Chronicle on Cuba - November 2008

Foreign Affairs

November 1: The Cuban Government has decried the recent attack by the US army on a small Syrian village bordering Iraq, killing eight civilians, and has demanded that the US government stop these military actions immediately. The Cuban Foreign Ministry issued an official statement, published by the official daily Granma, stating Cuba’s position on the aggression, which it described as inadmissible and illegal. The Cuban government also expressed its solidarity with the Syrian government and people (ACN, 1/11/08).

November 1: Latin American residents in Brisbane, Australia have joined a project called “Lend a Hand to Cuba,” to collect funds to contribute to the recovery of the island from the damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Prensa Latina reported that close to 5,000 Australian dollars were collected by the Cuba-Australia Friendship Association at a meeting held at a Spanish Club in Sidney, the capital of Queensland. Other members of the organization in the city of Perth reportedly led a rally in front of the US consulate to protest about Washington’s embargo against Cuba. Among the participants in the rally were members of different unions, and the Australian Communist Party (ACN, 2/11/08).

November 2: President Hugo Chavez expressed hope that Barack Obama wins this week's US presidential election and that "as a black man" he ends the 46-year-old US trade embargo on Cuba. "We don't ask him to be a revolutionary, we don't ask him to be a socialist, only that, as a black man about to become president of the United States, he take his place in history," Chavez said in a televised speech from south-eastern Barinas state (AFP, 2/11/08).

November 3: Cuban First Vice-President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura held official talks with Bounthong Chitmany, President of the Organizing Commission of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Party of Laos (PPRL) at the building hosting the Communist Party Central Committee. In the friendly encounter both leaders exchanged views on the current situation of their respective parties and countries, the excellent performance of bilateral relations, as well as international matters. Machado Ventura reaffirmed the priority and importance that relations with the Laotian Revolutionary Party and government mean to the Cuban Communist Party and government (ACN, 3/11/08).

November 3: The Medal of Honour of Dominica was granted to Fidel Castro, for his contribution and services in favour of the people of this Caribbean island. According to Granma news daily, the medal was presented to Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo, who traveled to Dominica to receive the medal on behalf of Castro. The presentation took place in front of more than 5,000 people who were celebrating the 30th anniversary of Dominica’s independence. The Cuban delegation was welcomed with a long ovation and then, the President of Dominica, Nicholas J. O. Liverpool, presented Lazo with the medal (ACN, 3/11/08).

November 3: The positive impact of Cuban medical missions on other nations was highlighted in Havana, during celebrations to mark the 45th anniversary of Cuba's cooperation in this field with the Third World and the 10th anniversary of the Integral Health Program (IHP). More than 1,000 delegates, graduates from Havana's Latin American School of Medicine, internationalist health workers, and Cuban journalists, exchanged their experiences, challenges, and perspectives in terms of this humanitarian work. Cuban Foreign Ministry official Tania Perez told the press that, from 1960 to August, 2008, more than 270,000 Cubans have offered their technical assistance to more than 160 countries. She stressed that of all Cuban internationalist missions, those related
to medical aid have been the largest, by way of which 185,000 health professionals and technicians have offered their services in 103 countries (ACN, 3/11/08).

November 3: Jose Blanco, the deputy general secretary of the governing Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), will visit Cuba, where he will hold talks with government authorities and Spanish businesspeople on the Caribbean island. Blanco will arrive on November 5 in Havana, where he will attend a meeting to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the Association of Spanish Businesspeople in Cuba, reported the Prensa Latina news agency. A communiqué released by PSOE in Madrid explained that Blanco’s trip “is to support Spanish business people and the development of future activities” (ACN, 3/11/08).

November 4: Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend the G-20 summit of government leaders in Washington later this month, to discuss tackling the world financial crisis, before heading south to visit US ideological foe Cuba. The Chinese President will also pay state visits to Greece, and Costa Rica; in Cuba will be meeting fellow Communist leader Raul Castro. Castro may be hoping for Chinese help to weather the global financial crisis, which has come as a painful blow to the small island nation, already reeling from two powerful hurricanes and soaring import prices (Reuters, 4/11/08).

November 4: Panama's ambassador in Havana, Luis Gómez, described current relations between the two nations as excellent. On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of his country's independence on November 3, Gómez compared current status of bilateral ties to those of the times of General Torrijos and Fidel Castro. The diplomat expressed that, in terms of cooperation, accords of mutual understanding have been signed in the fields of medicine, education, energy, sports, and science, and that another in the sphere of trade is in process (ACN, 3/11/08).

November 5: Brazil congratulated US president-elect Barack Obama, saying that "hope won out over prejudice" to hand the first black US president the key to the White House. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim compared Obama's win to the 2003 victory of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former union leader. Lula's leftist record was a great concern to traditional business interests. Amorim also said he hoped that Obama’s administration would improve ties with Latin America, "particularly decreasing tensions with Venezuela and Cuba" (AFP, 5/11/08).

November 5: Cuba’s ambassador to Angola, Pedro Ross, held talks with Angola’s new Prime Minister, Antonio Paulo Kassoma, whom he congratulated on his appointment. The exchange included an assessment of cooperation between the two countries since the visit to Cuba of President José Eduardo dos Santos in September 2007, the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s website reports. The two top officials spoke about current plans to increase bilateral support, especially in the fields of health, education, and construction (ACN, 6/11/08).

November 5: A high-level delegation of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) led by its President Huynh Dam is on a working visit to Cuba at the invitation of the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR). During talks with CDR Co-ordinator Juan Jose Rabilero, the leader of Vietnam’s largest mass organisation praised the brotherhood between the two nations and the two organisations, and expressed his admiration at the Cuban people’s steadfast revolutionary spirit to overcome difficulties caused by two hurricanes and the US economic blockade. The official thanked the Cuban people for their wholehearted support and assistance to the Vietnamese people during the wartime and affirmed Vietnam’s determination to reinforce the traditional rapport with Cuba (Nhan Dan, 6/11/08).

November 5: A delegation of the Socialist Workers Party of Spain (PSOE) arrived in Havana for an official visit at the invitation of the Central Committee of Cuba’s Communist Party (PCC). According to Granma news daily, the group is led by Jose Blanco Lopez, General Undersecretary of the PSOE. During their stay in Cuba, the visitors will meet with Government officials and PCC leaders. They will also visit places of economic, historic and social interest (ACN, 6/11/08).

November 6: Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque will pay a visit to Russia on November 8-12. According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko, Perez's visit will intensify the political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation.
"Perez plans to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and discus a wide variety of pressing world policy issues. The two men will consider the key issues of bilateral ties to synchronize the approaches to central modern problems," Nesterenko said. The senior Russian diplomat described Cuba as "a traditionally friendly nation and one of Russia's key partners in Latin America." "Cuba's authorities stand for the further strengthening of Russia's stance in world affairs and approve the intensive development of bilateral economic cooperation and the trustful political dialogue," he said. "The similarity of Russian and Cuban approaches to many world and regional problems and our countries' drive for active interaction within the framework of the United Nations are the basis for the constructive cooperation on a wide variety of issues," he said. "Cuba was one of the first to have backed Russia in connection with the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict and our efforts aimed at the settlement of the conflict in Transcaucasia," he said.
"Russia consistently works for normalizing the situation around Cuba and its re-integration into regional and world processes," Nesterenko said. According to Nesterenko, "much attention at the upcoming talks will be paid to the intensification of trade and economic ties." The ministers will discuss the opening of the Russian cultural and scientific center in Cuba. The news comes as Russia said it had approved up to $335 million in state loans to Cuba to buy Russian goods and services (Itar-Tass, Stratfor, 6/11/08).

November 6: The government of Guyana through the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) has donated six containers of rice to hurricane-ravaged Cuba. During a ceremonial handover, the Guyana Foreign Affairs Director General, Ambassador Elizabeth Harper, said Cuba had been a loyal ally to Guyana, providing numerous forms of aid and support for government initiatives through the years and, as such, she noted that the government felt it necessary to show its solidarity to the people of Cuba at this time of crisis. Cuban Charge d’Affairs, Pedro Arteaga Cardonas said that his country recognized that this was a big gesture on Guyana’s part and he expressed his government’s gratitude. He noted that Guyana has shared a strong diplomatic relationship with Cuba since 1972 and has signalled Cuba’s commitment to strengthening this drive. Cardonas also praised Guyana’s government for its support for ending the trade embargo against Cuba by the US (Caribbean Net News, 7/11/08).

November 6: The Solomon Islands government is believed to have accepted an offer by Iran to meet the travel costs for Solomon Islands medical students studying in Cuba, the daily Solomon Star reported. Iran’s offer to meet airfares and to provide computers for the students were agreed in talks in New York when Prime Minister Dr Derek Sikua was attending the United Nations General Assembly. Many of the students who were accepted for training in Cuba could not travel this year because of a shortage in funding. With the new funding source, more students will be on their way to Havana. The training of Solomon Islands medical students in Cuba was first initiated by the government of Manasseh Sogavares. Under the arrangement, the Solomon Islands government was to pay students travel costs to and from Cuba while the Havana government meets lodging and other internal costs. As part of the scheme, Cuban medical doctors would be sent to work in Solomon Islands hospitals. At least two are already working at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara (Pacnews, 6/11/08).

November 6: The deputy leader of Spain's governing Socialist Party held what he described as a "frank dialogue" in Havana with Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. Jose Blanco told journalists after a luncheon at the Foreign Ministry that he and the Cuban official discussed matters "of mutual interest for both countries." "It seems to me it was a very frank dialogue, though it cannot be doubted that we maintain some disagreements about some things. But it is in the ambit of private conversation, which is what we had," the Spaniard said during a stroll around Old Havana. Blanco traveled to Cuba at the invitation of Spanish businessmen taking part in the Havana International Fair, and he joined his compatriots at a dinner with two of Cuba's vice presidents, Jose Ramon Fernandez and Ricardo Cabrisas. But the visitor's first formal encounter with Cuban officials came when he went to the offices of the Communist Party Central Committee for talks with the party's head of international relations, Fernando Remirez de Estenoz. Blanco told the press that his conversations with Remirez centered on the changes launched this year by Cuban President Raul Castro, who is trying to energize the island's economy while preserving the Communist Party's monopoly on power (EFE, 6/11/08).

November 6: The Christian Democrat International (CDI) unanimously appointed Oswaldo Paya Sardiñas as its honorary vice-president, announced the Christian Liberation Movement (CLM). According to the opposition organization, the honor conferred upon Oswaldo Paya and, by extension, on Cuba constitutes an acknowledgement of the Cuban people at a time when the international community is hoping for a peaceful transition. Paya was grateful for the confidence in the Cuban Christian Democrats, perceived also as a responsibility. The CLM leader said that it was not just a personal distinction because it brought attention to the Christian humanist movement, inside and out of Cuba, “especially to our brothers who are imprisoned." Payá added that all the other opposition groups of the country were just as deserving of recognition. The CDI conference was held at Centro Fox, in Guanajuato, Mexico, where world political leaders debated the issue of effective humanism. Participants included presidents, prime ministers and parliamentary authorities seeking a new centrist politics approach based on human dignity and development (Cubaencuentro, 6/11/08).

November 6: In an exclusive interview with the local press, Iran's Deputy Minister for Americas Affairs, Alireza Salari regretted that bilateral relations between Cuba and Iran in the economic field have not reached the same level as the political relations. Alireza Salari, who is in Cuba attending the 2008 Havana International Trade Fair, described his first visit to Cuba and Latin America after occupying his current position five moths ago as excellent and he mentioned how educating it had been for him meeting with the Cuban leaders. "We have vast relationships in this continent, where we have very good relations with Cuba and Venezuela; we fully enjoy the best relationships on which my government confers great importance" said Salari on the relations between his country and the Latin American region. He added that, with the aid of the Iranian Embassy in Havana, and with all the knowledge it can provide to Iranian businesspeople on the economic situation of the Caribbean nation, the commercial exchange will increase exponentially in the next few years. Tourism was one of the main topics on the working agenda discussed between the Iranian official and Cuba's Foreign Affairs deputy minister Marcos Rodriguez. "We think tourism is a good source of income for Cuba and also a source of strengthening our relations" said Salari, who considers that health tourism from his country, especially in the form of tour groups will help Cuba to boost its tourist industry (ACN, 7/11/08).

November 7: Two Panamanian former government officials, ex Justice Minister Arnulfo Escalona and ex Police Chief Carlos Barés, will face trial for abuse of authority in releasing Luis Posada Carriles and three of his accomplices in 2004, after they were granted an anti-Constitutional pardon by former Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso. A note published by Granma news daily says that the top Panamanian anti-corruption prosecutor, Mercedes de León, announced that Panama’s 12th Criminal Court is also to bring charges against Javier Tapia, former deputy immigration minister, for having procured the illegal release on August 26, 2004, before the pardon was made public. Posada, Pedro Crispín Remón, Guillermo Novo Sampoll and Gaspar "Gasparito" Jiménez Escobedo were arrested in Panama on November 17, 2000. They were allegedly planning to blow up the capital’s university amphitheatre while Fidel Castro was speaking. Castro was in Panama at the time attending the 10th Ibero-American Summit (ACN, 6/11/08).

November 8: Cuba’s Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque arrived in Russia on an official visit at the request of his counterpart, Serguei Lavrov. Upon arriving in Moscow, Perez Roque told the press about how much Cuba appreciated Russia’s support in the fight to have the US put an end to the economic, financial and commercial blockade against the island, said Prensa Latina news agency. The Cuban Minister noted that he expects this visit to Russia will help strengthen economic ties up to the same level as political relations. Andrei Nesterenko, Russia’s Foreign Minister spokesperson said relations with Cuba are experiencing an increasing trend. He noted that since 1996, eight visits of the foreign ministers from both countries have taken place. Nesterenko announced that a meeting between the Russian First Vice-President, Igor Sechin, and the Cuban foreign minister has been scheduled. Sechin is the co-chairman of the Russia-Cuba top-level intergovernmental commission (ACN, 8/11/08).

November 8: Felix Gonzalez, Executive Secretary of the Cuba-Arab Countries Friendship Association and the official Cuban Friendship Institute, visited the Syrian Arab Republic and later the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In his one-week long visit to Syria, Gonzalez was received by the Minister of Information, Mohsen Bilal, along with Osama Adi, president of the Syria-Cuba Friendship Association, who is also a member of the Al Baas Party Regional Command. Meanwhile, Gonzalez met with the General Secretaries of the Workers and Farmers federations, as well as with a group of Syrians who graduated in Cuba headed by the Executive Secretary of the Syria-Cuba Friendship Association, the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry’s website reported (ACN, 8/11/08).

November 8: Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin met with Cuban President Raul Castro, Cuban media reported. It was Sechin's third trip to Cuba in the last three months, though this time he first stopped in Nicaragua and Venezuela and was accompanied by officials and businessmen. This visit was scheduled to last only a few hours during which Sechin attended a meeting on bilateral business, Russian officials told the press in Havana. The official Juventud Rebelde newspaper said the Russian official was on "a working visit" as part of "the intense process of development in relations between the two countries." Castro and Sechin conversed about matters of mutual interest and the current international situation, including the financial crisis, the paper reported. Sechin arrived in Havana on the same day that Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque began a visit to Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Juventud Rebelde said that Castro thanked Russia once again for the reconstruction aid it provided, just as Cuba was enduring its third hurricane of the year, Paloma, which made landfall during the night in the eastern part of the island (EFE, 9/11/08).

November 10: The European Commission issued a communiqué praising the Cuban Government’s response to the threat posed by Hurricane Paloma, which hit the eastern region of the country. In the note, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Assistance, Louis Michel, highly commended the efforts of the Cuban authorities that managed to evacuate more than one million people before hurricane Paloma made landfall in the town of Santa Cruz del Sur in Camaguey province. The
communiqué expresses the willingness of the European Commission to contribute with more emergency assistance to face the effects of hurricane Paloma “in solidarity with the people of Cuba, which have been seriously affected by three hurricanes in less than three months.” The European Commissioner has also been working with a technical commission that will visit Cuba in order to evaluate the existing needs in view of a potential increase of current EC assistance (ACN, 10/11/08).

November 10: Cuba's top diplomat in Toronto is confident his country will rebound from the ravages of four hurricanes that have battered the Spanish-speaking Caribbean nation since September. "We are a fighting people. We never surrender,'' Cuban Consul General Laureano Cardoso said while receiving a cash donation for hurricane rehabilitation work in Cuba. The presentation of a $1,327 cheque at the Consulate General of Grenada in Toronto was made by Allister Romain, the new chairman of the Toronto Support Group of the National Democratic Congress. Another $1,327 donation will be made shortly to the Haitian consular representative in Toronto to assist Haiti in its hurricane recovery efforts. The monies represent proceeds from donations collected at the first anniversary gala of NDC Toronto held September 27, and which was addressed by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas and Foreign Affairs and Tourism Minister Peter David (Caribbean Netnews, 12/11/08).

November 10: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque discussed prospects for bilateral trade and economic ties in Moscow. The sides stressed progress in developing Russian-Cuban relations, as well as cooperation in a number of other areas. The Russian government earlier announced it had approved a state loan to Cuba of up to $335 million to buy Russian goods and services. In 2007, trade between Russia and Cuba totaled about $300 million (RIA-Novosti, 10/11/08).

November 11: Cuban President Raul Castro will visit Russia next year, the Kremlin said, in a new sign that Moscow is reviving a Cold War-era trade and military alliance. Moscow also repeated calls for Washington to lift the economic embargo imposed on the Caribbean island in 1962 when Castro's brother, Communist revolutionary Fidel Castro, was in power. "Next year we await (…) Raul Castro in our country and this will be yet another contribution to the development of ties," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque in Moscow. "Your visit is yet more evidence that relations between Cuba and Russia are developing in a very dynamic way," Russian national TV showed Medvedev saying. Moscow was Havana's main benefactor during the Cold War but the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 dealt a heavy blow to Cuba's economy. Relations soured in the 1990s. Medvedev said the two countries had "overcome that pause" and contacts were now intense. Perez Roque handed Medvedev an invitation to visit Cuba, NTV television said. Perez Roque held talks with his Russian counterpart Serguei Lavrov during the last day of his official visit to Russia. Asked by a reporter whether he would advise US President-elect Barack Obama to scrap the embargo, Russian Foreign Minister Serguei Lavrov said: "We hope that the voice of the international community which has been heard in the United Nations yet again will of course be taken into account" (Reuters, ACN, 11/11/08).

November 11: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque thanked Moscow for a recent declaration passed by the Russian Duma (Parliament) demanding the release of the five Cubans who remain imprisoned in the United States. “We appreciate the solidarity of the Russian people and particularly the declaration approved by the Duma regarding this injustice against the Five,” Perez Roque told the press. As part of a two-day official visit to Russia, the Cuban diplomat met with the First Vice President of the Council of the Federation (Senate), Alexander Torshin, and by the Vice President of the Duma, Liubov Sliska (ACN, 11/11/08).

November 11: As Hurricane Paloma battered parts of Cuba and rescue teams searched for students and teachers trapped when a school collapsed in Haiti, Catholics on St. Kitts gave generously to their cause. The second collection during Saturday night of November 8 and Sunday morning mass will go towards the two Caribbean republics to assist them in the aftermath of recent hurricanes. Two weeks ago, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas presented a cheque for EC$100,000 to the Resident Cuban Ambassador to assist Cuba in its recovery (Office of the Prime Minister, 11/11/08).

November 11: Top Cuban and Ethiopian officials said relations between their countries are excellent, and spoke out in favour of their further diversification and expansion. Cuba's Deputy Foreign Minister, Marcos Rodríguez, and Ethiopia's Minister of State for Foreign Relations, Tekeda Alemu, met at the Foreign Office in Havana. During their conversation, Rodríguez made reference to the success of cooperation projects between Ethiopia and Cuba, in health and education among other sectors, which includes the training of young Ethiopians in Cuban universities. After expressing his satisfaction with his visit to Cuba, Alemu stressed the important role played by Cuban soldiers in the 1970's in the preservation of Ethiopia's territorial integrity and stability (ACN, 12/11/08).

November 11: Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos defended closer economic cooperation with Cuba before a hearing of his country’s senate in Madrid. Moratinos said he was in favour of better understanding between Cuba and Spain to continue improving commercial relations between business from the two countries. “Our approach is dialogue, trust, openness and a willingness to work with Cuban authorities— and we will maintain that stance,” Moratinos stressed (ACN, 11/12/08).

November 12: Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Li Jinzhang said that the Cuban people have the right to decide their own developing path. “That is why we have always supported their efforts to defend their national independence and sovereignty,” he added. In an interview published by Granma news daily, the Chinese official said that Cuba’s stability and development contributes to the well-being of its people and the prosperity of Latin America and the Caribbean. He expressed his country’s solidarity with Cuba for all the suffering and material losses caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike recently and expressed his confidence that, under the leadership of the Cuban Government, the Cuban people will overcome the consequences of these natural disasters (ACN, 12/11/08).

November 12: Phase two of the Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme has now turned its focus to the southern sections of Jamaica, paying special attention to cataracts, according to programme co-ordinator, Claudette Yeard. "The objective of phase two of the project is to reduce the prevalence of blindness. Cataract is one of the leading causes of blindness, therefore the aim is to find those persons with cataracts to have surgery to prevent blindness," Yeard told the Observer. "We have covered areas like Franfield Health Centre, Lionel Town, Mandeville Regional Hospital and now we are actually at Mile Gully. Since we have been in Mile Gully [in Manchester] we have selected over 66 cataract patients." The 66 patients were selected from 1,260 patients who were screened from October 13 to 31 in that community. Meanwhile, Yeard said 1,115 patients have received surgeries under the programme - which sees patients travelling to Cuba for surgery - since the beginning of the year. This brings to more than 5,000 the total number of Jamaicans that have received surgery since the programme started in 2005 (Jamaica Observer, 12/11/08).

November 12: Spain's secretary of state for Ibero-America, Trinidad Jimenez, said that her government is maintaining its contact with Cuban dissidents and that it has always been concerned about human rights and the situation of political prisoners in its dialogue with the Castro regime. Jimenez, at a breakfast forum, rejected the criticism of those who accuse the Spanish government of moving away from the Cuban opposition in favour of the Havana authorities. Her remarks came after the visit of Spanish Socialist Workers Party, or PSOE, deputy secretary-general Jose Blanco several days ago to Cuba, during which he did not meet with dissidents because, she said, nobody from that group came to him to ask to speak to him, despite his having said that he was "open to dialogue." "We have always maintained contact (with the dissidents) and it has been visible on many occasions," the Spaniard said. She said that it was possible to make advances in the dialogue with the regime and, at the same time, to put forward proposals in favour of the opposition through the mechanism on human rights agreed to when Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos vited Havana in April 2007. Jimenez insisted that Madrid's aim is to defend all of Cuban society, including dissidents, and to act with "discretion" in that area (EFE, 12/11/08).

November 12: Cuba presented a new book by Fidel Castro, who has not appeared in public since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006 but who authorities claim spent more than 400 hours working on the manuscript. "La Paz en Colombia," or "Peace in Colombia," explores Cuba's role in attempts to end Colombia's civil war, which has raged for more than four decades. The 265-page book was presented during a Havana ceremony that Castro did not attend, though one of his sons was there, as was Ricardo Alarcon, head of the country's rubber-stamp parliament. Several rounds of peace talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army, Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group, were held in Havana but did not lead to any major agreements. Castro’s latest book contains documents pertaining to Colombia's peace process, as well as Castro's memories of the country. It includes the ex-president's musings on a number of topics, including his opinion that Colombia's problems with cocaine and heroin production and smuggling have been caused solely by demand for drugs on US streets. Speaking at the ceremony, Jose Arbezu head of the island's Communist Party's Americas Department, scoffed at the notion that Cuba had armed Colombian rebels in decades past, even though the island was known to have supported leftist causes around the region. Culture Minister Abriel Prieto called Castro's latest book a "tribute" to Manuel Marulanda, co-founder of Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, who died of a reported heart attack in March.
In addition to its publication in hard copy, the book will be offered electronically on Cubadebate, a Web site that Castro uses to post his essays (AP, 12/11/08).

November 13: Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque expressed in Moscow his satisfaction for delivering a message of gratitude, friendship and respect from the Cuban people to the people of Russia. Minutes before leaving Moscow after a four-day official visit, Perez Roque also expressed his satisfaction for the excellent welcome he received from the Russian authorities. During his visit to Moscow, the Cuban diplomat met with high-ranking government officials such as President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin. He added that during his meeting with his Russian counterpart, Serguei Lavrov, they confirmed a common interest in further developing bilateral relations. At the end of the official talks, Perez Roque and Lavrov signed a Joint Declaration and a plan for political consultations between the foreign ministries of both countries (ACN, 13/11/08).

November 13: Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that US president-elect, Barack Obama, has the authority and the political power to change relations between his country and Cuba, as well as to lift the embargo on Cuba. During a press conference in Italy, Lula pointed out that 185 countries had passed a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly requesting the U.S to end the embargo on Cuba. He added that this was not the first time it happened, although this time he was certain that the new U.S president would hear the call and take significant action. "Lifting an already pointless embargo is the first step towards a transition in the island, the Cold War is over and the Berlin wall has been knocked down," he added (Notimex, 13/11/08).

November 13: The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Guinea, Amadou Lamarana Bah, arrived in Cuba for an official visit at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque. During his stay in Cuba, Lamarana Bah will hold official talks with Perez Roque and with other government leaders (ACN, 13/11/08).

November 13: The government of India donated two million US dollars to Cuba to help the Caribbean nation’s efforts to recover from the devastation caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which left thousands of houses destroyed and significant economic losses last September. The donation was made by the Indian ambassador in Havana, Mitra Vasisht, during a meeting with Ramon Ripoll, the Cuban First Deputy Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC). According to Granma news daily, also present in the meeting were Alberto Blanco, head of the Asia and Oceania Department at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, as well as other Cuban and Indian officials (ACN, 13/11/08).

November 14: Cuba is celebrating its entry into the Rio Group of Latin American nations as an example of futile US efforts to isolate the island nation. Cuba became a full Rio Group member at a foreign ministers meeting in Zacatecas, Mexico. Now it says it will work to get other Caribbean nations to join. Cuba thanked the member countries for their support in an editorial published in the Communist Party daily Granma. The Rio Group was founded in December 1986, coming out of the Contadora Group and the Contadora Support Group, related to the effort to bring peace to Central America. It has held 20 summits and four times increased its membership to all Latin American countries except Cuba (Declaración del Gobierno Revolucionario; AP, ACN, 14/11/08).

November 14: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit Cuba, as well as Venezuela and Brazil, after attending the November 22-23 APEC summit in Peru, a presidential spokeswoman said. "The big Latin American tour is connected with the APEC summit in Lima, after which the president will visit Venezuela, Brazil and Cuba," Natalya Timakova said. An invitation to visit Cuba from President Raul Castro was given to Medvedev by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who visited Moscow recently (RIA-Novosti, 14/11/08). 

November 14: Amadou Lamarana Bah and Felipe Perez Roque, Guinea Conakry and Cuba Foreign Ministers, respectively, met in Havana. The two Chancellors met at the building hosting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Havana for official talks, when they went through the developments of the bonds between their countries, which established diplomatic relations August 30th 1960. Perez Roque recalled that Guinea Conakry was the first African country to have diplomatic relations with the Cuban Revolution, and reiterated the willingness of the Caribbean nation to strengthen the ties with the African country. Meanwhile Lamarana Bah expressed his condolences for the damages Cuba suffered by the passing of the three hurricanes that battered the Caribbean nation recently. Over 800 Guinean students have graduated in Cuba, 674 from higher education centres, while there are almost a hundred young Guineans studying in Cuba at the moment. Also there are 17 Cuban health professionals and 4 construction advisors cooperating with the African country (ACN, 15/11/08).

November 14: Spain and Japan have contributed to the United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) fund to help compensate the damage caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Sonsoles Ruedas, WFP's representative in Cuba, told the press that the Spanish government has donated through its International Cooperation Agency for Development, one million euros. Meanwhile, the Japanese government contributed with 800,000 dollars to the programme (ACN, 15/11/08).

November 14: Twenty-nine undocumented Cuban migrants traveling in a flimsy boat were intercepted near a small island off the coast of this Caribbean resort city, the Mexican navy said. The Cubans were coasting with the boat's lights off when they were surprised by a navy patrol 19 nautical miles from Isla Mujeres. Doctors at a naval station on Isla Mujeres said the migrants - 24 men, four women and a child - were in good health, aside from slight signs of dehydration. The group was then turned over to immigration authorities. The Cubans told the sailors their boat ran out of fuel and that the currents propelled them toward the Mexican coast. Mexico and Cuba signed an accord last month under which Havana agreed to take back all undocumented Cubans detained by Mexican authorities (EFE, 14/11/08).

November 15: The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Príncipe, Joaquim Rafael Branco, arrived in Cuba. This visit will contribute to strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the governments and people of Cuba and Sao Tome and Príncipe (ACN, 15/11/08).

November 15: An official with Cuba's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit would have "a historic significance." The Cuban government has attached importance to President Hu's visit, which would help solidify the long-standing friendship between the two countries, said Alberto Blanco Silva, director of the ministry's Asia and Oceania Division, in an interview with Xinhua in Havana. The Chinese president will pay a visit to the Caribbean country from November 17 to November 19 after his participation in the G20 summit in Washington. The Cuban diplomat said the relationship between the two countries was "splendid" and based on continuous contacts between high-ranking officials as well as mutual support on international issues. Cuban leader Fidel Castro had paid much attention to the bilateral relationship, Blanco Silva added (Xinhua, 15/11/08).

November 16: China's President Hu Jintao travels to Cuba for a close-up look at the government of new President Raul Castro, a fellow communist struggling to lead his island nation through the devastating effects of three hurricanes and the international financial crisis. Hu visited Cuba in 2004 to oversee the signing of 16 cooperation agreements and was expected to sign more on the economy, trade, education and other areas during his two-day stop, the Chinese government said. Hu, who attended the Group of 20 global economy summit in Washington, was to stop in Costa Rica before starting his two-day visit to Cuba. He will go to Peru later in the week for the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, then on to Greece. Cuba's economy was still suffering from the demise of the Soviet Union during Hu's last visit but has rebounded largely due to integration with oil-rich Venezuela and Chinese loans. China is now Cuba's largest trading partner after Venezuela at $2.3 billion in 2007 -- four times what it was in 2004 -- despite stark differences in their economic policies and little direct Chinese investment. "Cuba is indispensable for China in its bid to strengthen links with Latin American and the Caribbean countries," the Chinese ambassador to Cuba, Zhao Rongxian Zhao, said of Hu's visit in an interview with China's Xinhua news agency (Reuters, 16/11/08).

November 17: A group of 25 Solomon Islands High School graduates are on their way to Cuba to join another 25 already there studying to become doctors. The airfares of this second group are expected to be paid for by Iran. Solomon Islands under-secretary for healthcare, Dr Cedric Alependava, has told Radio Australia the country needs a lot more trained doctors. "Actually there are 60 doctors serving in Solomon Islands and one doctor serving roughly 9,000 people and the benchmark which WHO requires a country to have in ratio to population is one to 500" (Radio Australia, 17/11/08).

November 17: Cuban President Raul Castro greeted visiting Sao Tome and Principe’s Prime Minister Joaquim Rafael Branco, who arrived in Cuba for an official visit. According to Granma news daily, earlier the African leader was officially welcomed by First VP Jose Ramon Machado Ventura at the Revolution Palace. During this meeting, Machado Ventura expressed his satisfaction at Branco’s visit while the distinguished visitor thanked the Cuban government and people for their assistance to Sao Tome and Principe, particularly in the fields of health and education. The Sao Tome and Principe delegation includes Education and Culture Minister Jorge Bonjesus; Benjamin Vera Cruz, Minister of Public Works, Infrastructure, Transportation and Communications; and Ana Paula Alvin, Coordinator of Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Business, Cooperation and Communities (ACN, 18/11/08).

November 17: The Chinese government delivered a humanitarian cargo for the victims of hurricanes that recently hit the Caribbean nation. The cargo arrived in Havana in the same Air China aircraft that brought Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is on a two-day official visit to Cuba. Chinese Trade Minister Chen Deming and Cuba’s Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Rodrigo Malmierca presided over the official ceremony of the donation delivery at one of the protocol halls of the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. Deming expressed the solidarity of the Chinese people with Cuba and recalled that his country had already donated $1.3 million in cash aid to help Cuba recover from the damages caused by the hurricanes. He added that China will also give Cuba construction materials for the reconstruction of houses. For his part, Malmierca thanked the Chinese official for their friendship and said that Hu Jintao’s visit will further strengthen bilateral ties (ACN, 18/11/08).

November 18: Chinese President Hu Jintao was on a triumphant tour through Havana as his country expanded its already extensive economic relationship with the communist-run island. Hu laid a wreath at a monument to Cuban independence hero Jose Marti a day after he arrived in Havana as part of a Latin American tour to build China's political and investment ties in the resource-rich region. Hu, who was accompanied by a large delegation of Chinese businessmen, was met at Havana’s international airport by First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and a throng of chanting Chinese residents of Cuba, who waved tiny Cuban and Chinese flags. A Cuban youth troupe performed a traditional dragon dance on the tarmac. Hu also visited Cuba in 2004, when he met with Fidel Castro, who retired early this year due to ill health and was succeeded by his younger brother Raul. China has transformed its economy by embracing market reforms even as its Communist Party has maintained strict control over politics. Raul Castro is said to be an admirer of the Chinese economic reform model, though top Cuban officials have said they have no interest in implementing such policies in this country (AP, 18/11/08).

November 18: Cuban President Raul Castro presided over the official welcoming ceremony to China’s head of state Hu Jintao, after which the two government leaders held talks. Hu Jintao, who arrived in Havana on his second official visit, was honored by the air, land and sea military forces in correspondence to his position as head of state. Present at the ceremony were Cuban First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura; other Cuban Vice-Presidents Esteban Lazo, Carlos Lage and Ricardo Cabrisas; and the head of international relations of the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee, Fernando Remírez de Estenoz. Cuban Foreign Relations Minister Felipe Perez Roque, and the island’s ambassador to China Carlos Manuel Pereira, also participated in the
ceremony (ACN, 18/11/08).

November 18: China's President Hu Jintao accompanied President Raul Castro on a visit to a school for Chinese students, where the Cuban leader sang snippets of a song in Chinese praising late Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong. "I learned to be a student like you, young like you and will remain so all my life," Castro told Hu and 300 Chinese students in the town of Tarara, east of Havana. During the ceremony, President Hu thanked the Cuban authorities for supporting young Chinese students in Cuba, noting that by 2011, some 5,000 Chinese will have learned Spanish in Cuba since the inception in 2006 of the exchange program which he called a "sign of friendship and cooperation ... between the Cuban people and the Chinese people." During his 36-hour visit -- his first to Cuba since 2004 -- Hu also visited convalescing former president Fidel Castro, 82. The Chinese leader held a "long conversation" with the former Cuban leader and described finding Castro "very recovered," according to the Chinese official Xinhua news agency. The two appeared in a picture published on the website (AFP, 19/11/08).

November 18: Raul Castro's first official trip abroad since assuming Cuba's presidency will be to Venezuela. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he received a letter from Castro and will announce the date of the Cuban leader's visit soon. Chavez said that the visit could take place within days, adding that he was pleased Castro had chosen Venezuela over Brazil, China, Russia and other countries as his first destination abroad. Chavez has long been a close ally of former Cuban president Fidel Castro (AP, 18/11/08).

November 19: Chinese President Hu Jintao concluded his state visit to Cuba and left for Lima, Peru to continue his five-nation trip, in which he will attend the Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Organization (APEC) scheduled for November 22-23. This was President Hu's second state visit to the Latin American country since his first in November 2004. In Havana, Hu held talks with Raul Castro, president of the Council of the State of Cuba, on expanding friendly and cooperative bilateral relations. The two countries also signed documents of cooperation in the economic and educational sectors in a ceremony witnessed by both Hu and Castro. China and Cuba set up diplomatic ties in 1960. In recent years, the two countries have maintained frequent high-level visits, deepened mutual trust and expanded trade and economic cooperation (Xinhua, 19/11/08).

November 19: Brazil will offer Cuba financial aid for industry, energy and infrastructure projects during a December visit by President Raul Castro, a senior government official said. "We'll discuss the production of buses, building roads, as well as oil investments," Marco Aurelio Garcia, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's foreign policy adviser, told the press. Brazil's state development bank, BNDES, was looking at ways to finance the projects, despite the global financial crisis, he said. "There's always money to export services," Garcia said in reference to a government line of credit to export Brazilian goods and services. Castro will participate in a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Salvador de Bahia on December 16 and subsequently visit the capital Brasilia. "He is coming, it's confirmed," Garcia said (Reuters, 19/11/08).

November 19: Aleida Guevara, daughter of legendary guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara, visited Amr Moussa, general secretary of the League of Arab States, in Egypt. Moussa talked with Guevara, at the building hosting the pan Arab organization in Cairo, as part of a courtesy visit, before the Cuban participated in a meeting with several diplomats organized by the Egypt-Latin America Friendship association. Guevara was the guest of host Mona Shazly, at the “10 PM” TV program, who interviewed her about his father’s life and the ideas he defended, reported Prensa Latina news agency (ACN, 19/11/08).

November 20: The President of the Saint Lucia-Cuba Friendship Association, Rawle Harvey, presented a donation of materials sent from that country to Cuba, to help in the recovery from the damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav, Ike, and more recently by Paloma. The materials valued at 26,000 US dollars were donated by Saint Lucian non-governmental organizations, charity associations, and different companies, according to the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry. The donation, sent by plane, includes clothing, shoes, food, construction tools and two power generators. A second similar shipment is expected to be sent in the coming days (ACN, 20/11/08).

November 20: The Uruguayan government revoked the temporary work permit it had given to a Cuban ophthalmologist who walked away from a Havana-run program and expressed his desire to settle in Montevideo, authorities said. Dr. Vladimir Villamil Martinez, the former vice president of the national department of ocular plastic surgery at Cuba's Ramon Pando Ferrer Institute of Ophthalmology, had been - until last month - part of the group of Cuban eye doctors who are participating in Operation Miracle. That program, which was established with the signing of an agreement between the Cuban and Uruguayan governments, is being carried out by the Cuban doctors who in recent months have operated on hundreds of Uruguayans. The Cuban doctor stopped participating in the program and announced his desire to settle in Uruguay to practice his profession. The Public Health Ministry then resolved that Villamil's temporary license to practice medicine was to be revoked because the authorization "referred exclusively to the (specific) program." "Therefore, he will not be able to engage in private practice or (in) any other type of paid activity," the resolution stated (EFE, 20/11/08).

November 21: The 3rd Cuba-CARICOM Summit will take place on December 8 in Santiago de Cuba to analyze vital topics for both sides, including the agreements signed in previous meetings. Heads of state and government from the countries of the Caribbean
Community will take part in this summit that was previously held in Havana, in 2002, and in Bridgetown, in 2005. It is also expected that the discussions will be attended by other CARICOM authorities and representatives from the Organization of Eastern
Caribbean States (OECS) and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) (ACN, 21/11/08).

November 21: Venezuelan citizens and institutions have donated more than four million dollars to Cuba to help in the ongoing recovery efforts after the devastation caused by three hurricanes in recent weeks. During a meeting with Cuban journalists in Caracas, Ruben Ramos, economic counselor at the Cuban embassy in Venezuela, said that the donation, in cash and materials, is an expression of the unselfishness, solidarity and humanist spirit of the Venezuelan people. Ramos explained that the donation has allowed them to buy 100 tons of powder milk, 100 tons of rice, 77 tons of pasta, 45.2 tons of sardines and 60 tons of other foodstuffs. The Cuban official said that part of this donation is already in Cuba or on its way to Cuba and part is in Venezuelan warehouses along with 30 tons of personal hygiene products, 7,000 mattresses, 9,000 pillows, and 7,000 packages of diapers (ACN, 21/11/08).

November 21: The people of Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) thanked a group of power line workers from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines who have been helping in the reestablishment of the electrical system in the area, which was severely damaged by hurricane Gustav. Michael Briwstia, an expert with the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’s state electricity company, said his government decided to send the five electrical workers to Cuba as a solidarity gesture to Cuba and to honour the friendship between the two Caribbean nations. Briwstia noted that Cuba had sent construction workers to his country to help finish the international airport of Argyle, which was inaugurated last July 17; he said, “now we are here setting lamps and replacing power lines for the public lighting,” he said, as quoted by Granma newspaper (ACN, 21/11/08).

November 22: Cuban Ambassador to Islamabad, Gustavo Machine Gomez, offered Pakistan technology of filling capsules with vaccine of Hepatitis B and Interferon which can be supplied to Pakistan in bulk. In conversation with Pakistan’s Minister for Health, Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakharani, the Ambassador said Hepatitis B Vaccine can be made available if a formal request is made to the Cuban Government after the approval of the Cabinet and Joint Economic Commission of Cuba and Pakistan. He also offered other vaccines like Pentavalant Vaccine. He apprised the Minister that the Cuban Government has offered 1,000 scholarships for Pakistani students. Presently there are 956 Pakistanis studying in various medical colleges in Cuba. During the meeting both discussed matters including expansion of cooperation between the two countries in the field of Medical Education, Public Health especially Primary Health Care and the supply of Hepatitis-B Vaccine (PPI, 22/11/08).

November 24: The Chilean president Michelle Bachelet will travel to Cuba in February 2009, to attend the 18th International Book Fair of Havana where she is scheduled to deliver the opening remarks. The president officially confirmed her attendance two weeks ago and will be open the literary event, which will be honouring Chile (La Tercera, 24/11/08).

November 24: Cuba will be participating in the first Iberian American design biennial that opens in Madrid, Spain, with ten works by Cuban designers. Among the design projects proposed by the island are the campaign "Cuba vs. Blockade 2008," made by the Creative Group of the Cuban Council of State. There are also four posters by young designers, a ceramic collection named "Tropics", and a textile exhibit named after the Cuban national bird "Tocororo", among others. The most important works submitted to the biennial, 316 projects made over the last 20 years by 250 designers in total, are going to be displayed in a big exhibit featuring a wide range of design disciplines including interiors, industrial, fashion, textiles and digital (ACN, 24/11/08).

November 24: The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade from the Republic of Mauritius, Arvin Bollel, highlighted in that nation’s capital the excellent ties existing between his country and Cuba. The Chancellor met with Cosme Torres, Cuba’s ambassador to that island located in the southwest of the Indian Ocean. Bollel declared himself to be in favour of the strengthening of bilateral economic ties, particularly in the tourism sector, the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s website reports (ACN, 24/11/08).

November 24: The Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa, began an official visit to Havana at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque. According to Granma news daily, Kenneth Tsekoa heads the delegation from his country to the 5th Cuba-Lesotho Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation that will take place in the Cuban capital until November 27 (ACN, 24/11/08).

November 24: A night of Cuban salsa was organized in Castries, Saint Lucia, to collect funds to alleviate the damage caused to Cuba by hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma. The cultural activity, convened by the Saint Lucia- Cuba Friendship Association, was held at the Spinach recreational centre, and was attended by more than 200 people, members of Solidarity-with-Cuba organizations, friends and Saint Lucians who have graduated in Cuba, along with Cuban volunteer workers in that nation and Cuban residents there (ACN, 24/11/08).
 
November 24: Foreign Ministers Felipe Perez Roque, of Cuba, and Mohlabi Kenneth Tsekoa, of Lesotho, expressed their governments´ willingness to further strengthen bilateral cooperation relations. During official talks at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Felipe Perez Roque thanked the African nation for its solidarity and friendship, and its permanent and firm attitude at the United Nations in favour of the lifting of the US economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba. Meanwhile, Kenneth Tsekoa passed on the kind regards sent by King Letsie III to the Cubans authorities, and he also offered his condolences for the damages inflicted on the Caribbean nation by three recent hurricanes. The African top government official highlighted his government’s
interest in intensifying mutual collaboration, particularly in the fields of health care and sports (ACN, 24/11/08).

November 24: The Non Aligned Movement (NAM), which is currently chaired by Cuba, issued a call urging Israel to put an end to its occupation of Palestinian territories. According to Prensa Latina news agency, the call is included in a message from Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque that was circulated at the United Nations by Paul Badji, President of the Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. “The Non Aligned Movement deeply regrets the suffering of the
Palestinian people due to the brutal and prolonged Israeli military occupation. NAM also rejects the violation of their inalienable rights and asks for the return of refugees to their homes,” the message reads (ACN, 25/11/08).

November 25: Cuba’s deputy Foreign Minister, Yiliam Jiménez, is heading the delegation that will participate in the 1st Meeting of the Cuba-East Timor Intergovernmental Commission, which will be held in East Timor. The delegation is also made up by Foreign Ministry official Héctor Herrera, and by a specialist with the Ministry for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, Beatriz Borges, the Cuban Foreign Ministry’s website reported. Upon its arrival at the Nicolau Lobato airport, the Cuban delegation was received by Health Minister Nelson Martins, officials from that ministry, from those of Education and Foreign Business, and other governmental and parliamentarian representatives (ACN, 25/11/08).

November 25: Artists from the Corazón Adentro Cultural Mission in Venezuela have multiplied their actions these days, after offering their art to hundreds of people evacuated in Caracas due to heavy rains. Like their fellow countrymen on the archipelago after the passage of three hurricanes, Cuban actors, musicians, dancers, painters, and art instructors, now on Bolivarian land, went to evacuation centres to bring the evacuees spirituality and art. A specialist with the Cuban Culture Ministry in that South American nation, Ana María Pellón, told the press that artists are devoting themselves with love, selflessness and solidarity to this Mission. Corazón Adentro is one of the programs of the Bolivarian Alternative for The Americas (ALBA) now underway in Venezuela since April, and is aimed at bringing culture to the poor and the needy, in places where art had never been seen before (ACN, 25/11/08).

November 25: Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo Hernandez met with a delegation from the German party The Left, currently visiting the Caribbean nation and headed by its co-president, Lothar Bisky. According to Granma news daily, the Cuban VP thanked The Left for their solidarity with Cuba in front of the permanent hostility of the US administration and their rejection of the economic blockade of the Caribbean nation. Lazo also recognized the support Cuba has received from The Left to recover from the damages caused recently by hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma (ACN, 25/11/08).

November 25: The Supreme Court of Panama began a trial against two Panamanian former government officials for abuse of authority in releasing Luis Posada Carriles and three of his accomplices in 2004, after they were granted an anti-Constitutional pardon by former Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso. The defendants are ex Justice Minister Arnulfo Escalona and ex Police Chief Carlos Barés, who held their posts during the administration of Moscoso (1999-2004). Posada, Pedro Crispín Remón, Guillermo Novo Sampoll and Gaspar "Gasparito" Jiménez Escobedo were arrested in Panama on November 17, 2000, as they were planning to blow up the capital’s university amphitheater where Fidel Castro, who was attending the Ibero-American Summit there, was supposed to speak (ACN, 25/11/08).

November 26: In the coming five years, Angola will benefit annually from 200 new scholarships offered by the Cuban government, under the existing co-operation agreement between the two countries, in the domain of education. Half of this number will be designed for the area of Health Sciences. This was announced in Luanda, during the first working meeting of the Cuban minister of Higher Education, Juan Vela Váldés, with officials of Angola's State Department for Higher Education. Vela Váldés, who is in Luanda for a four-day visit to Angola, said the meeting serves to assess the work done since the signing of the co-operation protocol, in 2007, that aims at reinforcing the presence of Cuban teachers in the country. The accord also aims at increasing the number of scholarships for Angolan students in the coming five years in the domains of health, pedagogy, engineering, natural sciences and cattle breeding. "We will also grant scholarships at the level of post-graduation, Master's degree, and Doctorate", said the Vela Valdes, adding that the implementation of the project starts in 2009 (ANGOP, 26/11/08).

November 26: Ricardo Cabrisas, Vice President of the Council of Ministers, heads the Cuban delegation to the Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas-Peoples’ Free Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) that takes place in Caracas, Venezuela. According to Granma news daily, the Cuban delegation is comprised of Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation; Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Osvaldo Martinez Martinez, President of the Commission of Economic Affairs of the Cuban Parliament. The group also includes other vice ministers and government officials. Participants in the summit will analyze the current world economic crisis, its effects and possible ways to reduce its impact by ALBA member states (ACN, 26/11/08).

November 26: The Alba trade bloc, formed by Venezuela as an alternative to a US-backed hemispheric free trade area, is considering the creation of a single “monetary zone” to strengthen member economies amid a global slowdown. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said a common currency may help increase trade among Latin American countries, and criticized the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations for failing to listen to poorer countries. “We’re not going to wait here with our arms crossed for the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund to come and solve the problems that this great threat unleashed on the world,” Chavez said at the beginning of an Alba summit in Caracas to discuss the world economy. Representatives from Alba members including Nicaragua, Cuba, Honduras, Bolivia and Dominica attended the meeting at the presidential palace in Caracas. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, which isn’t a full Alba member, also attended. The Vice President of the Cuban Council of Ministers, Ricardo Cabrisas, who headed the Cuban delegation to the summit, defended the validity of Latin American integration. Cabrisas said that regional integration is essential in these times of crisis and recalled that Fidel Castro predicted this situation a decade ago when he said that the world economy could not continue working as a casino for speculators. According to Prensa Latina, Cabrisas added that the situation is more serious now because it is associated with food and energy shortages and the worsening of social conflicts (Intervención de Cabrisas ante la Cumbre del ALBA; Reuters, ACN, 27/11/08).

November 26: Equatorial Guinea's Foreign Minister Pastor Micha Ondo Bile told his Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque he was honoured to be in Cuba representing his government and people, and expressed his country's willingness to continue giving the Cuban people both material and moral support.  Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque held official talks with Ondo Bile at the Cuban Foreign Ministry. My nation is committed to deepening the friendship bonds with Cuba, said Ondo Bile, and added that it will continue supporting the island through hard moments and at any world forum. Cuban President Raul Castro greeted Ondo Bile, accompanied by Vice President and Commander of the Revolution Juan Almeida Bosque. During their meeting, Raul asked the visitor to deliver his best wishes and a message of gratitude from the Cuban people to President Teodoro Obiang and to the people of his country for their solidarity and contribution to the Cuban efforts to recover from the damages caused recently by hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma (ACN, 27/11/08).

November 26: Cuba and the European Union agreed on up to 30 million euros for rebuilding areas damaged by hurricanes and other projects in a step to restore aid suspended five years ago in a row over human rights. The EU imposed diplomatic sanctions in 2003 after Cuba jailed 75 opponents of the Communist-led government, but in June lifted them to encourage reform after Raul Castro replaced his brother Fidel as president. "Cuba and the European Union now have a political dialogue that is going to produce results," said Stefano Manservisi, EU director general for development, after signing the agreement. "This is just the first point (…) let's organize a number of other initiatives together, including to speak freely and frankly about human rights, about freedom here and elsewhere," he told reporters in Havana. The accord calls for 25 to 30 million euros ($32 to $38 million) next year for rehabilitation, environment, food and cultural projects, said Ricardo Guerrero Blanco, deputy minister for foreign investment and economic cooperation. Cuba has said it will not allow EU interference in domestic affairs, but has agreed to reinstate official political dialogue that was one of the casualties of the EU sanctions. The Cuban government denies holding political prisoners and labels its opponents mercenaries working for the United States, which openly supports dissent. Around 55 of those jailed in 2003 are still behind bars (Reuters, 26/11/08).

November 27: About 60 Barbadians could be flying to Cuba in January for eye operations. And if all goes well, Cuba could soon be helping diabetics avoid amputations. The news for hundreds of victims of diabetes and eye diseases, several of them elderly, came from Cuba's Ambassador to Barbados, Pedro Garcia Roque. He said during a press conference at the embassy, that the first group of Barbadians to benefit from Cuba's "Operation Miracle", a free eye surgery project was expected to fly out in January. As many as 60 of about 400 people with eye problems registered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) could be in that group, he reported. He said the plan was to treat all 400 free of cost, along with other Barbadians suffering from eye diseases. In the case of the elderly, Cuba was prepared to allow a companion on the free flight and also to treat the patient's minor health problems during the stay, the ambassador said. He also stated Cuba was looking to help Barbados and other CARICOM countries tackle the high rate of leg amputation due to complications from diabetes (Nation.News, 28/11/08).

November 27: About 1,000 Angolan students will be trained in Cuban in the coming five years. This was announced in central Huambo province by the secretary of State for Higher Education, Adão do Nascimento. The official was speaking at the end of a visit he paid to the province, in the company of the Cuban minister of Higher Education, Juan Vela Valdês, adding that a total of 200 students will be sent to that Latin American country every year. Of that figure, he explained, more than half will train in health sciences. According to Adão do Nascimento, the visit to Angola of the Cuban official is meant to survey the intentions of the two institutions concerning the accords signed in 2007, in Cuba, between the presidents of both countries. He said the visit is also meant to reinforce existing cooperation between the institutions and to create new courses in medicine in the provinces of Huambo, Huíla and Malanje and strengthen existing cooperation in the provinces of Benguela and Cabinda. The reinforcement of higher education staff, the opening of new higher programmes in various areas of technology, are also part of the results expected from the visit of the Cuban officials (Angop, 28/11/08).

November 27: Equatorial Guinea's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Micha Ondo Bile, handed over to Cuba's Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Minister Rodrigo Malmierca a two-million euro donation to support recovery actions in the Caribbean nation after the passage of the most recent hurricanes. In statements to reporters, the African foreign minister said the donation was made on behalf of Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang, his government and people, who are deeply grateful to the solidarity they have received from Cuba. Ondo Bile recalled that over 200 Cuban professionals are currently offering their services in Equatorial Guinea, in the fields of health, education, energy and environment; while a similar number of youths from his country are taking different courses in Cuban education (ACN, 28/11/08).

November 27: Visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Cuban President Raul Castro seeking to forge closer ties with the former Soviet Union's Cold War ally, on the last leg of a tour to boost Russia's reach in Latin America. Not long after arriving in Havana from Venezuela, Medvedev held two rounds of official talks -- one private and one between the two countries' delegations -- at the imposing Palace of the Revolution. Then the Cuban president, who maintains a low public profile, and Medvedev paid a visit to the new Russian Orthodox cathedral in colonial Old Havana, with bells tolling and security tight. Medvedev is only the second Russian president to travel to Cuba after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to a decade of distant relations broken by a visit by former president Vladimir Putin in 2000. But Putin's decision to close a Russian spy base in Lourdes, south of Havana, in 2001, created a new chill in relations that lasted until 2007, when Moscow showed a new interest in Latin America. Medvedev's visit follows an accelerated process of reconciliation, including new deals on military, energy, telecommunications and transport ties. Talks with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro focused on the extraction and processing of hydrocarbons and nickel, Vesti reported. “This is not just a fact-finding trip,” Medvedev said. “This is a serious geopolitical decision. We will develop relations with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Medvedev said he was “satisfied” with energy talks held during his visits to Peru, Brazil and Venezuela, before coming to Cuba (AFP, Bloomberg, 27/11/08).

November 28: Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz described Dimitri Medvedev's working visit to Cuba as excellent. "It has been a good visit, a wonderful one, and he (Medvedev) is heading to see Fidel (Castro Ruz) now," Raul told reporters. Raul Castro accompanied the Russian president at a ceremony in honour to soldiers from the former Soviet Union who died in Cuba for different reasons while performing their duties. The mausoleum, located in the west of Havana, was built three decades ago and bears the remains
of 67 Soviet soldiers. Participating in the ceremony were Cuban Vice President of the Council of Ministers, Ricardo Cabrisas; Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, and the Minister for Foreign Investment and Economic Collaboration, Rodrigo Malmierca. The Russian ambassador to Cuba Mikhail L. Kamynin also participated in the ceremony (ACN, 28/11/08).

November 28: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met former Cuban leader Fidel Castro as Moscow rebuilt ties with its Cold War ally during a trip to expand its political and economic reach in Latin America. The talk with Castro came at the end of Medvedev's visit to the island. No photographs or television images were immediately available of Castro's meeting with Medvedev, but the two men talked for more than an hour, the Kremlin said. "I explained our patient and pacifist position while making clear our defensive capability," Fidel Castro said in an essay posted on the government website Cubadebate. "No country understands this policy better than Russia, which is constantly threatened by the same enemy of peace." Castro said China, Russia and OPEC-member Venezuela are now the three pillars of trade for Cuba. Moscow was Havana's main benefactor during the Cold War but the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union battered Cuba's economy. Ties soured further after then-President Vladimir Putin closed Russia's Lourdes intelligence base on the island in 2001 (Dimitri A. Medvedev; Reuters, 28/11/08).

November 28: In statements to reporters before leaving Cuba from the Juan Gualberto Gomez International Airport in the locality of Varadero, Medvedev said he was very pleased and happy with his visit and with the meetings he held with Cuban authorities; such talks served to outline upcoming joint work by both countries, he said. Dimitri Medvedev said that a new bilateral accord will be waiting for President Raul Castro when he visits Russia in 2009. Present at the Juan Gualberto Gomez International Airport were Cuba’s First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura; the president of the Matanzas Provincial Peoples Assembly Nilo Diaz Fundora and other local authorities (ACN, 28/11/08).

November 28: The Canadian World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is the first animal welfare organization in history to conduct an animal welfare disaster relief operation in Cuba. The organization's extensive relief program, organized in response to Hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Fay which all hit Cuba within weeks of each other in August and September, began as yet another powerful hurricane (Paloma) hit the storm-weary island. Cuban economists estimate the effect of the hurricanes has put the country's development back eighteen years. Due to decades of hardship, Cuba has sought to remove its dependence on fossil fuels and thus huge parts of the country are powered by working animals. This heavy dependence on draft animals for plowing and transportation mean that they are crucial for the recovery of the country. Thousands of animals are suffering as a result of the hurricanes and the harder they are worked, the weaker and more prone to disease and parasites they become. The Cuban government has welcomed the WSPA mission and offered the entire nation's veterinarians to work with WSPA in launching this unprecedented large-scale operation. The team will be led by animal welfare experts from WSPA's office in Costa Rica. WSPA's work is currently focusing on the areas of Pinar Del Rio, Isla de la Juventud and Holguin, helping more than an estimated 42,000 animals. WSPA will be aiming to help 9,100 oxen, 7,000 horses, 1,350 donkeys and mules and over 24,000 cats and dogs. Without help and support for these animals, Cuba will suffer serious food shortages and food security issues. There is a real risk that the large majority of agricultural production will be lost in the affected regions if the working animals cannot be relied upon (Biotech Law Weekly, 28/11/08).

November 28: Representatives from the most diverse forces making up the political scenario in Lebanon, coincided in their support for Cuba, its history of resistance, and its demand for the release of the five Cubans incarcerated in the United States. During the meeting in Beirut between a Cuban delegation and members of the National Committee for the Release of the Cuban Five, Sheik Hussein Gabriss, vice-president of the Ulemas Muslim group of Lebanon, affirmed that the unity between so many different forces was motivated by a just cause, the demand for the release of these five men, imprisoned for fighting terrorism. Political leaders, clergymen from various beliefs, heroes from the National Lebanese Resistance, journalists and lawyers, who respond with concrete and systematic actions to demonstrations convened by the Committee, met to update themselves on the development of the struggle for the release of these five Cubans. The Lebanese National Committee for the Release of The Five is headed by Hadi Bekdache, who is also the president of the NGO Lealtad por la tierra (ACN, 28/11/08).

November 30: Cuba said that the United Nation must urgently lead negotiations to set up a new world financial structure that represents all UN member nations on equal grounds. Cuban Finance and Prices Minister Georgina Barreiro, said in the Qatari capital Doha that her country supports the holding of a summit in the context of the UN, which represents all member nations and hears all their views, Prensa Latina news agency reported. Barreiro addressed participants at the International Conference on
Financing for Development, underway in Doha, to follow up on the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus reached in Mexico in 2002. The international community “has the responsibility and the historic opportunity to re-establish the international financial system on a truly democratic basis (…) This reform can and should not be carried out by a select group of rich countries with restrictive and exclusive policies,” Barreiro said. She added that the current situation demands that the UN defend and promote the peoples’ rights to development, and lead the fight against inequity (ACN, 1/12/08).

November 30: Russia's president paid tribute to Fidel Castro after a meeting with the Cuban revolutionary icon. Dmitry Medvedev said his conversation with Castro on November 28 was "extremely interesting" and suggested the world should draw on the experience of such long-standing political figures when trying to tackle today's problems. Medvedev spoke in a video recording that was made on his plane as he returned from Cuba and posted on the Kremlin Web site. Medvedev referred to the 82-year-old former president as "Cuban leader Fidel Castro" even though his younger brother Raul is now president. Medvedev also met extensively with Raul Castro. Medvedev said earlier that he and Raul Castro, 77, had discussed economic and "military-technical co-operation" apparently arms sales "as well as security and regional cooperation" (AP, 30/12/08).