Chronicle on Cuba - September 2008

Domestic Affairs

September 1: The National Secretariat of Cuban Workers Federation (CTC) called on workers throughout the country to start a massive and democratic discussion on a draft bill on Social Security. The action is in tune with a decision taken earlier this year by the Cuban Parliament that, during the months of September and October, all Cuban workers should discuss and give their opinions on the draft bill, which will be submitted to approval by the parliament next December. Over 3,400,000 union members will hold  meetings at work centers to actively and consciously express their criteria and concern on the draft bill (ACN, 1/9/08).

September 2: Cuban dissidents urged President Raul Castro's government to break with past practice and welcome any offer of international aid after Hurricane Gustav left a trail of destruction in western Cuba. "We appeal to the Cuban Communist Party and Cuban authorities to responsibly put aside all ideology; human values must be put before anything else," the outlawed Cuban National Liberal Party said in a statement. Gustav tore across western Cuba damaging more than 120,000 homes, and devastating the Isle of Youth. No deaths in Cuba were immediately reported though there were many injuries. "We urge the international community, the United Nations and especially Europe and the United States to help Gustav's victims" in Cuba, the party statement added. Cuba's state media have said they expect aid from Russia and Venezuela. Back in 2001 after Hurricane Michelle slammed Cuba, the United States offered help. Havana voiced thanks for the gesture and instead requested it be allowed to buy food and medicine despite the US trade embargo in place against the Americas' only communist-ruled country (AFP, 2/8/08).

September 2: Representatives of Cuba's internal opposition appealed to the international community to help the island recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Gustav and urged the country's communist government to set aside its usual unwillingness to accept such aid. The call came from the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation and the Liberal Party - neither of them recognized by the government - and from independent journalist Miriam Leiva. In an "urgent appeal," the dissident human rights commission asked the international community to offer Cuba emergency assistance and exhorted Gen. Raul Castro's government "to accept international aid, including that from NGOs and private individuals." Leiva, a founder of the Ladies in White group comprising relatives of political prisoners, said that the magnitude of the destruction caused by Gustav requires "emergency humanitarian aid from governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, individuals and all Cubans living abroad" (EFE, 2/9/08).

September 3: Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said that Hurricane Gustav hit Cuba like a nuclear bomb and left authorities struggling to feed people on the hard-hit Isle of Youth. In a column published in official daily Granma, he said Gustav, which slammed into western Cuba, had damaged or destroyed 100,000 houses and dealt a blow to agriculture. He said television shots from the Isle of Youth, which is 40 miles (64 km) off Cuba's southwestern coast "reminded me of the desolation I saw when I visited Hiroshima," referring to the Japanese city destroyed by a US nuclear bomb in 1945 at the end of World War Two. "Now the battle is to feed the hurricane victims," Castro wrote, saying that only two of 16 bakeries on the island were functioning. Castro warned that recovering from Gustav would require sacrifice on the part of Cubans and that the cost would be high. "A hundred million dollars means only nine dollars per resident, and we need much more. We need 30 times, 40 times that number only to cover our most elemental necessities," he said (A Nuclear Strike; Reuters, 3/9/08).

September 3: Two prominent Cuban dissidents have asked President Bush to loosen restrictions temporarily on travel and sending money to the communist-run island to help tens of thousands left homeless by Hurricane Gustav. Marta Beatriz Roque and Vladimiro Roca signed a Spanish-language letter to Bush that they delivered to the US Interests Section in Havana. Officials at the mission said they passed it along to the White House. The letter, sent by fax the next day to foreign reporters, asks Bush to lift restrictions on travel and money transfers to Cuba by Cuban exiles in the United States "for at least two months." "You know as well as we do that any family member abroad would like to have physical contact with those who are going through a difficult situation," they wrote. "Knowing how intransigent the Cuban government is about accepting help from your country (…) we ask that you permit American non governmental organizations to help the region so as to soothe the suffering of its inhabitants," the dissidents wrote (AP, 4/9/08).

September 3: According to independent journalist Luis Felipe Rojas, after a summary trial, dissidents Yordis García Fournier, chief editor of the independent newsletter Futuro, and Isael Poveda Silva were sentenced to 12 and 18 months in jail, respectively. Both are activists with the Movement of Cuban Youths for Democracy (MCJD) in the Eastern provinces. They had been detained on August 31 in Guantanamo and accused of "resisting arrest" and "disobedience." Rolando Rodríguez Lobaina, leader of the MCJD, added that no relatives or activists were allowed in the courtroom during the trial. García Fournier y Poveda Silva had visited a Guantanamo police station known as "Parque 24" to inquire after fellow MCJD member Enyor Díaz Allen, who had been arrested at his home. They were both beaten up for voicing their support for Díaz Allen and shouting out slogans against the government (Cubaencuentro, 4/9/08).

September 3: The northeastern Cuban town of Gibara went on alert as the sea swelled due to tropical storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike. The civil defense system of Gibara, in the province of Holguin, started to function at the first signs of the swelling sea. Waves of three meters high hit the coast of Gibara and the Baracoa bay in the province of Guantanamo as Hanna advanced to the Bahamas (Xinhua, 4/9/08).

September 4: Dissident groups in Cuba are attempting to open up a debate on the problem of racism in the country, in order to promote "full integration" of all the island’s citizens, without discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity or skin colour. To that end, a committee "without ideological affiliation or political goals" was formed at a workshop on the issue, to promote actions and initiatives to guarantee "a voice and a forum" for Afro-descendants on this Caribbean island, "with the responsible support" of all Cubans who are aware of the problem. The Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR) "will attempt to bring the issue out of the closed intellectual debates where it has been closeted for the past 15 years," said Manuel Cuesta Morúa, spokesman for the moderate dissident Arco Progresista, a coalition of small social democrat groups and one of the participants at the workshop, to which the foreign press was invited. In his view, alternative civil society organisations should seek ways to achieve the self-recognition of black people, who are not represented in proportion to their demographics and their cultural contribution to Cuba. "The CIR is pursuing recognition and racial integration, not conflict or racial pre-eminence," he said (IPS, 4/9/08).

September 4: In a letter to all Catholics in Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, called for solidarity with the victims of Hurricane Gustav, which “caused heavy damage in the eastern region of the province of Pinar del Rio and particularly on the Isle of Youth, where the damage borders on catastrophic.” Cardinal Ortega called for everyone to make an effort to contribute to the relief effort.  “Last Saturday our country was hit by Hurricane Gustav, a powerful storm which media reports have shown us has caused heavy damage in the eastern region of the province of Pinar del Rio and particularly on the Isle of Youth, where the damage borders on catastrophic,” he said. “I invite each one of you to extend once again, from your poverty, a charitable hand to these brothers and sisters of ours.  For this purpose I ask that each one of our parishes and chapels take up a collection” and collect relief supplies to be distributed through Caritas to the affected families, the cardinal said. He said the aid collected would be sent to the parish of Our Lady of Carmel in Havana, from which it will be sent to the devastated region (CNA, 8/9/08).

September 5: The president of the Christian Liberation Movement, Oswaldo Paya Sardinas, said the “liberating message” of Jesus was what inspired the creation of this dissident movement that seeks peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba through the Varela Project. “Everything began very simply. We were inspired by Jesus when he said in the Gospel: ‘Therefore, give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’  And we discovered that in this phrase of Jesus, as in the entire Gospel, there is a message of liberation,” Paya said on the occasion of the CLM’s 20th anniversary. In a message, Paya said, “We need to tell Cubans that their lives, their dignity and their freedom” belong to God, “and nobody, not even Caesar, can take that away from them if they don’t give in to fear or other things.” Paya recalled that throughout the years, Cubans of diverse tendencies and from all parts joined the CLM, which does not have a specific religious identity but is “inspired in the Gospel.” “We are all moved by love for Cuba and for freedom,” he said (CNA, 7/9/08).

September 5: At least seven newborns died in the maternity hospital Hijas de Galicia, in Havana, due to a bacterial infection they contracted in the operating room, medical sources said. El Nuevo Herald confirmed seven deaths and the infection of some 10 children during June and July. The infection was caused by the bacteria acinetobacter in the operating room of the facility, the sources said. The acinetobacter bacteria is very aggressive and resistant to antibiotics. A medical source, who did not want to be identified, said the children ''were born completely healthy.'' However, a few hours after birth they developed respiratory problems, with sneezing and coughing, as well as a change in skin tone, lack of energy, fever, breathing difficulty, inflamed lungs and meningoencephalitis. For several weeks, authorities at the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) kept silent and continued the normal routine. But news of the initial deaths spread and forced MINSAP to close the paediatric services at the Hijas de Galicia at the end of July. To date, the authorities have not said anything about these cases (The Miami Herald, 5/9/08).

September 7: Hurricane Ike barreled toward Cuba as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm and was forecast to sweep into the central Gulf of Mexico as a large and powerful storm echoing Hurricane Gustav. Ike's top sustained winds reached 135 miles per hour (215 kph), making it a savage Category 4 on the five-step Saffir Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, the US National Hurricane Center said. Forecasters said Ike could strengthen further before sweeping into Cuba, severely threatening sugar cane fields, the tourist hotels of Varadero and the crumbling colonial buildings of Havana. Over 700,000 residents of eastern provinces have been evacuated (Reuters, EFE, 7/9/08).  
 
September 7: In the days since Hurricane Gustav pummeled western Cuba, angry residents in Playa de Cajio, Habana province, said not a single official had checked on this fishing town that was virtually erased by Hurricane Charlie four years ago. "No one has stopped by to see if we're eating," said 91-year-old Juana Diaz Gonzalez, whose seaside home lost part of its roof to Gustav's Category 4 winds. "We eat what we can. We live like dogs." The plight of many of Playa de Cajio's 1,500 residents offers a lesson for other hard-hit communities that hope the state will help them rebuild quickly. People in Cajio said they have struggled with official bureaucracy and ineptitude since Charlie battered the town in 2004. "It's been four years since Charlie and we're still waiting for new homes," said Rachel Gonzalez Ojeda, 44, seated outside her roofless wood and concrete home. "We never even got the materials to do the repairs. We rebuilt what we could on our own." As she spoke, more than a dozen neighbors nodded in agreement. "We can't remain silent anymore," she said. Daisy Tapanes Rodriguez, 50, a resident of Playa del Cajio, was reminded that Castro wrote in a recent essay that no storm victim would be forgotten by the state. She immediately held up four fingers. "We've been forgotten for four years now," she said (Sun Sentinel, 7/9/08).

September 8: President Raul Castro expressed confidence to all provincial leaders that Cubans will recover from the damages left by Hurricane Ike. In a phone call, the statesman informed top authorities from each province threatened by the storm to use all available means to protect human lives, goods and resources of the State and people. According to a note published by Granma newspaper, the president of the Council of State and Ministers stressed the importance to be ready for the worst. Raul Castro insisted on the importance of continued preparation as a way to minimize damages. He requested top leaders from those provinces to create solidarity with the people and authorities in difficult moments like these. The Cuban president ratified his confidence in preventive, maintenance and organizational measures to reduce the impacts of the storm (Prensa Latina, 8/9/08).

September 8: Hurricane Ike roared across Cuba, tearing off roofs and sending waves crashing into buildings, as 900,000 Cubans fled to shelters or higher ground and Havana residents in decaying historic buildings prepared for a direct hit. Ike made landfall as a fearsome Category-3 hurricane after raking the Bahamas and worsening floods in Haiti. It is expected to tear across almost the entire length of Cuba, then enter the Gulf of Mexico with Texas and Louisiana among the likely targets. "We are preparing for a strong hit," Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage told state television. Ike's powerful winds sent huge chunks of debris flying over the streets of the central-eastern city of Camaguey, which was just 20 miles (35 kilometers) north of the eye at 8 a.m. (1200 GMT). Diagonal sheets of stinging rain flooded the narrow colonial streets, which were further clogged with tree branches, metal grates and plastic sheeting. A huge sheet of plastic roofing spun like a top in the wind above a traffic intersection. Streets were deserted, save for a lone, miserable-looking security guard taking shelter at a bus station. State television earlier broadcast images of the storm surge washing over coastal homes in the easternmost city of Baracoa. It said huge waves surged over buildings as tall as five stories and dozens of dwellings were damaged beyond repair. Winds reaching as high as 160 mph (260 kph) damaged an undetermined number of homes in Holguin province. Roofs were ripped away and trees toppled across the region. Foreign tourists were pulled out from vulnerable beach communities, including more than 9,000 from the resort of Varadero, east of Havana. Workers rushed to protect coffee plants and other crops, and plans were under way to distribute food and cooking oil to disaster areas. Forecasters said Ike would likely hit Havana, the capital of 2 million people. Morning skies were only cloudy, but schools were closed and domestic flights were suspended (AP, 8/9/08).

September 8: Former President Fidel Castro released a statement calling on Cubans to heed security measures to ensure no one dies. Cuba historically has successfully carried off massive evacuations before hurricanes, sparing countless lives. In a special article for the Cubadebate website under the title “Besieged by Hurricane”, Fidel Castro warned that “we should be more rational than ever and fight wastage, vagrancy and complacency.” “We should be absolutely honest avoiding demagoguery or compromising with weakness or opportunism. The revolutionary militants should set an example. They should give and receive confidence. They should give everything for the people, even their lives if need be,” he stressed. Castro wrote that the flow of international aid to Cuba since Gustav showed that it had many friends who wanted to help. He said, without giving details, that close ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had taken "measures that make up the most generous gesture of solidarity that our country has known" (Besieged by Hurricanes; AP, Prensa Latina, 8/9/08).

September 8: Two children of two of Cuba's most famous revolutionaries have died in a Havana traffic accident. The Communist Party daily Granma reports that Celia and Abel Hart Santamaría were in a car that hit a tree in the Miramar neighborhood on September 7. Celia Hart was 45 and Abel 48. They were the offspring of Armando Hart and Haydee Santamaría, who were key figures in the revolution led by Fidel Castro. Hart is a former student leader who went on to head Cuba's ministries of education and culture. Santamaría accompanied Castro in his 1953 assault on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago. After 1959, she headed the cultural institution Casa de las Americas. She committed suicide in 1980 (The Miami Herald, 8/9/08).

September 8: Cuban President Raul Castro visited the National Civil Defense Council Headquarters to specify on the measures taken to face hurricane Ike. Raul was received by Division General Ramon Pardo Guerra, Head of the National Civil Defense Staff. He received ample information about Ike, its characteristics and probable path, from Doctor Jose Rubiera, head of the Forecast Center of the Cuban Meteorology Institute. The president also received detailed information from Pedro Saez Montejo and Ulises Guilarte de Nacimento, heads of the Provincial Defense Councils in the two Havana provinces, about the measures taken in their respective territories (ACN, 9/9/08).

September 8: Although numerous churchgoers had already gathered at the local parish to take part in the traditional day of prayers, government authorities decided to disallow the celebratory mass in honor of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre in the city of Pinar del Rio. "At the request of provincial [Communist] Party authorities, the mass was cancelled and the priest broke the news to parishioners as they arrived at the church of Our Lady of Charity," said a source linked to the Pinar del Rio Diocese. The parishioners learned of the cancellation the same day the mass was to take place, when half the congregation was already there (El Nuevo Herald, 10/9/08).

September 9: Hurricane-force winds hit Havana as Ike pummeled Cuba with lashing rains and towering waves that have already killed four people. The hurricane killed three men and a woman in Cuba, a relatively rare event in a country which prides itself on preparedness in facing down the hurricane season's tempests. Pedro Corso Soto, 76, and Ángel Sánchez Cabello, 35, residents of Rancho Veloz, a town in the Corralillo municipality of Villa Clara province, died when they were trying to dismantle a TV antenna, which fell on the electric lines, and electrocuted them. Pascual Villafaña Rivera, 35, resident of the city of Camaguey, was hit by a wall of his house which collapsed under the impact of a fallen tree. Carmelina Diéguez Santiesteban, 74, resident of El Negro town, in Banes, Holguin, was inside her home when it collapsed under the heavy  winds. "There is substantial damage in housing, and we are evaluating the farm sector," said Colonel Jose Betancourt of the civil defense department. Cuban authorities also said seven people had been injured as Ike crossed from east to west. (AFP, ACN, 9/9/08).

September 9: A Christian Liberation Movement press release called for unconditional international solidarity with hurricane Gustav victims in western Cuba. The opposition organization asked the government of the island to accept any assistance offered. “We call upon the international community to act unconditionally in solidarity with the victims and we ask the Cuban government to accept any help offered generously and without ulterior motives. This aid is for those who need it,” said the opposition organization. “As relief packages are offered, shipped and allowed in, both the State and the churches in Cuba have the capacity to distribute the aid to those who need it most,” the group added (Comunicado de Prensa del MCL, 9/9/08).

September 10: Cuban state television said some 2.6 million people — nearly a fourth of the island's population — sought refuge from Ike, which killed four people and shredded hundreds of homes as it swept across the country. As it left Cuba, Hurricane Ike delivered a punishing blow to towns such as Los Palacios, in Pinar del Rio province, which already suffered a direct hit from a Category-4 Hurricane Gustav on August 30. In a poor neighborhood along the train tracks, the combined fury of Ike and Gustav left nearly two-thirds of the wooden homes without roofs or completely leveled. "The first one left me something, but this one left me nothing," said Olga Atiaga, a 53-year-old housewife. Gustav obliterated her roof and some walls. Then Ike blew away a mattress and smashed the kitchen sink. "I don't even have anything to sleep on," she said. Odalis Cruz, a 45-year-old housing inspector, said she evacuated to a shelter in the town's rice mill when it became clear Ike was following Gustav's path through Pinar del Rio, the westernmost province where Cuba produces tobacco used in its famous cigars. She surveyed the damage to her home. "We repaired the roof two days ago and this one took the new one," she said. "I'm ready to move to Canada! We have spent eight days drying out things, cleaning everything, sleeping on the floor, and now we are hit again" (AP, 10/9/08).

September 10: Cuba's official media reported 67 building collapses in densely populated Havana — 60 partially ruined, and seven destroyed — brought down by a combination of age, decay, neglect and Hurricane Ike's torrential downpours and winds. Just one day earlier, officials said 16 structures had given way to the storm, including four aged buildings in a single block that crumbled into rubble. In its 41-hour odyssey across much of Cuba, Ike left a widespread swath of destruction nearly the full length of the island and claimed the lives of four people outside the nation's capital. Nearly 16 hours after Ike's center had moved off toward the Gulf of Mexico, it took its fifth. A concrete chunk of an adjoining building crashed through the roof of a tenement fronting Havana's Malecon, triggering a chain reaction that toppled sections of floor after floor. Six hours later, emergency crews found 52-year-old Pedro Pablo Gonzalez's body, buried under three stories of rubble. Electrical power is out across much of the island, communications spotty (Sun Sentinel, 11/9/08).

September 10: The Cuban Housing Institute said 200,000 homes nationwide were damaged, including 30,000 total losses and the majority of the others roofless, after the passing of hurricane Ike. Adding the houses damaged by Hurricane Gustav when it walloped Cuba's western province on August 30, the tally comes to 320,000 -- a staggering figure in a nation already enduring a woeful housing shortage. So much housing is in precarious shape that 2.6 million people -- nearly a quarter of the country's population -- left their homes in advance of the storm (The Miami Herald, 11/9/08).
 
September 11: With four gold, two silver, and four bronze medals thus far, Cuba left Beijing behind at the Paralympics, when there are only six competitions ahead. The Cuban sports delegation, made up of 32 athletes, has garnered the fourth best position among the countries of the Americas participating at the games. Cuba also occupies the 15th position among all 148 countries at the event (ACN, 11/9/08).

September 11: “Our duty is to win,” said Fidel Castro in a letter sent to the Round Table TV and radio broadcast as a message of encouragement to the Cuban people after the devastation caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Fidel Castro commented on the images broadcast on the program showing the destruction caused by the recent passing of Hurricane Ike, and praised the actions taken by Cuban men and women to protect the lives of the people and minimize the material loss. He particularly highlighted the work of the Civil Defense Councils of each province. Fidel Castro referred to the recovery stage in Cuba when he said all objective factors will be analyzed, including the rational use of material and human resources, and specific measures that need to be taken according to the needs of each area. Rather than tour the hardest-hit areas after each storm, President Raul Castro has dispatched vice presidents and army generals. Instead of a televised address, he has appeared only in a few shots, speaking by phone to officials in devastated areas and presiding over a closed-door meeting of civil defense leaders as they prepared for Ike in Havana. His hands-off style is a far cry from that of Fidel Castro. (A Letter from Fidel Castro; AP, ACN, 11/9/08).

September 11: After an intense around the clock effort, the country’s Central Highway was reopened after it had been rendered impassable due to 22 fallen trees at the entrance of the city of Florida, Camaguey. The mahogany trees were felled by hurricane Ike, which struck first in eastern Cuba and left a trail of destruction throughout the island,  reported Granma newspaper. A combination of people from Florida and workers and equipment from the Ministries of Construction and Agriculture from the city of Camaguey managed to saw the trees and move the pieces to the edge of the road,  thus opening this important highway to vehicle traffic (ACN, 11/9/08).

September 12: Cuba is raising its death toll from Hurricane Ike to seven people. The Communist Party newspaper Granma reported the death of a 55-year-old man who evacuated but returned to his apartment along Havana's seaside Malecon boulevard before authorities said it was safe. Part of his aging building collapsed, trapping him among the rubble before he died. Granma said a 53-year-old man from Puerto Padre in eastern Cuba was sleeping when a wall from his neighbor's home fell and crushed him and a 55-year-old man drowned in the eastern city of Santiago (AP, 12/9/08).

September 14: The monument marking the spot where Christopher Columbus landed on Cuba's northeastern coast on October 28, 1492, sustained extensive damage during Hurricane Ike, state media reported. The monument, which honors the "meeting of two cultures," was heavily damaged. The Columbus monument is located in Bariay, a town in Holguin, one of the Cuban provinces most affected by the hurricane, the official AIN news agency said. Ike, one of two hurricanes that hit Cuba in a span of 10 days, damaged many monuments and historic sites in Holguin, AIN said (EFE, 14/9/08)

September 15: Cuban Education Minister Elsa Velázquez Cobiella praised efforts made by education workers all over the country to start the school year. In a meeting with education officials, the minister highlighted the support given by institutions and other entities to prepare the schools and to solve problems that have arisen in the wake of hurricanes Gustav and Ike in order to successfully begin the school year. Velazquez called on all education personnel to work with the same intensity and care towards students while work is dome to restore facilities damaged by the storms. She also urged teachers to help rebuild the damaged workplaces and houses of their co-workers without abandoning the educational tasks (ACN, 15/9/08).

September 15: Dissidents in the island asked the government of Raúl Castro to accept US aid for the victims of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. They also asked Washington to ease embargo restrictions. "The politicization of the humanitarian aid to the hurricane victims is unacceptable, wherever it comes from. The wellbeing of the Cuban people must come first, for it is them who have borne the brunt of "natural disasters and the Revolution’s 50 years’ worth of shortages," declared Agenda for the Transition, led by Martha Beatriz Roque y Vladimiro Roca. Oppositionist economist and former-political prisoner Oscar Espinosa considered that "faced with a catastrophe of such magnitude, it is vital to accept large-scale foreign humanitarian assistance, casting aside political prejudice and unproductive traditional antagonisms" (AFP, 15/9/08).

September 16: State Security agents arrested and mistreated four peaceful opposition activists who shouted in protest during the trial against another two activists in Guantanamo. The arrests took place during the appeal hearing of dissidents Yordis García Fournier and Isael Poveda Silva, both linked to the independent newsletter Futuro, who had been convicted early in the month on charges of allegedly "resisting arrest" and "contempt of authority." Although the prosecution failed to prove that a crime had been committed, the defendants were nonetheless handed down a 1 year jail sentence. When the verdict was read, opposition activists and others in attendance protested with shouts of "Down with the dictatorship!" and "Freedom for political prisoners!" State Security agents gathered Court staff members and armed them with clubs and lengths of rebar to confront the protesters. Opposition activists Rosaida Ramírez, Niovis García Fournier, Pastor García Fournier and Pedro Poveda were taken to a police station, where they remain under arrest (Cubaencuentro, 17/9/08).

September 16: Health authorities in the eastern province of Granma announced strict public health measures to avoid the outbreak of disease after the flooding caused by hurricane Ike. Preventive actions include the cleaning up of rubble and the burial and  incineration of dead animals in all the areas that were flooded by the rain or rivers that burst their banks. The hardest effort is in the Rio Cauto municipality, where the Salado  River overflowed and the release of water from the Cauto del Paso reservoir resulted in serious floods. Even though certain communities are still flooded, the area is being  fumigated with insecticides to avoid the development of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which transmits dengue fever (ACN, 16/9/08).

September 17: Cuba finished in the 23 position in the medal standings at the XIII Paralympics Games with 5 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals, in an event that gathered 4,126 athletes from 148 countries. Cuba finished in the third Latin American position, behind Brazil and Mexico (ACN, 18/9/08).

September 17: Cuban cinema has lost one of its most complete and dedicated artists. Humberto Solas passed away in Havana at the age of 66 from cancer. Solas was well known inside and outside of Cuba for some of the best movies produced by the Cuban Institute of Cinematic Art and Industry (ICAIC) in its half-century of existence, reported Granma newspaper. Solas is best known as the creator of Lucía, a movie that is among the best one hundred Ibero American films. As a young artist, he wrote and directed Manuela (1966), a precursor to the emblematic work that showcased Humberto’s aesthetic sensibilities, his passion and good judgment: Un día de noviembre (1972), Cantata de Chile (1975), Cecilia (1981), Un hombre de éxito (1986), and El siglo de las luces (1991). After the collapse of the Eastern European socialist camp which hit the film industry, Humberto Solas promoted the Gibara International Poor Cinema Festival, a celebration of movies made with scant economic resources but rich in conceptual aspirations (ACN, 18/9/08).

September 18: To ease the housing problem in Havana —which was further aggravated by the passing of hurricanes Gustav and Ike— intense work is underway to identify public facilities that can be turned into shelters for affected families. Manuel Buron, director of the Micro-brigade Social Construction Movement in the capital, said that in response to calls from local area authorities, several public entities in buildings as well as warehouses that were not being used have been offered. If properly adapted, these can serve as homes for those who lost theirs to the storms. Buron underscored the importance of rehabbing and modifying such places to make them liveable as soon as possible. The official also mentioned the Communist Party and Parliament’s orientations regarding the need to search for facilities that can be turned into temporary housing for families evacuated due to hurricanes and other disasters (ACN, 18/9/08). 

September 18: An online art auction will be open by Cuban artists to raise funds for the recovery of cultural centers devastated by hurricane Ike, especially those in eastern Cuba. When announcing the project, actor Jorge Perugorria said paintings, engravings, drawings and photographs by Cuban artists will be offered on an online expo-sale as an art auction titled “Art for Art.” The project is supported by Cuban cultural institutions and especially the National Visual Arts Council, reported Granma newspaper. In presenting the initiative, Perugorria said “Many of us want to and are willing to help our Cuban brothers and sisters in anyway possible; many other Cubans are already helping in different ways to alleviate the difficult situation of the population in the most affected areas” (ACN, 18/9/08). 

September 18: Well-known opposition activist Jorge Luís Gracia Pérez (Antúnez) was detained as he left the United States’ Interests Section in Havana. Antunez and fellow oppositionists were exiting a facility where Internet access is provided when they were intercepted by State Security agents who forced him into a waiting vehicle. He was taken back to his temporary address in Havana where they violently picked up his wife, Iris Pérez Aguilera, and finally returned them both, against their will, to the province of Santa Clara, where they reside. Antunez declared that this suppressive act sought to prevent his participation in a press conference called by the Latin-American Federation of Rural Women (FLAMUR) to ask the Cuban government to accept US humanitarian aid for the hurricane victims (Cubanet, 19/9/08). 

September 19: Cuban President Raul Castro said people should feel the need to work more. He was speaking in a meeting with local residents of the municipality of La Palma, Pinar del Rio, one of the areas most affected by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. He assured those in attendance that they will recover everything they had. After meeting with civil defense authorities on the Isla de la Juventud, 44 miles off Cuba's southern coast, and in the western province of Pinar del Rio, the Cuban president spoke with the residents of the two areas. In speaking with farmers in Pinar del Rio, Castro talked about the importance of gradually eliminating the double currency in Cuba and paying workers for what they do as a way to boost production. “It would be bold to say that in a period of four to five years we could eliminate the double currency and make salaries decent, but it has to be done (…) people have to be paid according to what they produce," said the Cuban president. "If you work more than me and you sacrifice more than I do, you should receive more than me," said Raul, pointing at one of the farmers (ACN, 19/9/08). 

September 22: The Cuban government will offer training workshops on home construction to all those interested in building or repairing houses, in an effort to speed up recovery work in the wake of the destruction left by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.  Cuban Ministry of Construction’s Deputy Minister Reisvel Rosquete Hernandez said a mass movement will be needed to recover from the devastation caused by the hurricanes, which left nearly half a million houses destroyed or damaged, reported the Trabajadores newspaper. The courses are also aimed at maintenance brigades and especially hurricane victims (ACN, 22/9/08). 

September 22: Students from more than 40 nations, who study at boarding schools in the central Cuban province of Camagüey, are working in recovery effort after the passing of Hurricane Ike. The group is helping in the clean up of streets and agricultural fields and repairing community centers including the University of Camagüey, the JoseMartí Higher Pedagogical Institute and the Carlos Finlay Institute of Medical Sciences. The cooperation in policlinics and hospitals of these doctors-to-be, now being trained in Camagüey, constituted another of the missions undertaken by the students in this period of recovery (ACN, 22/9/08). 

September 24: Cuban Housing Institute officials are absorbed in rebuilding and won't be available for some time to talk about the "in-transit" program, a government spokeswoman said. No official figures were available on how many Cubans were already living in temporary housing before Gustav and Ike struck. Cubans in temporary housing are placed on waiting lists for new homes in their old neighborhoods. Officially, those left homeless by severe weather get priority for new places - a fact not lost on those displaced by the routine decay of buildings in Old Havana. "I think they have more hope than we do," Damarias Gualidan said of the storm victims. "Because nothing fell down on us during a hurricane, they aren't going to give us anything," added Gualidan, who has spent the past decade in temporary housing. Xudaisy Orozco, a 28-year-old hospital employee, was even more pessimistic. "It's like the end of the world here," she said. "But there's nowhere else for us." When Hurricane Charlie tore through her apartment, Marcia Escalona considered herself lucky to land temporary housing on the Cuban capital's remote outskirts while communist authorities pledged to help her rebuild. But four years later, it no longer feels temporary. "They told me it would be six months, but that was in 2004, and I want out of here already," said the 48-year-old kindergarten supervisor who lives with her husband and 22-year-old son in two rooms with concrete walls and a leaky roof in Bahia, a community of temporary homes in Havana del Este, or East Havana. Now hundreds of thousands of Cubans blown from their homes by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike have joined Escalona in line for scarce housing (The Miami Herald, 24/9/08).

September 25: Cuban First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura returned to Cuba after participating in the High Level Meeting of the 63rd Period of Sessions of the UN General Assembly in New York. During his stay in New York, Machado Ventura took part in three UN events and held 12 bilateral meetings with dignitaries from all over the world. According to Granma news daily, the head of the Foreign Relations  Department at the Central Committee of Cuba’s Communist Party, Fernando  Remirez de Estenoz, also returned accompanying Machado Ventura (ACN, 26/9/08).

September 25: The Cuban Government has sounded the alarm on a troublesome increase in the theft of state resources, the mysterious disappearance of supplies from hard-currency stores and price speculations on food items in the aftermath of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Already grappling with recovering the agricultural sector and alleviating the housing crisis, the Government is now trying to curb corruption and rampant theft of state-owned resources that has flourished amidst the shortages. Following several statements published by former leader Fidel Castro, Cuban authorities have mobilized forces to end the debacle on all fronts. ''For those people that divert resources or try to speculate with the price of food items, that steal electrical or telephone cables, or try to appropriate resources from the state reserves, our penal code foresees circumstances of aggravated crimes,'' noted Deputy Attorney General Rafael Pino Becquer during the Mesa Redonda program, adding that ``prosecutors will rigorously solicit sanctions from the courts.'' Pino Becquer also stated that people that have accumulated goods through lucrative activity will have their possessions confiscated. The Attorney General, General Juan Escalona Reguera, appeared on Mesa Redonda to warn that the nation will preserve ''the socialist legality'' and ''will consequently apply the law for this scenario,'' further stating that his office will ``act with a lot of force'' (The Miami Herald, 26/9/08).