VZCZCXRO9257
RR RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHUB #0008/01 0041811
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 041811Z JAN 07
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1074
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUESDM/JTLO MIAMI FL
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000008 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA; ALSO FOR H 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2017 
TAGS: PHUM KDEM SOCI OREP CU
SUBJECT: FOR CUBANS, A NOT-SO-MERRY CHRISTMAS 
 
REF: A. HAVANA 23616 
 
     ¶B. HAVANA 00005 
 
HAVANA 00000008  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: At year's end, USINT delivered a letter from 
U.S. Congress members to Cuban human rights activists, and in 
the process learned about the subdued holiday season in 
Havana.  The letter, a reply from December CODEL leaders 
Reps. Jeff Flake and William Delahunt to a message from 
activists Elizardo Sanchez, Vladimiro Roca and Martha Beatriz 
Roque, underlines the Representatives' opposition to "U.S. 
travel restrictions and other aspects of the embargo (that) 
block contacts that we should be encouraging between our two 
countries."  The activists, who hoped for but did not receive 
a visit from the Representatives during their December 15-17 
stay in Havana, expressed gratitude for the prompt reply. 
But at least one, Roque, reiterated that she does not support 
any easing of travel restrictions.  The activists expressed 
regret over what they viewed as Havana's quietest Christmas 
in years, and blamed a mix of frustration, depression and 
lack of cash.  That said, restaurants were packed, as were 
churches.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) On December 29, USINT delivered a letter (text sent to 
WHA) from Representatives Jeff Flake and William Delahunt to 
Elizardo Sanchez (of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights 
and National Reconciliation), Vladimiro Roca (All United) and 
Martha Beatriz Roque (Assembly to Promote Civil Society). 
The fourth intended recipient, Gisela Delgado Sablon of the 
Independent Libraries Project, was unavailable.  In a 
previous letter delivered December 17 to Reps. Flake and 
Delahunt, the four activists stressed the importance of U.S. 
assistance to Cuba's opposition, the flow of which seemed to 
the activists to have slowed in the wake of the recently 
released GAO report. 
 
¶3. (C) In reply, Reps Flake and Delahunt thanked the 
activists for their information on the reduced flow of aid, 
and said they expected USAID's management of the Cuba program 
to be improved.  The Representatives also referred to a 
November 23 public statement issued by the four activists, 
"in which you call for an end to the restrictions that the 
United States imposes on travel and the sending of aid to 
Cuba.  We agree that the elimination of those restrictions 
would provide humanitarian and many other benefits to the 
peoples of both our countries." 
 
¶4. (C) The November 23 statement, which lacked precision and 
sparked controversy among some Cuban exiles, was followed by 
a press conference from Roque (Reftel A), who said that the 
statement should not be misconstrued as an appeal to relax 
overall travel restrictions, only such restrictions that 
interfere with aid deliveries. 
 
NOT-SO-MERRY CHRISTMAS 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Sanchez, Roca and Roque described with sadness what 
they saw as Havana's most low-energy Christmas in years. 
Sanchez told us December 29 that celebrations in the Havana 
area were noticeably subdued.  He said many residents were 
depressed, had little to celebrate and no money to spend on 
festivities.  He said divorce and migrations have divided 
many Cuban families, and that at his home, where 14 family 
members once lived, now live four people, the other 10 having 
emigrated.  Roca told us December 29 that Christmas 
festivities were few and far between in his neighborhood of 
New Vedado, and blamed widespread frustration, as well as the 
breakdown of the family unit. 
 
BUT NOT ALL WAS DREARY 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Not all was dreary, however.  Martha Beatriz Roque 
used exile donations to prepare hundreds of gift packages for 
neighbors and for families of political prisoners.  Leading 
Havana restaurants were packed with Cuban elites and the 
families of visiting Cuban-Americans.  (Israeli actress 
Natalie Portman dined inconspicuously at La Guarida on 
December 26.)  Many Cubans of lesser means, but who could 
nevertheless afford to purchase pork ($1 per pound), held a 
traditional Christmas dinner at home.  Others, including 
those reliant entirely on the GOC for their income, made do 
with such ration-card staples as rice, beans and roots 
(yucca, sweet potatoes or, if lucky, regular potatoes). 
 
 
HAVANA 00000008  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
GOC HAILS "GREAT ODE TO HAPPINESS" 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The GOC trumpeted the scattered News Years Eve 
festivities, gushing in a January 2 article in Granma: "At 
plazas and parks, esplanades and streets, a new and great ode 
to happiness multiplied its echo across the length and width 
of the country."  This ode presumably referred to a number of 
public concerts held over the holidays, including at the 
"Anti-Imperialist Tribune" outside USINT.  The GOC's other 
tribute to the January 1 holiday - the 48th anniversary of 
the triumph of the Cuban Revolution -- was the flying of 
Cuban flags in front of USINT.  By January 3 these were 
replaced with the customary black flags with white stars. 
 
CHURCHES THRONGED 
----------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Church services were well attended over the holidays. 
Roque said the Christmas-Eve mass at her church was standing 
room only.  She observed: "When people don't have money to 
celebrate, they tend to take refuge at church."  At Havana's 
Cathedral, Cardinal Ortega delivered a January 1 homily 
(septel) that raised eyebrows with its repeated references to 
human rights, a theme usually put forward with considerable 
nuance, so as to preserve the Church's modus operandi in 
communist Cuba. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) General frustration among Cubans is prevalent and 
pervasive, thanks to crumbling housing, inadequate 
transportation systems, unrewarding work and the perpetual 
hunt for food.  Adding to this frustration was Fidel Castro's 
New Years message (reftel B), which has the effect of 
prolonging the indecision over Cuba's future that has 
characterized the island since Raul Castro assumed control 
last July 31. 
PARMLY