Summary of the last seven days

April 25, 2003

* Fidel Castro's government said it achieved "a new moral victory" when the UN Commission on Human Rights failed to include a reference to the recent prison sentences of dissidents and executions in a resolution which asks Havana to allow the visit to the island of a special human rights envoy. Felipe Pérez Roque, Cuba's foreign minister said that Havana would not allow the visit. He also criticized "the hypocrisy and double standards of the European Union and Latin American governments incapable of contradicting the [United States] empire." (Granma, A.P. April 18).

* The president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Jose Ramon Fernandez, restated their hope that the 2012 Olympic Games could be held in Havana. Others hoping to host the games are Leipzig, New York, Madrid, Moscow, Rome, Paris, and Toronto. (Juventud Rebelde, AFP, April 18)

* A Florida judge ordered the payment of $67 million to the family of Howard Anderson, an American citizen executed by Cuba in 1961. Anderson, then a 40 year old businessman, was accused of counterrevolutionary activities and executed a few hours after the Bay of Pigs invasion. (AFP, April 19)

* The European Commission said in Brussels that the current repression in Cuba has a "devastating effect" on relations with the island. "We condemn all these measures, in particular, the executions that will clearly affect relations with the EU," a spokesman said, echoing the criticisms of the Group of Fifteen foreign ministers last week in Luxembourg. In Washington, the Cuba Policy Foundation, an influential group that worked to end the embargo announced the suspension of its activities. Center for International Policy's Wayne Smith said that "in the short term things will get worse", predicting an increase in tensions between the two countries. (AFP, AP, Le Monde, April 18 and 22).

* France announced the extradition to Spain of Alvaro Juan Arri Pascual, charged with six murders and seven acts of terrorism. A member of the Basque terrorist group ETA, Arri was part of the organization's Madrid cell after a trip to Cuba and Mexico in 1993. (Madrid's El Mundo, April 23).

* On Wednesday it was announced in Montevideo that Uruguay's Chamber of Deputies condemned Havana's "repressive policies," demanding the liberation of prisoners of conscience. The resolution was approved by a large majority which included votes from leftist political forces. On Friday, an editorial in Cuba's Granma called Uruguay's president, Jorge Battle, a "robot at the service of imperialism." Battle, who was visiting Washington, said Fidel Castro was an assassin due to the executions in Havana. Both countries severed diplomatic ties after the vote at the UN Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution critical of Cuba last year. (AFP, Granma, April 23 y 25).

* "The New York Times is neither serious nor liberal," according to Cuban official media. Cuba's nationwide TV and radio program "Mesa Redonda" charged the newspaper on Wednesday with being an example of a press monopoly at the service of the United States. The Times does not recognize the achievements of U.S. adversaries and identifies itself with the "Miami mafia," in addition to insulting five Cubans convicted with spying in the United States. Havana considers them "heroes of the nation." (Granma, Juventud Rebelde, AIN, April 23).

* A cameraman from Spanish Television and two Reporters Without Borders activists "were beaten by staff of the Cuban embassy in Paris on Friday when they chained themselves to the embassy railing in the presence of several prominent cultural figures to protest against the imprisonment of 30 journalists in Cuba." (Reporters without borders, Liberation, AFP, April 24).

Center for a Free Cuba. 1320 19th Street NW. Suite 201. Washington DC 20036.

Tel 202.463.8430. Fax 202.463.8412. www.cubacenter.org.