Editing Fidel Castro (section)

===Battle of Ideas: 2000–2006===
{{Main|Battle of Ideas}}
{{See also|Varela Project|Pink tide}}
[[File:Lula anda Castro9822.jpeg|thumb|Castro (right) meeting with Brazilian president [[Lula da Silva]] (left), a significant "[[Pink Tide]]" leader]]
Mired in economic problems, Cuba was aided by [[1998 Venezuelan presidential election|the election]] of [[Hugo Chávez]] to the Venezuelan Presidency in 1999. Castro and Chávez developed a close friendship, with the former acting as a mentor and father-figure to the latter,{{sfnm|1a1=Azicri|1y=2009|1p=100|2a1=Márquez|2a2=Sanabria|2y=2018|2p=138}} and together they built an alliance that had repercussions throughout Latin America.{{sfn|Azicri|2009|p=100}} In 2000, they signed an agreement through which Cuba would send 20,000 medics to Venezuela, in return receiving 53,000 barrels of oil per day at preferential rates; in 2004, this trade was stepped up, with Cuba sending 40,000 medics and Venezuela providing 90,000 barrels a day.{{sfnm|1a1=Marcano|1a2=Barrera Tyszka|1y=2007|1pp=213–215}}<ref>{{cite news
|last = Morris
|first = Ruth
|date = 18 December 2005
|url = https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sun_sentinel/access/943180711.html?dids=943180711:943180711&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Dec+18%2C+2005&author=Ruth+Morris+Havana+Bureau&pub=South+Florida+Sun+-+Sentinel&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=CUBA%27S+DOCTORS+RESUSCITATE+ECONOMY+AID+MISSIONS+MAKE+MONEY%2C+NOT+JUST+ALLIES
|title = Cuba's Doctors Resuscitate Economy Aid Missions Make Money, Not Just Allies
|work = [[Sun-Sentinel]]
|access-date = 28 December 2006
|archive-date = 1 October 2007
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071001003849/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sun_sentinel/access/943180711.html?dids=943180711%3A943180711&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS%3AFT&date=Dec+18%2C+2005&author=Ruth+Morris+Havana+Bureau&pub=South+Florida+Sun+-+Sentinel&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=CUBA%27S+DOCTORS+RESUSCITATE+ECONOMY+AID+MISSIONS+MAKE+MONEY%2C+NOT+JUST+ALLIES
|url-status = dead
}}</ref> 
Meanwhile, in 1998, Canadian prime minister [[Jean Chrétien]] arrived in Cuba to meet Castro and highlight their close ties. He was the first Canadian government leader to visit the island since Pierre Trudeau was in Havana in 1976.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 April 1998 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/80546.stm |title=Canadian PM visits Fidel in April |work=BBC News |access-date=21 May 2006 |archive-date=26 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193952/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/80546.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

After a spontaneous march for the return of [[Elián González]], in December 2000, a youth group named: "Group of the Battle of Ideas", was formed by the [[Young Communist League (Cuba)|Young Communist League]] and the Federation of University Students. The group began organizing demonstrations across Cuba for the return of [[Elián González]]. After González's return, the group began regularly meeting with Fidel Castro to oversee various construction projects and government meetings in Cuba. Fidel Castro ensured that the group had special authorities, and could bypass the approval of various ministries.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gold |first=Marina |author-link= |date=2016 |title=People and State in Socialist Cuba Ideas and Practices of Revolution
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=acQYDAAAQBAJ&dq=cuba+1999+%22battle+of+ideas%22&pg=PA106 |location= |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=106 |isbn=9781137539830}}</ref> Along with domestic projects, the wider campaign known as the "Battle of Ideas" included attempts to provide medical aid to various [[pink tide]] governments.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clayfield |first=Anna |author-link= |date=2019 |title=The Guerrilla Legacy of the Cuban Revolution
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYPSEAAAQBAJ&dq=cuba+2000+%22battle+of+ideas%22&pg=PA147 |location= |publisher=University of Florida Press |page=147 |isbn=9781683401087}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kapcia |first=Antoni |author-link= |date=2022 |title= Historical Dictionary of Cuba
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xbpmEAAAQBAJ&dq=cuba+2000+2005+%22battle+of+ideas%22&pg=PA589 |location= |publisher=Rowman and Littlefield Publishers |page=589 |isbn=9781442264557}}</ref>

In 2002, former US president Jimmy Carter visited Cuba, where he highlighted the lack of civil liberties in the country and urged the government to pay attention to the [[Varela Project]] of [[Oswaldo Payá]].{{sfn|Skierka|2006|p=xvi}}

Economic problems remained in Cuba, and in 2004, Castro shut down 118 factories, including steel plants, sugar mills and paper processors to compensate for a critical shortage of fuel.<ref>{{cite news |date=30 September 2004 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3702784.stm |title=Cuba to shut plants to save power |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=20 May 2006 |archive-date=26 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193908/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3702784.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 2005, Castro established a group of medical professionals, known as the [[Henry Reeve Brigade]], with the mission of international medical solidarity. The group were sent throughout the world to carry out humanitarian missions on behalf of the Cuban government.<ref>{{cite web |title=Misión Henry Reeve:: Fidel soldado de las ideas |url=http://www.fidelcastro.cu/es/internacionalismo/mision-henry-reeve |website=fidelcastro.cu |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=5 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005015747/http://www.fidelcastro.cu/es/internacionalismo/mision-henry-reeve |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Fidel Castro 1. Mai 2005 bei Kundgebung.jpg|thumb|Castro amid cheering crowds in 2005]]
[[File:XXX Cumbre del Mercosur - Córdoba - 21JUL06 -2- presidenciagovar..jpg|thumb|right|Castro (second from left) with South American leaders of the [[Mercosur]] trade bloc in 2006. In the 2000s, Castro forged alliances in the Latin American "[[pink tide]]".]]
Cuba and Venezuela became the founding members of the [[ALBA|Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas]] (ALBA).{{sfn|Azicri|2009|p=100}} ALBA's origins lay in a December 2004 agreement signed between the two countries and was formalized through a People's Trade Agreement also signed by [[Evo Morales]]' Bolivia in April 2006. Castro had also been calling for greater Caribbean integration since the late 1990s, saying that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by rich nations in a global economy.<ref>{{cite news|date = 21 August 1998|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156312.stm|title = Castro calls for Caribbean unity|work = BBC News|access-date = 21 May 2006|archive-date = 26 February 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193936/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156312.stm|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date = 25 August 1998|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156756.stm|title = Castro finds new friends|work = BBC News|access-date = 21 May 2006|archive-date = 26 February 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080226193900/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156756.stm|url-status = live}}</ref> Cuba has opened four additional embassies in the [[Caribbean Community]] including: [[Antigua and Barbuda]], Dominica, [[Suriname]], Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This development makes Cuba the only country to have embassies in all independent countries of the Caribbean Community.<ref>{{cite news|date = 13 March 2006|url = http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/caribnet/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000008/000823.htm|title = Cuba opens more Caribbean embassies|publisher = Caribbean Net News|access-date = 11 May 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120118173203/http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/caribnet/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000008/000823.htm|archive-date = 18 January 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In contrast to the improved relations between Cuba and a number of leftist Latin American states, in 2004 it broke off diplomatic ties with Panama after centrist President [[Mireya Moscoso]] pardoned four Cuban exiles accused of attempting to assassinate Castro in 2000. Diplomatic ties were reinstalled in 2005 following the election of leftist President [[Martín Torrijos]].<ref name="Cuba and Panama restore relations">{{cite news |date=21 August 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4170374.stm |title=Cuba and Panama restore relations |work=BBC News |access-date=21 May 2006 |first=Stephen |last=Gibbs |archive-date=23 November 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051123040728/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4170374.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
Castro's improving relations across Latin America were accompanied by continuing animosity towards the US. However, after massive damage caused by [[Hurricane Michelle]] in 2001, Castro successfully proposed a one-time cash purchase of food from the US while declining its government's offer of humanitarian aid.<ref>{{cite news |date=17 November 2001 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1662346.stm |title=Castro welcomes one-off US trade |work=BBC News |access-date=19 May 2006 |archive-date=21 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221112312/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1662346.stm |url-status=live }}; {{cite news|date=16 December 2001|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1714776.stm|title=US food arrives in Cuba|work=BBC News|access-date=19 May 2006|archive-date=25 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625160852/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1714776.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Castro expressed solidarity with the US following the 2001 [[September 11 attacks]], condemning [[Al-Qaeda]] and offering Cuban airports for the emergency diversion of any US planes. He recognized that the attacks would make US foreign policy more aggressive, which he believed was counterproductive.{{sfn|Coltman|2003|p=320}} Castro criticized the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], saying that the US-led war had imposed an international "law of the jungle".<ref>"[https://www.foxnews.com/story/castro-kuwait-iraq-invasions-both-mistakes Castro: Kuwait, Iraq Invasions Both Mistakes] ". Fox News. 23 December 2003.</ref>