tolerance and ethnic conflict resolution around the world, is a regular traveler to Cuba and has met with Castro on several occasions since 1998. While there, he and Sheeran met with leaders in the Catholic, Episcopal, Baptist, Jewish and Evangelical Christian communities. They also met with Cardinal Jaime Ortega; Bruno Ramirez, a former ambassador to the United Nations; Caridad del Rosario Bello Diego, the director of the Cuban government's religious affairs office, and Ricardo Alarcon, the high-profile speaker of Cuba's parliament. Sheeran said the foundation urged Alarcon to consider amnesty for roughly 70 prisoners associated with the Varela Project, a failed movement for political democratic reforms in Cuba. Alarcon was noncommittal. (The Star-Ledger, 3/12/06)

December 4: The US State Department said that it has no interest in responding to a diplomatic overture from Cuban "dictator-in-waiting" Raul Castro, who two days before affirmed the Communist regime's readiness to sit down and talk with Washington. "The dialogue that should be taking place is not between Raul Castro and any group outside or any country outside of Cuba. It's the regime, with the Cuban people, talking about a transition to a democratic form of governance in that country," department spokesman Sean McCormack said at his daily briefing with reporters. He said it was unlikely that official talks between Washington and Havana would promote a transition to democracy on the island. "I don't see how that really furthers the cause of democracy in that country where you have dialogue with a dictator-in-waiting who wants to continue the form of governance that has really kept down the Cuban people for all these decades," McCormack said. (EFE, 4/12/06)

December 4: US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Thomas Shannon, said in New York that, although Fidel Castro’s final hour may be drawing nearer, the time is not yet right to start a dialogue with Cuba. During a conference hosted by the Council of the Americas, Shannon said that, while the USA welcomes the readiness "of Raúl Castro and others for a dialogue," we do not yet feel that this is the right time for it. He added that, the view in Washington is that the most important dialogue, as far as the transition in Cuba is concerned, "must take place first between the regime and the people of Cuba." (EFE, 4/12/06)

December 7: Nearly one-third of journalists now serving time in prisons around the world published their work on the Internet, the second-largest category behind print journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in an analysis. The bulk of Internet journalists in jail -- 49 in total -- shows that "authoritarian states are becoming more determined to control the Internet," said Joel Simon, the New York-based group's executive director.  Among the 24 nations that have imprisoned reporters, China topped the list for the eighth consecutive year. Cuba was second with 24 reporters in prison. Nearly all of them had filed their reports to overseas-based Web sites. (AP, 7/12/06) 

December 8: Homeland Security Task Force Southeast is scheduled to conduct a command post exercise on December 12 and 13 at the Broward County Convention Center, Miami, to exercise the task force's mass migration plan. More than 250 response personnel from more than a dozen local, county, state and federal agencies are expected to participate in the two-day exercise. Established in June 2003, pursuant to Homeland Security Presidential Directive Five, the task force is required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive Eight to exercise the mass migration plan as part of the national preparedness goal.  The timing of this year's exercise in no way reflects concern over recent events in Cuba -- in fact the mass migration plan does not focus on any single country, rather it addresses mass migration from any Caribbean nation. "This exercise provides an excellent opportunity for the members of Homeland Security Task Force Southeast to further refine their skills and to further build upon our already solid partnerships," said Rear Admiral David W. Kunkel, director of Homeland Security Task Force Southeast and commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District.  "We want to remain ready and able to effectively respond to a mass migration event and exercising our plan helps us to retain that edge." (US Homeland Security Department, News Release, 8/12/06)

December 10: Celebrated American writer Gore Vidal slammed the four-decade-long US trade embargo against Cuba, saying during a visit to the island that he hopes recent changes in US politics will help end the sanctions. "I've never been here before and it's a fascinating country," Vidal said, touring Old Havana. Vidal said the United States is "undergoing tremendous political change," referring to growing opposition to the war in Iraq and the Democratic Party's return to control of both houses of Congress in November midterm elections. "After more than 40 years, the embargo is ridiculous," said Vidal, who himself ran for Congress and who regularly raises funds for Democratic candidates. (AP, 10/12/06)

December 10: The executive officer of the US Presbyterian Church helped Cubans celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the capital's first Protestant temple, giving a sermon in which he urged all Christians to do more to eliminate global inequality. The Reverend Clifton Kirkpatrick spoke in both English and Spanish to hundreds of followers and diplomats at the ceremony in central Havana. Delegations from Florida and Washington D.C. were also present. "A better world is possible," said the American minister, criticizing Christians who fail to work toward creating a planet where everyone has a dignified life and enough to eat and drink. Kirkpatrick first came to Cuba 20 years ago. He spoke of the history of the church, which was inaugurated in 1906 and hosted the founding of the Cuban Council of Churches in 1941. "This church has been witness to very difficult, very complex times," he said, referring to low attendance rates and tension with the Cuban government in the past. (AP, 10/12/06)

December 11: A congresswoman said a video clip showing her calling for Fidel Castro's assassination is fake, a charge denied by the film's director. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican-Miami), appears in the 28-second clip made available on the Internet by the makers of "638 Ways to Kill Castro," a new British documentary. In it, she says: "I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people." However, the Havana-born lawmaker, likely to be the top Republican on the House International Relations Committee, said filmmakers spliced clips together to make the sound bite. The film's director, Dollan Cannell, replied, "I can assure you (…) there has been no distortion of what she said." (AP, 11/12/06)

December 12: The US Congress will pass legislation in 2007 to ease restrictions on family travel and financial transfers to Cuba, Representative William Delahunt, co-chair of a congressional group seeking to loosen the US embargo, said. Rules limiting US residents with Cuban relatives to one visit every three years are ``cruel'' and will be overturned next year, Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat, said at the New York-based Council of the Americas, a policy research organization. Delahunt, a member of the House International Relations Committee, said Congress will also loosen restrictions on remittances to the island. ``I don't think the embargo will change in 2007, but the Bush administration may pre-empt Congress and approve these other changes before we can,'' Delahunt said. (Bloomberg, 12/12/06)

December 12: Cuba vowed to defy US efforts for economic and political change on the island in a front-page editorial in the Communist Party's newspaper that also referred to Cuban dissidents as "mercenaries" and "counterrevolutionary puppies."  Members of the US government "should not fool themselves," the editorial said. "The Cuban government and people will take charge, as they've done until now, of guaranteeing the complete failure of these plans (...) to encourage the subversion and internal counterrevolution in our country," it said. The Cuba editorial addressed a recent report by U.S. congressional investigators that said the U.S. Agency for International Development did not always properly oversee Cuban aid grants and that coordination with the State Department was sometimes ineffective. "The poorly named dissident movement is no more than a group financed and directed by the U.S. government, true mercenaries (...) at the service of the Cuban people's historic enemy: Yankee imperialism," the editorial said. "No matter how much money they spend, they'll never be able to bend the will of the Cuban people. [Editorial de Granma] (AP, El Universal, 14/12/06)

December 13: Channel One, the US preeminent news and public affairs content provider for teens reaching more than seven million students in middle schools and high schools across the country, traveled to Cuba to report on the 50th anniversary of the Fidel Castro-led Communist Revolution. Anchor Alexander Marquardt's on-the-ground reporting from the capitol city of Havana furthers Channel One's position as an unbiased source of breaking news and perspective, and adds to a long list of visits to regions across the globe. The segment aired on the Channel One Network on December 4th, coinciding with wide celebrations commemorating Castro's landing in Cuba 50 years ago. (Business Wire, 13/12/06)

December 13: The Swiss ambassador to Havana traveled to Washington in November in what is believed to be an effort to deliver a message from Cuba reiterating its eagerness to open contacts with the Bush administration, several persons familiar with the trip said. Ambassador Bertrand Louis met with State Department officials and influential members of the Cuban-American community in Washington, including Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez, the persons added. The Swiss embassy in Washington confirmed the visit but declined to comment on its purpose. But those who met with Louis believe he came to repeat Raúl Castro's message that he's willing to open talks with the Bush  administration. In his talks with Cuban Americans, Louis also explored the exile community's possible responses to Cuba's search for a dialogue with Washington, according to those who met with him. The Louis visit was the first sign that Raúl Castro is pulling diplomatic levers beyond public view to communicate his position, several Cuba watchers said. The United States and Cuba do not have formal diplomatic relations, and Switzerland acts as official host to both the Cuban mission in Washington and the US mission in Havana, known as interests sections. (The Miami Herald, 14/12/06)

December 13: The producer and others involved in Oliver Stone's documentary on Cuban leader Fidel Castro have agreed to pay the US government more than US$6,000 to resolve allegations they violated a long-standing embargo against the communist country. According to government documents, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Controls, which oversees the economic embargo against Cuba, said the payment of $6,322.20 would settle alleged violations that occurred between February 2002 and May 2003 in the making of the documentary film "Comandante." The Treasury documents, dated December 1, said that production company IXTLAN Corp. in Santa Monica, California, and four people had agreed to the monetary settlement. The documents did not identify the people or provide further details. "Comandante" was the precursor to Stone's more recent documentary on the Cuban leader called "Looking for Fidel." (Toronto Star, Granma International, 13/12/06)
 
December 13: The US government coordinator for the transition in Cuba, Caleb McCarry, said that change towards democracy in the island must be carried out by the Cuban people. Washington believes that there must be a domestic dialogue and that the Cubans should decide their own future. “That’s respect for the sovereignty of the people of Cuba,” the official emphasized to the media in the Dominican Republic. (OCB, 13/12/06)

December 13: The deterioration of Fidel Castro's health has been accompanied by the rise of hardline elements to key positions in Cuba, leaving no possibility for democratic reformers to surface, a senior State Department official said. "With Fidel Castro still alive, the regime has become more orthodox," said Thomas Shannon, who heads the State Department's Western Hemisphere affairs bureau. "It is hard to say what position it will take post-Fidel." In the meantime, he said, "the success of the succession depends on the absolute control of the state." For now, he added, potential reformers have been lying low, awaiting a more favorable climate to make their move. Once Castro dies, Cuban authorities will have a choice between "deepening repression" or a policy of greater openness to the world, Shannon added. As Cuban officials see it, the system Castro created will survive him. But Shannon expressed doubt that a successor can match the traits that have enabled Fidel Castro to survive in power for almost 48 years. "There is nobody like Fidel," Shannon said, citing his "revolutionary legitimacy," charisma, political skills and ruthlessness. (AP, 14/12/06)

December 13: The United States rebuffed a recent offer by Cuba for talks and said Havana had become even more hard-line since Raul Castro stepped in for his ailing brother Fidel Castro. Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon, the top US diplomat for Latin America, made clear Washington would only deal with Raul Castro's government when it showed commitment to a peaceful transition to democracy and not before.  "In Cuba there is not that commitment to democracy," Shannon said in a briefing to reporters. Earlier this month, Raul Castro, Cuba's acting president, made a direct offer of talks with the United States. The younger Castro became acting president after his brother underwent emergency intestinal surgery in July. Shannon said there had been a greater crackdown on dissent since the younger Castro effectively took over. "It is a transfer of power that is in an uncomfortable moment. With Fidel still alive (and Raul in place), the regime has actually become harder and more orthodox and is not in a position to signal in any meaningful way what direction it will take post-Fidel," said Shannon. (Reuters, 14/12/06)

December 14: Fidel Castro is very ill and close to death, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte said. "Everything we see indicates it will not be much longer (…) months, not years," Negroponte told a meeting of Washington Post editors and reporters. (The Washington Post, 15/12/06)

December 14: The US Department of Homeland Security's US Coast Guard, 7th District, issued a press release informing that the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Chandeleur repatriated 16 Cuban migrants to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba. On December 3, 14 male migrants on board were spotted by a vessel 12 miles southwest of Marquesas, Florida. A Coast Guard helicopter spotted a raft with four migrants on December 4 about 22 miles south of Rebecca Shoals, Florida. At the request of U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service, two of the four migrants will be taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for further disposition.  Once on board Coast Guard cutters, all migrants receive food, water and any necessary medical attention. (US Fed News, 14/12/06)

December 14: A judge awarded $400 million (euro303 million) in damages to the family of an American who was tortured and then killed by a Cuban firing squad shortly after Fidel Castro took power. The ruling by Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Thomas S. Wilson Jr. came after a default judgment was entered against Cuba in favor of the family of Robert Fuller, a plantation operator who died on October 16, 1960. Cuba never answered or defended itself in the family's lawsuit. (AP, 14/12/06)

December 15: The largest delegation from the US Congress to visit Cuba since 1959 arrived in Havana seeking to open a dialogue with the communist government of acting President Raul Castro despite White House opposition to such contacts. The stepping aside of ailing Fidel Castro, who has not appeared in public for four months, has set the stage for ending political hostility dating from the start of the Cold War, they said. "We sense this is an important time and we hope to meet with officials and hopefully launch a new era in US-Cuba relations," said Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican. The six Democrats and four Republicans hope to meet with Raul Castro, who took over July 31 after his brother underwent emergency surgery for an undisclosed illness. (Reuters, 15/12/06)
 
December 15: US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said a delegation of ten lawmakers' trip to Cuba would have no effect on official US policy toward Cuba.  "This divide over whether or not to have an embargo on Cuba or to lift it, it's a debate that's been going on for some time. We understand that there are some in Congress who have a very different view. As a matter of policy, we of course have an opposite view from the folks that are down there today," he said. (AP, 17/12/06)

December 15: Seven Cubans arrived in the United States a second time, almost a year after they were repatriated because they first landed on an abandoned Florida Keys bridge not considered US territory by immigration officials. Although a federal judge later said they should have been allowed to stay and the United States issued them visas, relatives said they grew tired of waiting for the Cuban government's permission to leave the island and took off in a homemade boat. They were among 16 Cubans who arrived near the south end of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys and were taken into US Border Patrol custody, the relatives said. The Border Patrol said it was interviewing the new arrivals and could not confirm their identities. (Sun Sentinel, 16/12/06)

December 17: A delegation of ten US lawmakers in Havana said issues of human rights and economic freedom are important to them too, but that it is time for the two countries to find creative ways to solve their differences. In a joint statement they suggested some specific issues to negotiate, such as migration, drug trafficking and the environmental impact of Cuban oil explorations in the Gulf of Mexico. "I think this is the golden opportunity (for talks) ... especially as we make a transition in Washington," said Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, referring to his party's upcoming takeover of Congress.  But the US representatives from Kansas, Texas, California, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Massachusetts also said they were surprised at what they called the rigidity of some Cuban officials, who said they have no plans to make changes in the island's political or economic system in the future. "Basically we're being told it's the same menu, different waiter," said Jim McGovern of Massachusetts.  (AP, 17/12/06)

December 17: The largest US congressional delegation in years ended talks in Havana  without a commitment from Cuban authorities to release political prisoners or make other concessions that could bolster those seeking to ease US sanctions against Cuba. Cuban officials were amenable to discussing with the US such issues as immigration and anti-narcotics cooperation, but they refused to concede any changes in internal policy as a way to further talks. "The Cuban officials made every attempt to convince us [and] to demonstrate that there is no change of policy in Cuba," said Representative Jerry Moran (Republican-Kansas), one of 10 American lawmakers visiting Cuba. "They made a very strong effort to convince us that the ball was in the United States' court. They've done all they were going to do." "The party line is that Fidel is coming back," said Jane Harman (Democrat-California), another delegation member. The delegation was led by Mr. Delahunt and by Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, the leaders of the Cuba Working Group in the House. The lawmakers met with the foreign minister, Felipe Pérez Roque, the National Assembly president, Ricardo Alarcón, and Yadira García, an economic minister, among others. They did not have any contact with Fidel Castro or meet with Raúl Castro. The Communist Party newspaper reported that Fidel Castro had telephoned several Cuban lawmakers. “It seems that the Cuban government may not be ready to say that a new era has begun,” Mr. Flake said when asked why Raúl Castro had not met with the lawmakers. [Statement by Jeff Flake on behalf of Congressional delegation] (AP, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, 18/12/06)

December 18: Canada's ties with Cuba can help nudge that country toward democracy after an ailing Fidel Castro is gone, according to a senior US State Department official. "Canadians have been able to maintain relationships both with the [Castro] regime, and Cuban civil society and Cuban dissidents," assistant secretary of state Thomas Shannon said in an interview. "That's no small feat. Only a few countries have been able to do that." Mr. Shannon, who is in charge of the State Department's bureau of Western hemispheric affairs, said Canada, Mexico, and other countries in the region share with the United States the desire to see Cubans transform their country into a democracy. The fact that Canada and others trade with Cuba while the United States maintains an economic embargo is simply a matter of different tactics, Mr. Shannon said. "The tactical differences can actually work to the advantage of our larger objective," he said. "We are coming to the end of the Castro era. We all need to look ahead," Mr. Shannon said. (Globe & Mail, 19/12/06)

December 18: Cuban migrants sent back to the island this year after reaching an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys said they would not risk their lives again like the other half of their group, which took a second sea voyage to the United States the week before. Noel Reyes, one of the eight remaining "bridge" migrants in Cuba, said he was thrilled the others arrived safely but would wait to leave the island legally. "I already risked my life once, why should I go and commit madness again?" he asked. The group has been waiting several months for permission to leave by the Cuban government. They received US visas to emigrate after a federal judge ruled against the original Department of Homeland Security decision that sent the group back to Cuba. (AP, 18/12/06)

December 18: Former Cuban diplomat and economist Oscar Espinosa’s beef is as much with the United States government as it is with Havana's communist authorities. "It's absurd what the Americans are doing," he said during a long interview in the small Havana apartment, stuffed with books where he lives with his wife and fellow dissident, Miriam Leiva. "There's no room for extremism. What we need is to create space for dialogue." He was referring to the widely condemned US embargo against Cuba and to additional restrictions imposed by the Bush administration in 2004 limiting family travel to the island by Cuban-Americans, as well as cash remittances sent to relatives. Dramatic recent events in Havana and Washington are causing Cubans, both on the island and in exile, to question US policy more loudly than ever. Many Cubans would like to see Washington explore a different approach with the collective leadership emerging under Castro's younger brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro. "Without Fidel, we have to look at Cuba with a more open mind," said Vladimiro Roca, another dissident who has served jail time. Raul Castro deserves credit as "a very organized person" who capably led the Defense Ministry, which Roca described as "the most organized and efficient institution" in Cuba. "He has always had good advisers and he listens to advice," he added. Espinosa and Roca agreed that the United States should carefully study Raul Castro's offer of negotiations. "He made a positive proposal," said Roca, the son of a Communist Party leader. "It deserved a better answer." (St. Petersburg Times, 18/12/06)

December 18: Groups of Cuba's internal opposition asked for the "urgent" normalization of humanitarian aid from the United States in view of it being stopped after an official report found irregularities in its administration. The request was made in a communique signed by four leaders of dissident organizations and addressed to US congressmen William Delahunt (Democrat-Massachusetts) and Jeff Flake (Republican-Arizona), who led a congressional delegation that visited Cuba for meetings with officials of the Communist government. "Do everything you can to normalize urgently the sending of humanitarian aid in the form of medicines, food and other vital subsistence items, and we acknowledge the positive role of those in charge of getting that aid to us," the communique said. "There is no plea for an increase of anything, we only ask for greater control and wish to express our concern about the stoppage of aid," the president of the outlawed Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, Elizardo Sanchez, told the press. Sanchez is one of the signatories of the document, together with Marta Beatriz Roque of the Assembly to Promote Civil Society; Vladimiro Roca of the Cuban Social Democratic Party, and Gisela Delgado, spokesperson for the Independent Libraries Project and the wife of recently freed political prisoner Hector Palacios. (EFE, 18/12/06)

December 18: A South Florida Spanish-language TV station has begun broadcasting programs produced by TV Marti, the federally owned station that beams anti-Castro programming into Cuba, US officials said. The first show, a half-hour news broadcast, came as Miami-based TV Marti faced a new round of criticism for spending $10 million annually to produce programs rarely seen by the network's intended audience. Radio and TV Marti have always had the option of using US frequencies in case the stations were jammed in Cuba, said Joseph O'Connell, a spokesman for the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees the Cuban broadcasting stations. TV Marti has long been jammed on the communist island nation, but December 18 appeared to mark the first time the programming was broadcast on US airwaves. In recent years, the Marti podcasts have been available in the US over the Internet. The show aired on WPMF-TV, a local affiliate of the Hispanic Aztec Americas network. (AP, 19/12/06)

December 18: Representatives Jerry Moran and Jo Ann Emerson, back from a visit to Cuba, said the US government should ease travel restrictions and expand agricultural trade with the communist nation. "It's become clear to me that personal freedom follows economic opportunity," said Moran, Republican-Kansas. "The larger trading relationship we have, the higher standard of living that Cuban people have, the more demands they will make upon their government for change." Moran and Emerson, Republican-Missouri, were part of a 10-member bipartisan congressional delegation that visited Cuba. (AP, 18/12/06)

December 19: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated that should ailing leader Fidel Castro die, the United States won't try to engage his brother, Raul, who's temporarily in charge and is Fidel's presumed successor. Giving an impression of American outreach "from one dictator to another" would be "the worst betrayal" of Cubans, she said. (McClatchy Newspapers, 20/12/06)

December 19: The speaker of the Cuban parliament said there was little possibility of any changes in US policy towards Cuba while George W. Bush is president. "We shouldn't believe that there will be any important changes while Bush is president and as long as the current political balance exists in the United States," Ricardo Alarcon said during a session of the legislature. Alarcon answered lawmakers' questions about the recent Havana visit of a delegation of 10 US congressmen to talk with high-ranking members of the Cuban government about bilateral relations. Alarcon said that Cuba is quite far down the list of priorities for American politicians at the moment because their attention is focused on other problems, like the war in Iraq. Nonetheless, he said that while a majority in the US Congress might conceivably vote to modify or eliminate restrictions on trips to the island, it would not get the two-thirds necessary to override a presidential veto. "This is a matter that, regardless of the existing situation between the two countries, is destined to be eliminated because it affects many people and violates the US Constitution itself," he said, referring specifically to the travel restrictions. (EFE, 19/12/06)

December 19: A psychology professor and his wife pleaded guilty to reduced federal charges in a case involving allegations that both had spied for the Cuban government for decades. Carlos Alvarez, 61, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to become an unregistered foreign agent. His 56-year-old wife, Elsa Alvarez, admitted knowing about her husband's illegal activities but failing to report them to authorities. Carlos Alvarez faces up to five years in prison and his wife up to three years on the revised charges. Both were charged previously with the more serious charge of acting as illegal Cuban agents, which carries a longer possible prison sentence. US District Judge K. Michael Moore set sentencing for February 27. (AP, 19/12/06)

December 19: US Congress will investigate allegations of mismanagement and political cronyism at taxpayer-funded Radio and TV Martí, a ranking Democrat said. Representative William Delahunt (Democrat-Massachusetts) -- slated to chair the oversight and investigations subcommittee for the House International Relations Committee -- said he will move to hold hearings on the Martís in late January or early February. His comments came a day after Radio Mambí, WAQI-AM (710), and Azteca América, WPMF-TV 38, each began carrying an hour of Martí programming daily for payment. ''This will be a priority,'' said Delahunt, who was in Cuba this week as part of a congressional delegation. ``There's mismanagement (…) that really demands a thorough review.'' (The Miami Herald, 20/12/06)

December 20: Several high-profile members of Cuba's dissident movement blasted US legislators for ignoring the pro-democracy activists during their visit to the island, while others said they understood the omission and did not take it as a slight. "The result of the visit is deplorable. They gave up the chance to meet with the opposition and lobby for the release of political prisoners in the hopes of a meeting with Raul Castro, and they didn't even get that," said Miriam Leiva, a member of the Ladies in White hailed internationally for its work on behalf of political prisoners. "The legislators left not only with empty hands, but with dirty hands," said Marta Beatriz Roque, of the Assembly for Promoting Civil Society. "It would have been positive if, in the first place, they would have spoken with the opposition and thus been able to take back to their country the issue of human rights, of the release of political prisoners, of the repression here. But they did not do that," she said. For his part, Manuel Cuesta Morua of the Arco Progresista (Progressive Arc) told the press a meeting with the dissidents would have served only to provide "an exchange of opinions already well known." Elizardo Sanchez, president of the not-officially-recognized Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said the lawmakers' decision not to meet with dissidents was "understandable." "There is much more closeness between us - between the congressmen and the opposition - than there is between them and the government of Cuba," he said, implying that seeking to bridge the broader gap makes sense. (EFE, 20/12/06)

December 20: With Fidel Castro's health waning, Governor Jeb Bush, Governor-elect Charlie Crist and other federal and state officials reaffirmed their support of the US trade embargo on Cuba in hopes it will lead to the communist government's downfall upon his death. ``The hour is upon us and the time is now,'' US Senator Mel Martinez (Republican-Florida), told supporters of the US-Cuba Democracy political action committee at the group's annual luncheon. Martinez was born in Cuba, but his family sent him to Florida four decades ago when he was 15 to escape the Castro government. (Sun Sentinel, 21/12/06)

December 20: The World Trade Center-Palm Beach plans a humanitarian, educational and information exchange mission to Cuba in June, the international business group announced. "We hope to exchange information about several key resources found in Palm Beach County: agriculture, ranching and food processing; water purification, irrigation and related technologies; transportation; and medicine and life sciences," Lou Haddad, president of the group, said in a statement. Haddad said the group is working with its counterpart in Cuba, the World Trade Center-Havana, to organize the visit. About 30 professionals from South Florida are expected to make the trip, pending government approvals. "There once existed a pre-Castro relationship between the Port of Palm Beach and Cuba," Haddad said. "We believe that Palm Beach County can re-establish former ties and assist the island to develop its economy." The delegation does not plan to meet with any Cuban government agencies or officials, "just everyday people like us exchanging information and getting to know each other's cultures better," he said. (Sun Sentinel, 21/12/06)

December 21: According to official figures, in the last fiscal year, from September 31, 2005 until October 1, 2006, the US Interests Section in Havana granted Cuban citizens 21,195 permanent resident visas and another 7, 823 visas for temporary visitors. With these figures, the US government honors its commitment and exceeds the 20,075 visas granted in the previous fiscal year. (EFE, 21/12/06)

December 21: Five Cuban-Americans were called to testify in a federal grand jury probe exploring allegations they helped send more than $30,000 to an anti-Castro militant suspected of directing attacks on Cuba, their lawyer said. All five deny wrongdoing, attorney Gilberto M. Garcia said. He told the press that four of his clients claim someone used their names to send transfers to Luis Posada Carriles, an anti-Castro militant wanted in Cuba and Venezuela. He said a fifth, Oscar Rojas, acknowledges handling transfers but says he did so only at the request of a former millionaire businessman that he worked for and did not know what the funds would be used for, according to a press report. Garcia said one of his clients testified and that two gave written statements, although he wouldn't specify which. He said two others were excused from testifying after saying they intended to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Posada, 79, has spent the past 18 months in federal custody in El Paso, Texas, on immigration charges. (AP, 21/12/06)

December 21: Representative Jerry Moran (Republican-Kansas) is traveling to Cuba to meet with government and trade officials about the possibility of expanding agricultural exports to one of the country’s nearest neighbors. The visit by Moran, currently chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s General Commodities Subcommittee, could include a meeting with current acting-President Raul Castro. “I have long fought for the opening of trade and easing of the embargo of Cuba,” said Moran, who will become ranking member on the subcommittee in January. “These meetings with Cuban officials come at a unique time as the health of Cuban leader Fidel Castro continues to be in question.” Moran said he wanted “to get a better understanding of the political situation in Cuba, explore further opportunities to export US agriculture commodities and work to establish a framework for our countries’ relations during this time of transition in Cuba.” In 2000, Moran successfully helped open the door to US agriculture sales to Cuba. (Farm Press, 21/12/06)

December 21: Top Bush administration aides held a meeting at the White House on a post-Castro Cuba. The meeting, which was not publicized but was reported by Bloomberg News, included Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser; Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, and Karl Rove, the president’s chief political adviser. (The New York Times, 22/12/06)

December 22: US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen admitted, through a spokesman, that she did call for the death of ailing Fidel Castro during an interview with a British documentary-maker whom she had earlier accused of altering the video. ''Yes, it's in the documentary, she said that,'' said Alex Cruz, the congresswoman's spokesman. Ros-Lethinen did not want to respond further, Cruz said, because ``she's focused her energies on issues that are more important for the community. ''Neither she nor I have seen the raw footage, without editing, but if that's in the documentary, she said it,'' Cruz said. As she is about to become the ranking minority member in the House International Relations Committee, Ros-Lehtinen has found herself embroiled in controversy about her credibility and her relations with the media. (The Miami Herald, 23/12/06)

December 23: Top Bush administration officials met on December 21 to discuss Cuba's political future, with US intelligence reports predicting that ailing Fidel Castro may not have long to live. President George W. Bush's national security adviser Stephen Hadley chaired the 90-minute meeting that included Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials, National Security Council press secretary Gordon Johndroe said. ``We're engaged in an interagency process that is focused on a successful transition to democracy for the people of Cuba,'' Johndroe said. He declined to provide further details about the meeting at the White House. (Reuters, 23/12/06)

December 24: With the 80-year-old Cuban president believed to be terminally ill and his brother Raul, 77, who now runs the country, showing little appetite for democratic change, authorities believe that Florida could be hit by a tidal wave of refugees from the communist island once the sickly dictator dies. In the biggest exercise of its kind, 520 officials from 75 federal, state and local agencies have been running through their plans for such a crisis, wary that Castro's demise could prompt an exodus on a scale unseen since the Mariel boatlift in 1980, when 125,000 Cubans took to the sea. "If Raul lets people go and there's not a naval blockade to stop them, we estimate as many as 500,000 people will leave in the first year," said Andy Gomez, a senior fellow at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, which has been involved in the planning. He added: "The pressure on the social infrastructure here will be unbearable." In a series of table-top exercises held in a convention centre in Fort Lauderdale, emergency officials from agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, the FBI, police and Coast Guard, worked through simulated scenarios. (The Telegraph, 24/12/06)

December 25: The largest contingent of US congressmen to travel to Cuba since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to the presidency visited the country and US Representative James P. McGovern (Democrat-Worcester), was among them. With Mr. Castro in ill health, his brother Raul assuming the interim presidency, and Democrats ready to take over both branches of the Congress next month, Mr. McGovern believes the time is right for the US to normalize relations with its controversial close neighbor. It is a policy he has long advocated as nearly a lone voice, but like many of Mr. McGovern's pet issues these days it is gaining in popularity. For Mr. McGovern, who has been to Cuba several times, it was an opportunity to check up on a project that has drawn his keen interest - the rebuilding of the home of author Ernest Hemingway and efforts to preserve important documents that were left untouched in that house for more than 40 years after his death. (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 25/12/06)

December 26: A US official said his government agency had ''no reason'' to reconsider its evaluation that Fidel Castro's condition was ''very serious indeed.'' The official spoke on condition that his name and affiliation not be revealed, given the sensitivity and speculative nature of the subject. The State Department declined to comment on the assesment of Castro’s health condition that Spanish doctor José Luis García Sabrido made in Havana. But privately officials reiterated the US government's previously stated belief that Castro is more ill than Cuban officials have let on. The State Department has said since August that it believes Castro will not return to wield the kind of absolute power he once held. (The Miami Herald 27/12/06)

December 26: US officials are keeping a close eye on the case of Dr. Amauris Sanmartino, a Cuban who holds permanent residence status in Bolivia, and who would be deported by the Bolivian government. "We are aware of Mr. Sanmartino's case and we are in contact with the Bolivian government about it," read a brief statement released by the US Embassy in La Paz. "In addition to local law, we believe that this case involves international conventions and agreements to which Bolivia is a signatory." (AP, 26/12/06)

December 28: Members of the US solidarity brigade Henry Wallace defended Cuba's right to self-determination and called the US ban on trips to the island institutional violation. Sonja De Vries, one of 23 US members of the Kentucky brigade aimed at spreading Cuba's reality in their country, said "the US has never respected any people's self-determination." De Vries is the daughter of journalist Henry Wallace, who died on April 2004. (Prensa Latina, 28/12/06)

December 28: A group of Cuban writers, journalists and actors, recently created a committee for the independence of Puerto Rico in the city of Manzanillo, in the eastern province of Granma. The association aims at encouraging the solidarity movement with the brother country of Puerto Rico, the organizers said. The committee was organized by the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists in the municipalities of Granma, and the Jose Marti Cultural Society. It was named after the Puerto Rican revolutionary, Modesto Tirado Aviles (1866-1952), who was a personal friend of Cuban national hero, Jose Marti. (AIN, 28/12/06)

December 28: Two people remain missing after a boat with 11 people on board foundered Christmas Day off the coast of the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, the official daily Granma reported. The newspaper said the two missing individuals fell off the vessel when it was returning to shore following a failed attempt to sail from the island to Mexico. "After hours of fruitless searching" the two were considered missing, said Granma, which noted that the other nine passengers were rescued by the Cuban border patrol.  The daily said that the would-be emigrants had been picked up at different parts of the island for the illegal voyage on December 21. They set off in a vessel made of plastic and equipped with a "Lombardini engine, similar to those used for irrigation work."  Their plan was to arrive in Mexico and then slip across the border into the United States. During the 2006 fiscal year, which ended September 30, 2,810 Cuban migrants were intercepted at sea by the US Coast Guard, the highest number since the 37,191 picked up during the mass exodus of 1994. The US Interests Section in Havana issued more than 21,000 visas to Cuban citizens in the same fiscal year. (EFE, 28/12/06) 

December 30: Even with Fidel Castro seriously ill and power transferred to his brother, the ailing leader's presence is widely felt and is keeping the country from taking any new economic or political direction, says the US government's top diplomat for Latin America. "We see that this regime has made this successful transfer of power and is trying to consolidate itself, but it can't define itself or separate itself from Fidel," Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, said in an interview. “My guess is that we're not going to see that until Fidel Castro is dead and buried." As Cuba prepares to celebrate the 48th anniversary of Castro's rise to power on New Year's Day, the country is in a sort of limbo, Shannon said. "Fidel Castro is in this odd moment where he is neither alive nor dead politically. He is alive physically, but he's not in charge day to day, and he's obviously not present day to day, but it appears that he still has the ability to sit up in bed and give orders occasionally," Shannon said. (San Jose Mercury News, 31/12/06)

December 30: The US government's top diplomat for Latin America, Thomas Shannon, said four goals must be met before the US government considers a change in policy: all political prisoners must be freed, human rights guaranteed, trade unions allowed to form and concrete moves made toward free elections. "We're not going to engage with Cuba just to engage," Shannon said. "Any engagement we have with Cuba has to be part of some kind of change process that leads toward this transition to democracy, and therefore we depend on what the Cuban people think and will want us to do." Shannon said Cubans will set the course for their country. "Ultimately, Cuba's transition is going to be driven by Cubans, not by the United States, not by the international community or the Organization of American States, nobody except Cubans in Cuba," he said. Shannon acknowledged that the US government has no clear idea what ails Castro. (San Jose Mercury News, 31/12/06)