NEWS ARCHIVE / 2003

DECEMBER - 2003

-The Cuban Memorial’s organizing committee launches publicity campaign
-Festival warms to 'Havana' amid chill of U.S.-Cuba relations
-Prisoners of conscience "plantados" at the prison Kilo 5 ½ in Pinar del Río.
-Concern about Reporters Without Borders correspondent on hunger strike in prison
-Cuban physician condemned to 25 years in prison for defending human rights, is punished once more in a "Dungeon"
-Internet in Cuba: access barred
-Cuban dissidents feared lost at sea
-U.S. POLICY Violations up among travelers to Cuba
-VACLEV HAVEL, To the Cuban people on Human Rights Day
-Adolfo Fernández Saínz was brutally beaten in the Provincial prison in Holguín.
-US Demands Cuba Release Dissident
-Republican Senatorial Candidate Larry Klayman condemns actions of prosecutor and judge in Cuban Hijacking case.
-Preparations have begun in Miami and other parts of the World for the second annual Cuban Memorial on February 2004.

NOVEMBER - 2003

-Rafael Iabarra Roque denounce beating received at Combinado del Este.
-Message to the People of Cuba and the International Community
-A Call for Solidarity From Political Prisoners At The Aguica Prison in Matanzas.
-SOS sent from Combinado del Este by Arturo Suárez Ramos.
-Oscar Elías Biscet Buried In An Underground Dungeon.
-CUBA: Librado Linares "Plantado" In Combinado Del Este Prison.
-Brutally beaten and detained independent journalist and husband while traveling back to their province.
-Cámara y Senado EEUU restablecen prohibición de viajes a Cuba (Spanish)
-Entrevista exclusiva de Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas con el periodista Edmundo García en su programa radial "La Noche Se Mueve" por la WQBA 1140 AM. (Spanish)
-Repression continues against oppositionists in San José de las Lajas, Havana province.
-US Congress maintains travel restrictions on Cuba
-Letter to Fidel Castro from the Deputy of the German Bundestag, Rainer Eppelmann.
-Cuba's dissidents seek international summit platform to make their case
-Terror and torture suffered by women detained at State Security Prison in Holguin, Cuba.
-Encounter of the MCUD with Ambassador Roger Noriega
-Letter to The Honorable Norm Coleman, United States Senator.
-Testimony of member of the Christian Liberation Movement in punishment cell at Combinado de Guantánamo.
-René Montes de Oca's sister was raped.
-Luis Campos Corrales handcuffed and Thrown from the Second Floor of El Combinado del Este

OCTOBER - 2003

-Independent journalist arrested in the centre of the country
-SAMPLE LETTER BELOW ON BEHALF OF BLIND LAWYER IMPRISONED IN CUBA, ON THE OCCASION OF HIS IMMINENT TRIAL IN NOVEMBER 2003.
-Political prisoners hunger for justice
-BRITISH MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PASS RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF DEMOCRACY IN CUBA
-Beware of trading with Castro's Cuba
-Urgent Action Alert For The Life Of Jorge Luis García Pérez "Antúnez" In Punishment Cell
-Helms still feisty in retirement
-Venezuela's Reign of Terror
-Denounced situation of Nelson Molinet Espino in Kilo 8.
-FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION - Press group indicts Cuba, Venezuela
-Unite in push for Cuba's freedom
OUR OPINION: PRESIDENT'S POLICY IS A START; NOW FOR THE FOLLOW UP / The Miami Herald
-Special tribute for the 5 men that were executed in La Campana
-President Bush Discusses Cuban Policy in Rose Garden Speech
-No Absolution for Castro's Regime
-White House meeting set for Friday
-Catering to Castro hurts Cubans
-Thousands more sign petition seeking political, economic change in Cuba
-U.S. Accuses Cuba of Germ Weapons Program

SEPTEMBER - 2003

-Reporters Without Borders and Sin Visa set up support committee for jailed Cuban poet and journalist Raúl Rivero
-Open letter / to International Public Opinion from Cuban blind lawyer, Juan Carlos González Leiva, imprisoned without a trial since March 4, 2002 and suffering physical and mental torture at the hands of Cuban Officials.
-Stars and intellectuals hit out at Castro in Paris event
-Brazilian President Arrives in Cuba
-SEPTEMBER - 2003 HERALD EDITORIAL: Lula's missed chance / OUR OPINION: REGION'S LEADERS SHOULD CALL FOR CUBA'S FREEDOM
-Cuba minister slams U.S. over Iraq war
-Spain's prime minister visits Miami Hoping to burgeon ties with Florida, José María Aznar spoke to civic leaders about a democracy for Cuba.
-Rights group leader urges Hispanics to back free vote The president of the National Council of La Raza asked all Hispanics to reject dictatorships of the right and of the left.
-Cuba's many prisons may hold 100,000
-RSF: In an open letter, Reporters Without Borders calls on president "Lula" to meet with the families of the imprisoned journalists
-Trio rips Castro's regime in letter
-Dissident honored in Spain
-HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA, Lawyers lobby for dissidents
-Strong words for tough stance on Cuba
-Incertidumbre sobre la vida de Oscar Espinosa Chepe
-Cuban Physician is transferred to a prison 6 hours away from his home with his hands and feet tied.
-Religious march broken up
-Officials threaten to take infant daughter of jailed opposition prisoner
-EU condems Cuba for human rights violations
-Cubans Find Tourism Is the Best Way to Make a Buck
-Excerpts from the tortures suffered by Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta in the Boniatico Prison.
-Three more journalists on hunger-strike
-Spies are heroes and villains in communist Cuba.
-They disappear three of the seven political prisoners in a hunger strike in Santiago de Cuba.
-'Dollarization' keeping Cuba afloat
But expected political reforms have not followed

AUGUST - 2003

-FROM CUBA: Vigil in San José de las Lajas.
-U.S. aims to erode Castro's position
-Carter backs nomination of Cuba's Payá for award
-Imprisoned journalist describes conditions
-Deficient medical care for imprisoned journalist
-Prosecutors demand 20-year sentence for peaceful opponent
-Cuban dissidents sick in jail, relatives say
-Three jailed journalists on hunger strike
-Increased suppression of cultural expression in Cuba leads the Prince Claus Fund to withhold support from the 2003 Havana Biennial
-An interview with Isel Acosta Obregon, wife of Cuban political prisoner, Blas Giraldo Reyes Sancti-Spiritus, Cuba.
-S.O.S to the International Community on behalf of Political prisoners isolated and in the Holguin Provincial prison.
-Cuban general, two pilots indicted in 1996 downing of two civilian planes
-Human Rights leader predicts another repressive wave
-Cuban dissident disputes book's claim Pro-Castro authors say he's informant
-CUBA: Blind Lawyer continuous in State Security Prison without a trial, suffering mental and physical torture.
-CPJ alarmed by deteriorating health of Cuban journalist
-Condition of collaboration imposed for freedom of political prisoner.
-State GOP legislators urge action on Cuba
-US wants international supervision of Cuban prisoners
-Cuba: No Social Club for Journalists Castro's Crackdown May Have Backfired
-U.S. to bolster Cuba broadcasts, aid to dissidents
-Emilio Leyva in Quivicán prison hospital
-Horacio Julio Pina in critical condition
-Wife of jailed journalist Raúl Rivero attacks "unacceptable" prison conditions
-EDITORIAL: International condemnation and pressure can make a big difference.
-Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Washington, DC
-August 1, 2003, Cuba: The State of Political Prisoners
-Latin American Roundup
-Cubans' return 'just not right,' Gov. Bush says

JULY - 2003

-Castro Regime Said to be Spying 'Intensively' on U.S.
-U.S. ACCUSES HAVANA OF HARMING DISSIDENT
-LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
-(EU) EU/CUBA - Council gives harsh picture of situation in Cuba but leaves door open for political dialogue.
-New York says final farewell to Celia Cruz
-News Release /CUBAN AMERICAN CONGRESSPERSONS:
"DECISION TO RETURN CUBAN REFUGEES IS CONDEMNABLE"
Please, click here for details
-U.S. returns to Cuba dozen who took boat
-Adiós to the Queen of Salsa
-NAACP urged to rebuke Cuba
-Three killed in separate attempts to flee Cuba
-U.S. satellite feeds to Iran jammed
-Cuba in it's Final Stage, Declares Vladimiro Roca.
-Odyssey to see Cuba's political prisoners
-Dissidents' tales of abuses begin to emerge from Cuban prisons

JUNE - 2003

-Mange and bedbugs in prison for Cuban independent journalist
-Cuba: "One hundred days of solitude"
-Cuba holds Dade couple; family pleads for release
-Court backs sentence of Cuban journalist
-Tearful relatives of Cuban dissidents call for sanctions against Castro
-El Vacilón in Miami making history, again
-URGENT APPEAL TO INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATIONS
-EU's diplomatic sanctions infuriate Castro
-Cuba Takes Control of Spanish Center
-Honest men and women of the World do not leave Martha Beatriz to die in prison, Help Her!
-EUROPE GETS TOUGH
-Powell's OAS focus: Cuban repression
-Despite recent crackdowns, Cuban journalists persevere
-U.S. asks Cuba for exit permits for 636 who had been rejected
-EU set to review relations with Cuba
-Europe re-evaluating overtures to Cuba, cites `flagrant human rights violations'
-Dissident smuggles diary from Cuban jail

MAY - 2003

-Concert to aid Cubans' families Effort inspired by crackdown on dissidents
-The Friends of Fidel Castro
-U.S. Officials Open Exhibit on Cuba's 'Struggle for Freedom'
-Reporters Without Borders today voiced its outrage about the appalling prison conditions of independent journalists.
-What to do about Cuba?
-U.S. expels 14 Cuban diplomats for spying
-Caribbean Community Joins Global Outcry Against Repression in Cuba
-Lieberman's radio message resonates with Cubans
-CUBA: Letter to the United Nations/ Wife of blind lawyer in prison
-Relatives of dissidents and independent journalists Recently imprisoned are being threatened.
-An SOS From the 1580 Prison in Havana.
-Family visit denied to Oscar Elías Biscet.
-INCARCERATED PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE, DR. OSCAR E. BISCET, PUNISHED IN ISOLATION CELL
-French journalist's videotapes seized
-Public awareness campaign about censorship and imprisonment of journalists in Cuba
-Castro's friends are deserting him

APRIL - 2003

-Dissident refused job for being dissident
-Powell Says U.S. Reviewing Cuba Policy
-Castro’s Daughter and Cuban Victims to Demand Worldwide Sanctions Against Cuba in the Wake of Latest Wave of Crimes Against Humanity
-Pope decries Cuba's hard line
-Reporters Without Borders condemns transfer of journalists to prisons far from their homes
-PARTIAL LIST OF SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL STATEMENTS ON CUBA
-Castro has executed more than 10,000 and had imprisioned about one million oposicionists in 44 years with the applause of Carlos Fuentes, Saramago and the rest of the left. Why they change now?
-D.C. foes of Cuba embargo quit group
-Protest Letter signed by 73 Dutch writers, journalists and intellectuals regarding the massive crackdown on dissidents
-Parallel Forum, Geneva.
-US to impose new sanctions on Cuba
-U.N. rights commission approves resolution on Cuba
-Resolution Passed by House of Representatives regarding human rights violations in Cuba
-Powell Decries Cuba's Human Rights Record
-Disgusted by executions, Castro ally cuts ties to Cuba
-Cuban repression linked to hard times
-Powell bashes Cuban 'roundup'
-Account # 149013 - PRESS RELEASE - MOTHERS AGAINST REPRESSION
-FINAL LIST OF DISSIDENTS SENTENCED (75 PEOPLE) 10 APRIL, 2003 - SPANISH-
-Cuba executes 3 hijackers
-High Commisioner for Human Rights concerned over sentencing of recent detainees in Cuba.
-Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union concerning the arrest of opposition members in Cuba.
-Cuban Exiles Will Demonstrate in Geneva To Denounce Castro's Crackdown On Cuba's Peaceful Pro-Democracy Leaders
-Castro's repression
-II HUMAN RIGHTS PARALLEL FORUM TO BE HELD IN GENEVA
-Death Sentence Requested for Christian Movement Liberation Member in Cuba
-Cuba, massive crackdown on dissent
-Partial list of sentences to be imposed to Cuban pacific dissidents arrested by the Cuban regime these past two weeks.
-URGENT JOINT DECLARATION

MARCH - 2003

-Bush Condemns Cuba Crackdown
-Over twenty dissidents arrested amid rising tensions in U.S.- Cuba relations
-CUBA: Human Rights Violations / For Immediate Release
-HUMAN RIGHTS: Cuba Slams Door in UN Special Representative's Face
-Cuba Limits Travel of U.S. Diplomats
-The Cuban Democratic Directorate Sends open letter to the Internal Cuban Resistance.
-Conference regarding Cuban prisoners in Isla de Pinos.
-Reprisals against those who report On the situation of Leonardo Bruzón Avila.
-Leonardo Bruzón Avila was transferred to Military Hospital in Havana.
-Amnesty International weighs in on Cuban hunger strike
-Wife of dissident threatened
-Cuban landing raises security worries

FEBRUARY - 2003

-A 28 years old prisoner commits suicide at the Quivican Prison in Havana.
-Prisoner with tuberculosis in critical condition at Combinado de Guantánamo.
-Cuban dissident honored
-Mental torture being used against political Prisoner in Combinado de Guantánamo.
-US calls on Cuba to work with new UN human rights envoy

JANUARY - 2003

-Crosses will dot park to honor Castro's victims
-TOP UN RIGHTS OFFICIAL APPOINTS PERSONAL ENVOY FOR CUBA
-Cubans vote in one-party general elections
-Cuban community plans big parade to show solidarity with Venezuelans
-Political prisoners released after 10 months in jail without a trial.
-THE CUBAN EXILE RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE OF VENEZUELA.
-Mother of jailed dissident leader says her son is being mistreated
-Brazil Sees Coalition With Venezuela, Cuba.
-Self mutilation continues in the Combinado de Guantánamo Prison.