Main Events in Cuba During 2006

January: “Year of the Energy Revolution” This
strategic program was prioritized during the year. Its
main objective is to guarantee efficient generation of
electricity and maximize savings. The work was
centered on generators, improvement in the
distribution network and the allotment of twelve
million more efficient and low consumption domestic
appliances, which also improved the living conditions
of the population.

March: SECOND PLACE IN THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC.
The Cuban baseball team performed brilliantly, out
performing all predictions, showing the world that
the island’s baseball players have as much talent and
quality as those of the Major Leagues. They came
second, behind Japan.

April: FIDEL, CHAVEZ AND EVO IN HAVANA’S REVOLUTION
SQUARE.
The Presidents of Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, Fidel
Castro, Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales signed the
incorporation of Bolivia into the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas or ALBA and the three
nations into the People’s Trade Treaty. After signing
the agreements they spoke to thousands of Latin
American students and Havana residents gathered in the
Jose Marti Revolution Plaza.

May: THE SECRETARIAT OF THE CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTY WAS
REINSTATED. The Political Bureau of the Cuban
Communist Party agreed to reinstate the Secretariat
with the objective of strengthening the work of the
Central Committee, its auxiliary body and subordinated
institutions, in the execution and control of the
political guidelines and the island’s ideological and
social cultural development.

THE BOOK “100 HOURS WITH FIDEL” LAUNCHED.
French-Spanish writer and journalist Ignacio Ramonet
presented in Cuba the first edition of the book of
long conversations with the Cuban leader. Later
further editions were published with comments and
expanded personally by Fidel.

May: PERMANENT CUBAN SOLIDARITY. The traditional
international solidarity by Cuba during 2006 had
brilliant results with the work carried out by the
Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade which
returned last May after offering their services free
of charge for seven months in Pakistan and treating
1,743,244 people severely affected by the earthquake
there. Another brigade left about the same time for
Indonesia to help the victims of another earthquake
incident. Afterwards came Operation Milagro, which is
a program that assists low-income people with eye
ailments. In Education, the Cuban teaching method “Yo
Si Puedo” or “Yes I Can” literacy program was extended
to 22 nations and received the 2006 UNESCO Prize.

July: FIDEL AT MEETING OF MERCOSUR. In July, Cuban
President Fidel Castro attended the 30th MERCOSUR
Summit, held in Cordoba, Argentina, as a special
guest; this began the revitalization of regional
accords, broadened by the incorporation of Venezuela.
Fidel and Chavez visited the house where legendary
guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara lived in Alta Gracia
and participated in a solidarity activity sponsored
by the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

July: FIDEL’S ILLNESS. The Proclamation by President
Fidel Castro was made public on July 31st about his
health and his delegation of responsibilities to First
Vice President Raul Castro. The document called on
the Cuban people to continue united and to advance in
the country’s economic and social-cultural development
and requested that his 80th birthday activities
organized by the Guayasamin Foundation be postponed to
December 2nd. During the following months, Fidel, as
he promised in the Proclamation, strictly followed
medical advice to guarantee his full recovery. During
his recovery he has carried out important State
issues, worked on expanding the book “100 Hours with
Fidel” and received various important foreign
dignitaries.

September: WORLD SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUBAN FIVE. Faced
with the political manipulation of the legal process
against the five Cuban political prisoners in the US
for fighting terrorism, international solidarity has
intensified. In September and December the
international community carried out a number of
activities to break the wall of silence in the US.
What was particularly important was the demonstration
held in front of the White House on September 12th.
There is a big difference between Washington’s
severity in the treatment of the Cuban Five and their
relatives, with the White House protection offered to
international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles detained
in El Paso, Texas. Meanwhile Venezuela continues to
request his extradition with the objective of trying
him for the bombing of a Cubana airliner over
Barbados, killing the 73 people on board .

September: HAVANA, VENUE OF THE 14TH NAM SUMMIT. With
the participation of representatives from 118 member
nations, among them about 50 Heads of States and
Government, the Non Aligned Movement was held in
Havana. Cuba assumed the presidency for the second
time.

September: 19TH CONGRESS OF THE CUBAN WORKERS
CONFEDERATION. The important labor meeting made a
critical appraisal of the Cuban workers movement and
expressed its willingness to increase efforts in
discipline during working hours and the fight against
negative practices left over from the so called
special period.

November: A CONDEMNATION OF WASHINGTON’S BLOCKADE
AGAINST CUBA. For 15th consecutive occasion the UN
General Assembly approved (by 183 votes against 4) a
resolution demanding an end to the Economic, Financial
and Commercial blockade imposed on Cuba by the United
States of America, whose effects have cost over 86
billion dollars.

December: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LANDING OF THE YACHT
GRANMA AND 80TH BIRTHDAY OF FIDEL. The historic date
that marks the birth of the Rebel Army and the
beginning of the war for liberation was the occasion
to carry out the activities organized by the
Guayasamin Foundation to honor President Fidel Castro
on his 80th birthday. An international colloquium on
the life and work of Fidel Castro was held in Havana
with the participation of some 2,000 figures from
numerous countries. The military parade and rally
held in the Revolution Plaza and the military march in
Santiago de Cuba closed the event.

December: VISIT OF THE US CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION.
A US bi-partisan Congressional delegation visited the
island for three days. After their visit the group
said that it is time for a change in US policy against
Cuba.

December: 6TH CONGRESS OF THE FEDERATION OF
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. Almost at the end of the year,
the 6th Congress of the Federation of University
Students closed their year of work. The Cuban youth
debated and adopted agreements related to the role of
the universities in achieving the invulnerability of
the Revolution and student’s social vocation. First
Vice President Raul Castro considered this Congress as
the best so far and pointed out that only the Cuban
Communist Party can replace Fidel Castro.

December: CUBAN ECONOMIC GROWTH. In the report
presented before the Cuban Parliament by the Minister
of Economy and Planning, Jose Luis Rodriguez, it was
revealed that the island’s GDP grew 12.5 % in 2006,
the highest since the triumph of the Revolution, and
the highest in all Latin America and the Caribbean,
according to CEPAL. In the country’s 2007 budget
resources equivalent to 22.6 percent of its GDP will
be destined to education and health, four times more
than the average in Latin America.