Chronicle on Cuba - December 2007

Foreign Affairs

December 1: Cuban composer, guitar player, and orchestra conductor Leo Brouwer received the Pablo Neruda Order for Artistic and Cultural Excellence awarded by the Chilean government. In a ceremony that took place in the La Moneda Palace (seat of government), Chilean President Michelle Bachelet conferred Maestro Brouwer with the highest decoration granted by that South American nation in recognition of artistic and intellectual work. Brouwer, who was visibly moved, said that he saw this homage as the culminating point of the parabola of his life, outlined by the great masters of the past and the present, having Cuban national hero Jose Marti in the core of creation. When presenting the rationale behind this decoration, Chilean Minister of Culture Paulina Urrutia said that the author of “La espiral eternal” (The eternal spiral) and “Cancion de gesta” (Chanson de geste) was one of the greatest contemporary artists of the Americas, "the most important living guitar composer in the world," she added. (Granma, 1/12/07)

December 2: Cuban trobadour Silvio Rodriguez, in his second visit to Chile this year, will offer a free massive concert in the city of Talca, 161 miles south of Santiago. The singer-songwriter, declared as Illustrious Citizen of the city of Talca in the last hours, told El Centro local paper, he is thankful for the high recognition, and said that "I'm here to sing to the people of Talca and to sing what they like the most". (Prensa Latina, 2/12/07)

December 2: Prior to the constitutional referendum in Venezuela, Cuban collaborators were put on alert and instructed to have their belongings packed in case of a potential emergency in the country. "We have been told to have our backpacks ready and to be prepared to follow the [Cuban] Embassy’s instructions," said a Cuban doctor. A sports coach said the situation for Cubans working in Maracaibo is similar. "We have been advised that we may need to leave for Caracas if something happens," added the sports assistant. Next to 42,000 Cuban collaborators are in Venezuela, among them some 30,000 are health professionals. (El Nuevo Herald, 2/12/07)

December 3: Cuban official media highlighted Hugo Chavez’ “personal approach to ethics”, after recognizing the victory of the NO vote on a constitutional reform package in Venezuela. “President Hugo Chavez said his peaceful Bolivarian revolution once again showed its ethical approach to politics”, Granma said. “For now, we were unsuccessful”, daily Trabajadores emphasized quoting Chavez. The official TV show, “The Round Table”, was dedicating its broadcast to the December 2 Venezuelan referendum. Official media didn’t report any statement by any high-ranking official. (EFE, 3/12/07)

December 3: Fidel Castro praised Hugo Chavez for his "courage" and "dignity" in facing defeat of a referendum that would have expanded his authority. "Dear Hugo: I send you revolutionary congratulations for your speech today, which was a 'Veni, vidi, vici' of dignity and ethics," Castro said in a message relayed by state television, referring to the Latin phrase uttered by a victorious Julius Ceasar -- "I came, I saw, I conquered." The 81-year-old leader, who has handed over power to his brother Raul Castro since undergoing surgery in July 2006, said Chavez had shown "courage and wisdom" in his reaction to the referendum setback. [Mensajes de Fidel a Chávez] (Alalam.ir News, 3/12/07)

December 3: Cuban officials declined to comment on the significance for their country of a defeat that curbed Hugo Chavez's plans to speed up his socialist revolution in Venezuela. "Chavez will continue as president until 2013, so we have time to think about this," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters. Cuba's dependence on Chavez became evident during a failed coup that almost toppled Chavez in 2002 when his opponents immediately announced an end to oil supplies to Cuba before they had secured their hold on power. (The New York Times, 4/12/07)

December 3: The Eighth National Seminar on Canadian Studies has been called for February 2008 by the Department of Canadian Studies of the University of Havana and by the Cuban University Network. On this occasion, the main theme of the event, which will take place at the Hall 250 of the University of Havana, will be "Canada towards Latin America: What are the Priorities?" (ACN, 3/12/07)

December 3: Cuba is willing to normalize its damaged diplomatic relations with Mexico, said Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque. The minister took part in a ceremony at the Mexican Embassy in Havana to decorate former Cuban representative in the Federal District, Jorge Bolaños. The ceremony was an acknowledgement of Bolaños’s performance, as well as a gesture of new times to come, said Pérez Roque. (El Nuevo Herald, 4/12/07)

December 4: The Uruguayan Ophthalmology Society decided not to work with Cuban colleagues at a clinic equipped with donations from Venezuela, reported its president Miguel Zylberglajt. "The Cuban doctors do not meet the quality standards required in our country," said the ophthalmologist. "They are not specialists, nor have they validated their degrees," said Zylberglajt. The minister of Public Health, Maria Julia Muñoz, said that only a "minority" sector refuses to work with the Cuban doctors. (AP, 4/12/07)

December 5: Outstanding German politicians, including the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, and the minister-president of the federal state of Sarre, Peter Müller, took on the patronage of Cuban political prisoners, whose freedom they will demand personally and individually before Cuban authorities. Members of the Bundestag and of the European Parliament have also joined this initiative promoted by the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM). (EER, 5/12/07)

December 5: Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia, on a visit to Prague,   pledged to help the Czech Republic in its drive for an improvement of human rights observance in Cuba. (CTK, 5/12/07)  

December 5: Eight Cuban acrobat jugglers disappeared before a performance at a festival in central Mexico, presumably to defect to the United States, organizers said. The six men and two women, the entire juggling and high-flying acrobatics act of Havana-based Circuba, arrived in the Mexican state of Queretaro for an annual festival of musicians, actors and artists from around the world. The group was part of a troupe of more than 20 Cuban performers attending the fair for the second year in a row. "They arrived, bought cell phones, and by eight in the morning they were gone," said Guadalupe Navarro, a spokeswoman for the Queretaro fair. "It's most likely they came prepared with all the contacts they needed to escape," she said. (Reuters, EER, 5/12/07)

December 5: Canadian Lee Lorch, professor emeritus in York's Department of Mathematics & Statistics, was honoured by the Cuban Academy of Sciences at a reception hosted by York's Office of the Associate Vice-President on York's Keele campus. Ernesto Senti Darias, Cuba's ambassador to Canada, accompanied by Laureano Cardoso, consul general of Cuba in Toronto, announced that Lorch had been named a corresponding member of the academy, one of only 17 non-Cubans worldwide – and the first Canadian – to receive the honour. After listening to comments by Ricardo Grinspun, economics professor in York's Faculty of Arts, outlining Lorch's life of activism, Senti Darias said “we are very proud and privileged to be part of his life.” (Cubaminrex, 17/12/07) 

December 5: Four years after she was reported missing and her estranged husband fled Canada, Frania Cardenas's body has been found. The 32-year-old, who arrived in  Toronto from Cuba in 1999, was reported missing in November 2003. Remains found by a hunter in a bush area near Doe Lake Rd. in Gravenhurst have been positively identified as Cardenas. Although an arrest warrant for second-degree murder was issued for her estranged husband, Yanga Barri Wanji, shortly after her disappearance, he has never been found. Because Cardenas was not reported missing for five days, Wanji, now 35, was able to flee before homicide detectives could speak to him. Cardenas's body was identified using dental and medical records. Her mother in Cuba, Carmen Cardenas, has been informed. (Toronto Star, 5/12/07)

December 6: Cuba was elected in Paris as a member of the group of experts from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission at the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO). Also included were Brazil, China, Russian Federation, Portugal, United States, Croatia, Japan, Senegal and South Africa. (ACN, 6/12/07)

December 6: Cuba reiterated a warning about the dangers and conflicts that the unbalanced and excessive production of biofuels would generate for humanity. On this occasion, the warning was launched by Ramon Pich Madruga, deputy director of the Cuban Research Center on the World Economy (CIEM) during a conference of the UN Commission for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the meeting, several topics were discussed including those that will be taken to a UNCTAD meeting that will take place in Accra, the capital of Ghana. (ACN, 6/12/07)

December 6: Susan McDade, resident representative of the UN Development Program (UNDP) in Havana, congratulated Cuba for obtaining the 51st spot in the UN Report on Human Development during the 2007-2008 period. "Cuba invests its resources in the well-being of people and that deserves a congratulation," said McDade, who is also the resident coordinator of the UNDP on the island. During a press conference at the International Press Center in Havana, McDade told national and foreign reporters that this is the reason why Cuba has reached high levels of human development, an indicator that is based on factors such as life expectancy rate, literacy levels, elementary and secondary-school registration levels and gross domestic product, among others. [Cuba: Human Development Index] (ACN, 6/12/07)

December 6: Venezuela will host a Head of States Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas in December, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced. During a speech given at the graduation of students from Mali and Bolivia, the president announced the event will take place "within a few days," although he was not more specific than that. Chavez said that both Presidents Evo Morales (Bolivia) and Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) will be there, as will a representative from Cuba. At the end of November, the ALBA Ministers Council met in Havana, Cuba, where it was agreed to hold the sixth Summit of Head of States in Managua in December. (Prensa Latina, 7/12/07)

December 6: Leonel Gonzalez, delegate to Cuba’s National Assembly, said the visit of several Salvadoran political forces to Cuba is a great joy and opportunity for talks between both countries. The legislator welcomed the first delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Central American country visiting Havana since relations between the two countries ruptured in 1961. Jorge Jimenez, deputy of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, considered it of great significance that the Salvadorian Congress appointed a representation to Cuba. Only one party, the governing ARENA (Nationalist Republican Alliance) did not send a representative. (Prensa Latina, 6/12/07)

December 6: Mexico has restored its relations of respect and dialogue with Cuba and Venezuela, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said. She said his country has strengthened rapprochement with Cuba, and that she and her Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque are interested in making mutual visits. Relations between Mexico and Cuba soured in 2002 when Mexico backed a UN human rights resolution against Cuba. Espinosa said the Mexican government doesn’t have any plan of meeting with Cuban dissident organizations, nor the oppositionists have made any approach looking for it. (Xinhua, Radio Martí, 6/12/07)

December 6: Disappointed by lawyers who promised them freedom, isolated by immigration authorities, and some on the verge of starvation, 10 Cuban boatpeople went on a 14-day hunger strike in a Mexican detention center. "What we want is to be free, we cannot return to Cuba," said Armando Piñeros, one of the strikers in the prison of Chetumal. The boatmen are requesting the Mexican authorities to grant them political asylum on the grounds that, if repatriated to Cuba, they will be arrested and persecuted.
(El Nuevo Herald, 7/12/07)

December 6: The German police dismantled an international human trafficking operation comprised of around 60 individuals who carried illegal Cuban immigrants to Spain, Germany and Austria, informed authorities in Erding, in the outskirts of Munich. The ring leader is a Cuban who was operating along with his wife near Munich international airport. (DPA, 6/12/07)

December 7: Dominican and American authorities detained eight Cubans and two Dominicans en route to Puerto Rico. Julio César Ventura, head of the Dominican Navy, indicated that the individuals were intercepted 14 miles off Isla Mona, in Puerto Rico. (AP, 7/12/07)

December 7: The Foreign Affairs Ministry (MINREX) of Cuba states in a declaration its deep satisfaction with the friendship, respect and cooperation with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). By celebrating the Cuba-Caricom Day December 8, the island feels a great confidence in the continuous and subsequent development of those exemplary ties, which have been greatly multiplied, the text stresses. Published by "Granma" newspaper, the document recalls that December 8 marks the 35th anniversary of the moment in which Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago decided to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. [Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs] (Prensa Latina, 7/12/07)

December 8: Cuba announced its decision to strengthen cooperation with human rights in response to an end of the anti-Cuban UN Commission on Human Rights and the birth of the Human Rights Council. The Cuban mission to the UN circulated a document at the headquarters stating that there is no reason to justify setting apart Cuba in Geneva or any other multilateral scenario. It adds that Cuba has a long history of cooperation in all spheres of human rights that are applied on universal and unprejudiced bases. (Prensa Latina, 8/12/07)

December 10: Cuba said it will accept regular UN monitoring of its human rights record as of 2009. Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque announced Cuba will sign the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and a similar pact on economic and social rights by March next year. Havana has long refused to sign the pacts adopted in 1976 at the height of the Cold War. He said Cuba would open its doors in early 2009 to regular international scrutiny by the newly created UN Human Rights Council. Cuba refused visits by a special rapporteur appointed by the previous body, the UN Human Rights Commission, which Havana said was manipulated by the United States. "This decision reflects our desire for full cooperation with the United Nations on the basis of respect for our national sovereignty and the right of the Cuban people to their self-determination," Perez Roque said at a news conference. [Statement by Felipe Perez Roque] (Reuters, 10/12/07)  

December 10: Ten Spanish women were being held by Cuban police at their hotel in Havana after attending a protest staged by dissidents, a youth organization said in Barcelona, Spain. Police took away the passports of the women, who were members of the youth wing of the Catalan regionalist party CDC in Spain. It was expected that the women, who included a Barcelona city councillor, would shortly be expelled from the island. The women had travelled to the island to back dissidents in what they described as attempts to achieve democracy and human rights. The women joined a march of some 50 Cuban women belonging to a group called Ladies in White, which campaigns for the release of 75 dissidents jailed in 2003. (M&C, 10/12/07)

December 10: A Cuban official delegation headed by Vice President Jose Ramon Fernandez is in Argentina to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Argentinean President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. During their stay in the South American country, the island's delegation will also hold meetings with government officials and outstanding personalities. They will also attend an event called Meeting of Culture for the Integration of the Peoples of Latin America. (ACN, 10/12/07)

December 10: The Bolivian opposition charged the existence of four safe houses in this city, lodging members of the Venezuelan and Cuban military, as well as the arrival of planes carrying weapons to support the Evo Morales government. Carlos Flores, a member of the Pro Santa Cruz Committee, which is promoting this region's autonomy, claimed in an interview with Notimex that intelligence agents are arriving from Cuba and Venezuela to support possible armed actions in favour of Morales. The also hotel and restaurant businessman, whose organization also rejects the new Constitution, said that they do not want a civil war, but warned that "if they throw rocks at us, we will respond with rocks, and if they (shoot) bullets, we will respond with bullets."  Flores added: "We are constantly being threatened. There is a mobilization of Cuban and Venezuelan personnel in Santa Cruz. We have seen the weapons, and so the message from Evo Morales is clear: they want to convert this region into another Vietnam." (BBC, 11/12/07)
 
December 10: Cuban-Americans are financing the smuggling of Cuban immigrants through Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, an illegal trade that is fomented by the U.S. policy of granting Cubans automatic asylum, Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said. A violent ring of immigrant smugglers operates in Mexico, where Cubans land on the coasts in rickety boats before crossing overland to the US border, Medina Mora told reporters. "This has been legally proved, that people of Cuban origin but who are citizens of the United States are involved, financing these people-smuggling operations, obviously with the complicity of Mexicans," the attorney general said. "This has to do with US policy toward Cubans," he said. "Those who make it to (US) territory by their own means can get automatic refugee status, so that policy serves as an incentive" to smuggle Cubans here, he said. (AP, 10/12/07)

December 11: Amnesty International welcomed the announcement made by Cuba's Minister of Foreign Affairs that the country will soon ratify key human rights treaties. But it added that this move will only be meaningful if matched by change in Cuba's policies of intimidation and arbitrary arrests of political dissidents. Kerrie Howard, Deputy Director at Amnesty International's Americas Programme said: “The Cuban government must signal its true commitment to human rights treaties by acting to release all those detained solely for their peaceful political activities and ensuring that all human rights are respected and promoted across the country”. The Cuban government's announcement coincided with an increasing crackdown against dissidents between 21 November and 10 December - UN Human Rights Day - when many political dissidents were arbitrarily arrested because of their involvement in peaceful protests (…) “Every time someone in Cuba is arrested or imprisoned solely for their human rights work or their opinions, it sends a strong message to all human rights organizations that their work will not be tolerated,” said Kerrie Howard. (AI Press Release, 12/12/07)

December 11: Francina Vila, one of eight political activists from Spain's Catalonia region expelled from Cuba after taking part in a human rights demonstration, said they are glad to have drawn attention to the situation in the country. In statements broadcast on Spanish National Radio, Vila said they “wanted to draw attention, and in fact we're very glad because we met with a bigger response than we expected," said Vila . "We knew that, if we carried out this kind of action in Cuba, at some point or other they could arrest us or - as was the case - keep us shut up in our hotel without the chance of going out."    Vila and seven other members of the Catalan nationalist party Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) were detained in their hotels in Havana, after returning from a march by the Ladies in White, a group of relatives of jailed Cuban dissidents, the radio recalled. (BBC, 11/12/07)  

December 11: The high level exchanges between Botswana and Cuba are a demonstration of the strong bonds of friendship and solidarity which exist between the two countries, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Phandu Skelemani, said.
Mr Skelemani was speaking during a dinner hosted in honour of the Deputy Chief of International Relations of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, Mr Oscar Cordovez. He said Cuba remained an important development partner to Botswana and that the government and Botswana would for-ever remain indebted to the government and people of Cuba for their generous support and assistance over the years. (Republic of Botswana, 11/12/07)

December 11: The very close official and cooperation ties that exist between Cuba and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) were praised during a meeting held at the venue of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) in Havana. During the ceremony, ICAP Vice President Basilio Gutierrez said that there are bilateral ties of respect and cooperation that are strengthened by blood, cultural, historical, geographical and socio-political links. "We reaffirm Cuba's commitment to regional integration and to the development of our countries," said Gutierrez who added that the occasion also served to mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago and also to celebrate the Cuba-CARICOM Day. (ACN, 11/12/07)

December 12: Jose Ramon Fernandez, Vice President of the Cuban Council of Ministers, thanked the Argentinean people for their solidarity with Cuba and with the revolutionary process that is underway on the island. Speaking to hundreds of people who packed the Cuba-Argentina Friendship House in Buenos Aires, Fernandez also thanked Argentineans for regarding the efforts and achievements of the Cuban Revolution as their own. The Cuban high-ranking official traveled to Argentina heading the island's official delegation to the swearing-in ceremony of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on December 10th. (ACN, 13/12/07)

December 12: Cuba will make a presentation on its “Energy Revolution” during the UN-organized conference on climate change taking place in Indonesia. Cuban Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Environment Jose Antonio Diaz Duque is heading the island's delegation to the meeting. In statements published by Juventud Rebelde newspaper, Diaz Duque said the UN has recognized Cuba’s energy-saving program. He explained the country expects to contribute with the reduction of gas emissions that cause the greenhouse effect, even though the island's limited releases have a very low impact on the world. (ACN, 13/12/07)

December 12: A Cuban-American man suspected of smuggling Cubans headed to the United States was gunned down in Mexico, a day before he was to talk to police about his brother's killing, a state prosecutor said. Juan Carlos Reyna Molas was attacked as he was leaving his house in an exclusive Cancun neighborhood, according to state prosecutor Luis Raymundo Canche. "Reyna Molas (...) had information about who killed his brother, and we believe that is why he was killed," the prosecutor said. Smugglers are increasingly using Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, which lies just 120 miles southwest of Cuba, as a way to avoid US Coast Guard patrols between the communist-run island and Florida. (AP, 13/12/07)

December 12: Doctor Oscar Elías Biscet and journalist Normando Hernández González, both serving lengthy prison sentences in Cuba, were honoured with the Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt Medal for their work promoting human rights in Cuba. The jury, including among others Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Kissinger and former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, picked these two representatives of “the black spring" of 2003 – when they were sentenced together with other 73 dissidents – for the severity of their sentences and their poor health conditions. (El Nuevo Herald, 13/12/07)  

December 13: Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo, who is visiting Tanzania, held official talks with his Tanzanian counterparts Ali Mohammed Shein. During the meeting, both Vice Presidents reviewed the state of bilateral relations between both countries. Mohammed Shein recalled the historic friendship relations between his country and Cuba, of which the main inspirers were Fidel Castro and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, former President of the Republic of Tanzania (1964-1985). Shein also thanked Cuba for its cooperation in the fields of education and healthcare, and he specially praised the work of the 23 Cuban experts who are providing medical services in several localities of Tanzania. Lazo and his delegation will travel to the Zanzibar archipelago, an autonomous part of Tanzania located off the coast of East Africa, in the Indian Ocean. In Zanzibar, the Cuban delegation will be received by the President of  that autonomous region, Amani Abeid Karumeel, who recently visited Cuba. (ACN, 13/12/07)

December 13: The moderator of the Cuban radio and TV program “The Roundtable”, Randy Alonso, made public a note sent to him by Fidel Castro the previous day regarding Cuba’s new commitments to the United Nations. In his note, Castro said that for several days after Venezuela’s December 2 referendum on constitutional reform, he had been trying to remember a particular statement he made —among the many throughout his work for the Revolution— concretely defining Cuba’s position and international commitments on democracy and human rights. He explained that he asked for copies of different materials, and that coincidentally, one of the most specific was precisely a presentation he made for the "Roundtable" in April 2001. He noted that a good title for the material on the above-mentioned issues, which he was sending along with his note, would be "History will show who is right," a response to comments made by former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien at the Third Summit of the Americas. Fidel noted that the Cuban people are currently in a process of elections, and commented that ideas were the starting point of his political life. [Nota de Fidel Castro a La Mesa Redonda; La historia dirá quién tiene la razón] (Granma International, 14/12/07)

December 13: Cuba’s Even Fontaine was elected chairman of the UN Joint Inspection Unit (JIU). It is the highest position taken on by a Cuban official within the international organization. JIU is the only independent external oversight body of the United Nations system mandated to conduct evaluations, inspections and system-wide investigations, reported Granma newspaper. (ACN, 13/12/07)

December 13: Spaniard Manuel Benito del Valle, who fled Cuba after receiving slight injuries while taking part in an opposition protest, returned to Spain satisfied with the effects of the march but concerned over reprisals that his Cuban friends could suffer at the hands of the island's communist regime. The 29-year-old told the press he participated in what was supposed to be a peaceful and silent procession - International Human Rights Day - in front of the UN mission in Havana. Del Valle, who studied in Cuba on a scholarship from Spain's Instituto de Comercio Exterior, said he returned to the communist-ruled island using the diplomatic visa provided by the institute "because if I would have asked for a tourist visa, they would have denied it because of my relationship with the Cuban dissidence movement." About a dozen demonstrators came to the site of the march surrounded by police and as they began marching "a mob of some 200 people, half of them members of State Security and the other half citizens recruited from workers committees, surrounded us and began pushing, hitting and threatening us," Del Valle recounted. Several people pushed him and his Cuban friend Milena Almira to a nearby street, stopped a car that came along and forced them to get in with a driver "who didn't know anything about what had happened." Shortly afterwards, they got out of the car, after learning that the driver had been sent to the scene by police, and took refuge in a hotel. (EFE, 13/12/07)

December 13: Three Cuban musicians have been reported missing after failing to board a flight back to Havana following a weeklong tour in northeastern Brazil, the man responsible for their visit said. Miguel Angel Costafreda, Arodis Verdecia Pompa and Juan Alcides Diaz failed to show up at the Guararapes Airport in the city of Recife, where they would have joined four other musicians from the band "Los Galanes" for a flight home. "After their last performance, the three said they were too tired to attend a farewell dinner and decided to remain at the hotel," Jair Pereira, the group's promoter, said by telephone. They have not been seen or heard from since, he said. (AP, 13/12/07) 

December 14: The Cuban nationals who gained asylum in the Czech Republic along with municipal flats in Prague earlier this year, do not inhabit the flats any more as they have disappeared and their whereabouts are unknown, Vladislav Dykast from the City Hall told the press. By granting asylum to ten Cubans, all members of families persecuted in Cuba for their political positions or religion, the Czech Republic met the request of the US that had turned to its European allies over the refugee problem. The Cubans, however, did not stay in Prague for long. Two families disappeared after three weeks, the third family after a month, Dykast said. (CTK, 14/12/07)

December 15: Fidel Castro congratulated Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer on his 100th birthday. In a letter published in the Granma newspaper on the occasion of the publication of "El ser y la vida,” a book by the creator of the city of Brasilia, Castro offers Niemeyer full support in the arduous battle of promoting the habit of reading, which he defines as "a shield against all kinds of manipulation." [Carta de Fidel Castro a Niemeyer] (RHC, 15/12/07)

December 16: A Cuban diplomat who allegedly aided a dissident doctor in Mozambique has skipped a flight out of Paris to seek political asylum in Spain, Spanish daily El Mundo reported. Lorenzo Menendez said he faces prison for helping the dissident but believes socialist Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will bow to pressure from Havana to deport him. "I have no other alternative than to ask for asylum in Spain," Menendez told the paper, who classed himself as "a political and humanitarian victim of a corrupt and painful regime." Reported to have been the number two figure at Cuba's Mozambique embassy, Menendez said Jose Maria Aznar, Spain's preceding conservative government leader, would have been more sympathetic. "Had Aznar still been in power, I've no doubt he would have welcomed me to Spain," he said. "But with Zapatero, I sense things may be more difficult. (The Cuban government) will put pressure on Spain to deny my request." Menendez said the Cuban regime would "present false evidence to portray me as a thief, a criminal or an impostor (…) They will try to bring me back by whatever means are necessary, even kidnap." (AFP, 17/12/07)

December 16: The 30th anniversary of the creation of the Cuba-Africa Friendship Association was commemorated at the venue of the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) in Havana. During the ceremony, the ambassador of Congo in Cuba, Pascal Onguembyi, thanked the Cuban people and government for their permanent solidarity with the African people in all sectors. He stressed the Cuban contribution to the independence of countries such as Angola, Ethiopia, Namibia, Guinea Bissau, South Africa and Congo as well as the presence of Cuban internationalists in some of those nations to fight against the discriminatory regime of the Apartheid. (ACN, 17/12/07)

December 17: Ahmad Sobhani, general director of America at the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry, praised Cuba's performance as a president of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and extolled the island's prestige worldwide. "Cuba for its surface and population is a small country, but with a lot of international political leading role, and we have long heard its name as a country that has always been ahead of the Third World," Sobhani told the press. "We have many consultations with Cuba on Latin American countries and several affairs of our zone, and they have always been very satisfactory for us," he said. (Prensa Latina, 17/12/07)

December 17: Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo along with the President of the Ethiopian Parliament Tesome Toga unveiled in Addis Ababa the Monument Park dedicated to Cuban internationalists who died in that African nation. Addis Ababa's major Berhame Deresa and the Defense Minister Kuma Demeksa and Toga spoke at the solemn ceremony. Lazo delivered the closing speech of the event in which he appreciated this gesture on behalf of the families of the 163 Cubans who died in those lands, the thousand of collaborators, soldiers, and civilians who gave their generous contribution to the development of Ethiopia. At his arrival in Ethiopia, Lazo was received by the Defense Minister Demeksa, Granma reported. (Prensa Latina, 17/12/07)

December 17: Three Cuban musicians who abandoned their group in northeastern Brazil have requested refugee status in Brazil, the justice ministry said. The three made their request at the federal police headquarters in the northeastern city of Recife, Justice Ministry spokeswoman Luciana Vieira said. Miguel Angel Costa Freda, Arodis Verdecia Pompa and Juan Alcides Diaz, from the band "Los Galanes," were reported missing after they failed to show up at the airport for a flight home. Vieira said their request will be accepted or rejected by the ministry's National Refugee Council during its next scheduled meeting in March. (AP, 18/12/07)  

December 17: OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza was interviewed by members of the “San Diego Union-Tribune”editorial board. Asked where Cuba might be headed in the post-Fidel era, Insulza answered that without the ailing 81-year-old revolutionary, Cuba’s regime faces a problem of legitimacy. “To a certain extent, Fidel’s charisma is legitimacy; it sustains the government. Without Fidel, that does not exist. And probably the regime will go through a form of more rational legitimacy, which would be a democracy. “So I’m very hopeful of seeing democracy re-establish itself, not from one day to the next but progressively in Cuba,” he said. “That will be possible if nobody tries to put impossible conditions on Cuba.” Insulza said it’s unrealistic for the United States to demand that everybody who has run Cuba for all these years should now step down and let others govern. “We have to see how we can operate things so there will a transition to democracy. It happened in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland,” said Insulza, the former foreign minister of Chile. “I don’t see why it shouldn’t happen in Cuba. But I see a lot of pressure in Cuba, a lot of setting of conditions a priori that might lead to a more unstable transition than I would like to have.” (Cuba News, January 2008)

December 17: Fidel Castro sent a letter to the daily prime-time radio and television program 'The Round Table” in which he stressed the importance of the international agreements reached at the recently concluded conference on climate change held in Bali. The Cuban leader said that the Conference of Bali brought together many heads of state and government from the so-called Third World who fight for their development and demanded fair treatment, financial resources and transfer of technology from the representatives of the industrialized world who were also present there. "It is clear that the United States tried to avoid its isolation but it did not change at all its dark intentions," Fidel wrote. "But the best was yet to come," added the Cuban leader recalling that Canada and Japan then joined the United States in front of the countries that were demanding serious commitments about the emission of gases that cause climate change. [Message to the “Round Table”] (ACN, Prensa Latina, 18/12/07)

December 17: A Cuban immigrant detained in a jail of Tapachula, Chiapas, died of a heart attack, confirmed Mexican authorities. The National Institute of Migration (UNM) informed that 63-year-old Juan García Izquierdo, died on December 16 after receiving medical attention at a clinic of Chiapas, where he was taken due to heart problems. According to the authorities, the body was buried in Tapachula at the request of his son, who is also one of the detainees. (El Nuevo Herald, 18/12/07)

December 17: Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis awarded medallions of honour to Cuban soldiers who fought along the Ethiopian soldiers during the Ethiopia-Somali war in 1977. While giving the medallions at a ceremony held at Addis Ababa’s National Palace, President Girma said that the Cuban soldiers who fought to protect the sovereignty of Ethiopia had opened a new chapter in the Ethiopia-Cuban relation. Cuban vice president, Esteban Lazo Hernandez, for his part said that 5,000 Cubans are currently serving in Ethiopia, while 3,500 Ethiopians are receiving their education in Cuba. (BBC, 18/12/07)  

December 17: The 5th annual Antiwar Film Festival was held in the city of Vancouver and included the presentation of Cuban documentaries Desafío and The Trial. With two full days of over 20 films ranging from Canadian premieres of antiwar feature films and new documentaries to independent films and Cuban classics, the Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO) the 5th Annual Antiwar Film Festival was not to be missed. The theme of this year’s festival “The Battle of Ideas” was inspired by the struggle of ideas that is gripping the world we live in today. (Cubaminrex, 17/12/07) 

December 18: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he planned to lunch on December 19 with Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public for 16 months. Chavez said in a speech that he would meet with Castro in Cuba ahead of a Petrocaribe summit. "Fidel's waiting for me," Chavez told Uruguayan union members after participating in a Mercosur trade bloc meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay. (Reuters, 18/12/07)

December 18: Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo met with the president of the Commission of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konare, in the venue of this organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During the meeting, which was also attended by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Marcos Rodriguez and by the island's ambassador in Ethiopia Ricardo Garcia, Lazo received the Medal of the African Union. (ACN, 19/12/07)

December 18: Cuban deputy minister of foreign affairs, Alejandro González, said that the date for Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula’s visit to Cuba will remain unconfirmed until both governments are able to "adjust" their agendas. The Brazilian foreign ministry had initially announced Lula's trip to Cuba for November 22 and 23. (EFE, 18/12/07)

December 18: The UN General Assembly approved a draft resolution expressing "deep concern" at the systematic human rights violations in Iran, including torture, flogging, amputations, stoning and public executions. The 192-member world body adopted the resolution by a vote of 73-53 with 55 abstentions. The resolution is not legally binding but carries moral weight and reflects the majority view of world opinion. The resolution was introduced by Canada and backed by the United States and Western nations. It was opposed by many countries whose human rights records have been criticized and who object to the General Assembly targeting specific countries including Cuba, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe. (AP, 19/12/07)

December 19: The federal government and major firms are bracing for rulings from the Quebec Human Rights Commission, which is expected to come down hard on US rules that force military manufacturers in Canada to discriminate against dual nationals and foreign-born citizens. Federal officials have been meeting in recent weeks with representatives of affected companies, promising a new diplomatic offensive against the American International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR). Under ITAR, Canadian citizens who were born in or hold citizenship from more than a dozen countries, including China, Cuba, Syria and Lebanon, cannot work on US military contracts in Canada. (Globe and Mail, 19/12/07)

December 19: The Havana City Historian Office received the Reina Sofia International Award in the category of Cultural Heritage Preservation and Restoration. Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain presented city historian Eusebio Leal Spengler with the prize in Madrid. The prize, granted annually for the rehabilitation and restoration of historic centers, was a unanimous decision of the jury which, Leal said, was motivated by the social undertaking in the revitalization of the Cuban capital's historical center known as Old Havana. (ACN, 20/12/07)

December 19: Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo attended a solidarity meeting on the final day of his official visit to Ethiopia. A group of Ethiopians who graduated in Cuba organized the meeting, which took place at the Gion Hotel, attended by the host country’s Foreign minister, Seyoum Mesfin. In addressing the solidarity gathering, Lazo said his unforgettable trip has strengthened relations between the two sister nations. Accompanied by Ethiopian Health Minister Adem Ibrahim, Lazo also toured the San Pauline Hospital, where he spoke with Cuban doctors working there. (Granma, 20/12/07)

December 19: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has visited Cuba for a lunch meeting with his ailing mentor, Fidel Castro. President Chavez arrived on his trip that will include attending an oil summit later in the week. The visit comes two days after Castro released a letter hinting at retirement from the Cuban leadership. Chavez, who arrived with his foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro, and information minister, William Lara, will head with Raul Castro the fourth summit of Petrocaribe, an initiative created by Venezuela to provide oil to Caribbean neighbors at preferential prices. After the Petrocaribe summit in Cienfuegos, Chavez will visit the tomb of Cuba 's independence icon Jose Marti and the Moncada barracks, a symbol of Cuba's revolution, in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba. He will inaugurate a refinery operated by both countries (VOA, AFP, 20/12/07)

December 21: Supermodel Naomi Campbell is out in Cuba trying to interview Fidel Castro, and is prepared to spend Christmas with the Communist Leader if that's what it takes. "She'll come back with something because she always does," GQ editor Dylan Jones said. "Who's going to say no to Naomi Campbell?” The problem is that Castro is obviously quite infirm, so this'll be tricky to secure even for her. Notionally he's agreed to it, and she's very tenacious - she'll spend Christmas out there if she has to. (The Telegraph, 21/12/07)

December 21: Fidel Castro and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez held an "emotional" meeting to discuss regional integration and international affairs, it was announced in Havana. The two and a half hour encounter was "an expression of the deep friendship uniting our peoples and leaders," said an official statement published in Granma and Juventud Rebelde newspapers. In their meeting, the two leaders discussed the PetroCaribe summit, “the next Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, and the international situation”, the statement said. It was the ninth time Chavez has visited the 81-year-old Cuban leader since he was sidelined by intestinal surgery 17 months ago and "temporarily" handed power to his younger brother Raul. (AFP, 21/12/07) 

December 21: In Slovakia, a collection for the families of Cuban prisoners, which will continue into 2008, has reached more than Sk734,000 (over 21,000 euros) so far, the Pontis Foundation said. The collection is intended to offer humanitarian help to families who have found themselves in need because their relatives are in prison. It was set up in September 2003 as a reaction to the mass arrests of representatives of the Cuban civil society in March 2003. (TASR-SLOVAKIA, 21/12/07)  

December 21: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that unity of the peoples is necessary to be free and to guarantee the future, independence and development of Latin America and the Caribbean. Chavez closed the activity for the opening of a refinery plant called "Camilo Cienfuegos" modernized in this southern Cuban city, and stated that only such a cohesion can make miracles like the joint projects now carried out by Cuba and Venezuela. Such programs will be able to foster other social development plans in the nations integrated in the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) and Petrocaribe. "Nothing will stop us in this way for the elaboration of the independence project for the Latin American and Caribbean integration," he concluded. (Prensa Latina, 22/12/07)

December 21: Supermodel Naomi Campbell, in Cuba seeking an interview with Fidel Castro in her new role as political reporter, visited homes donated by Venezuela to Cuban workers. The catwalk queen has been commissioned by Britain's GQ magazine to interview high-profile political figures. Campbell has already landed an interview with Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez. But it is not clear if she will get to see reclusive Fidel Castro, who has not appeared in public since mid-2006 after undergoing stomach surgery. (Reuters, 21/12/07)

December 22: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insisted on the idea that Cuba and his country are only one nation, and made a call to nurture that “conscience” with a strategic axis that will run from western Cuba to the north of Venezuela. Chavez spoke at a ceremony in which he received the Shield of Santiago de Cuba and a Replica of Antonio Maceo's Machete after closing the signing of fourteen economic agreements between Cuba and his country, along with Cuban First Vice President Raul Castro. Chavez insisted in the “atomic love” that exists between the two nations. Raul invited Chavez to return to Cuba whenever he wanted to, while the Venezuelan president suggested the creation of “a strategic axis of social, cultural, economical, agricultural, petrochemical, and oil integration” from Cuba’s Pinar del Rio to Venezuela’s Paraguana. “There will be many other opportunities to come back to Santiago de Cuba”, said Chavez, who in turn invited Raul to visit Paraguana. “We will visit Paraguana when we have more ideas about it, Raul responded. Chavez concluding by saying; "We will make Bolivar's and Marti's dreams true, with several republics united into a single nation.” Present at the ceremony were Carlos Lage, Secretary of the Cuban Council of Ministers, and other Cuban government officials; Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro and his accompanying delegation also attended the ceremony. (EFE, ACN, 23/12/07)

December 22: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez thanked the people of Santiago de Cuba for the enthusiasm they showed on his arrival at this eastern city, and described it as "an avalanche of good love." He said he was overwhelmed to receive a replica of Antonio Maceo's machete, a Cuban general who fought against the Spanish colonization in the 19th century. The Venezuelan president said visiting Cuban national hero Jose Marti's tomb, the Moncada Garrison and the Granjita Siboney, which was the meeting place for Fidel and the participants in the July 26th military actions, had been very moving. In addition, Chavez recalled the way in which Simon Bolivar died, and noted that Fidel had made it clear that neither he nor Chavez would die in the same way as Bolivar, but as victors. He said, addressing Fidel in particular, that all the deaths and efforts to achieve independence will not be in vain. "Fidel, we can not and will not fail our martyrs, our future, our hopes, we just can not." Chavez mentioned the great love his countrymen feel for Fidel and all the Cuban revolutionaries saying that "Fidel is and will be among us forever, even though we miss his physical presence." Following the Venezuelan president's words, Raul Castro briefly said it had been a privilege to listen to Chavez’ speech, which he described as a keynote lecture, while labelling Chavez' visit to Santiago de Cuba as historic. (ACN, 22/12/07)

December 26: Honduran police detained 21 Cuban migrants who said they had arrived on Honduras' Caribbean coast in a homemade boat. The 16 men and 5 women were detained in the town of El Porvenir, Honduras' General Office of Criminal Investigation reported. The migrants said they left Cuba two weeks before aboard a boat headed to Honduras, where some of them have relatives. The Cubans were turned over to Honduran immigration authorities. (AP, EER, 27/12/07)

December 28: With eyes set on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and after giving a sixth-place finish in the recently concluded 24th Southeast Asian Games, the Philippines is looking to Cuba for help. The government is looking at Cuba to bring back the coach that guided a Filipino boxer to a silver medal in the Olympics hosted in Atlanta in 1996. This was revealed by Cuban Ambassador to Manila Jorge Rey Jimenez in an exclusive interview with The Manila Times. He added that Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez has informed him that he was asked by President Gloria Arroyo to get a Cuban coach for the Philippine boxing team. Jimenez said Ramirez will try to lure Raul Liranza anew. He was the Cuban coach who guided Olympic silver medalist Mansueto Velasco. (The Manila Times, 28/12/07)

December 29: Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone said he is preparing to visit Cuba in February where he will bless a monument recalling Pope John Paul II's historic 1998 visit to the Communist island. Bertone, who holds the Vatican's second-highest position after Pope Benedict XVI, made the announcement in an interview with Italian Catholic magazine “Famiglia Cristiana”, to be published in its January 6 edition. Bertone described his planned blessing of "the great public monument" for John Paul II in the central city of Santa Clara, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the late pontiff's visit to Cuba, as a "positive fact". Bertone also said he hoped to meet Acting President Raul Castro who for over a year has been standing in for his brother, Cuba's ailing revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. (DPA, 29/12/07)

December 30: Saleh Raafat, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), arrived in Cuba on December 29 as special envoy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Raafat, who is also General Secretary of the Palestine Democratic Union Party, carried a message from Abbas to Fidel Castro and First Vice President Raul Castro, Granma daily reported. Representing the president of the Palestinian National Authority and the President of the PLO Executive Committee, Raafat has already held talks with Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to whom he gave the document addressed to the Cuban dignitary. He also met with Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party. (Cuba Headlines News, 30/12/07)