Cuba gets new leader as last Castro retires

Yahoo – AFP, Leticia PINEDA, April 19, 2021 

Raul Castro, 89, is stepping down, ending a six-decade family hold on
power that started in 1959

Cuba marked the end of an era Monday with the transfer of power from the Castro clan, in charge for six decades, to the communist country's first-ever civilian leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel. 

As Raul Castro, 89, enters retirement, he handed the all-powerful position of first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Diaz-Canel, 60, already Cuba's president since 2018. 

"April 19, an historic day," tweeted the new leader, lauding the all-powerful PCC's "founding and guiding" generation for handing over the reins. 

Diaz-Canel's election at a party congress, though pre-determined, marks a watershed for the country of 11.2 million people, many of whom have known no leader other than a Castro. 

Fidel Castro, still revered as the country's father and savior, led the country from 1959 to 2006, when he fell ill and his brother Raul took over. Fidel Castro died in 2016. 

Diaz-Canel and some other members of the new PCC executive were born after the revolution led by the Castro siblings in the 1950s, leading in 1959 to the overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista. 

Cuba is Battling its worst economic crisis in 30 years, sky-high inflation, biting
food shortages, long lines for basic necessities and growing

The PCC congress was held 60 years after Fidel Castro declared Cuba a socialist state, setting up decades of conflict with the United States, which has had sanctions against the country since 1962. 

It also marked six decades since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by anti-revolutionary Cuban exiles, backed by the CIA. 

'Irrevocable' socialism 

The change at the top is not expected to yield any major policy shifts. 

Diaz-Canel, a suit-and-tie wearing, tech-savvy Beatles fan, remains a staunch party disciple.

And a new constitution passed in May 2019 made it clear that the country's commitment to socialism was "irrevocable." 

In his final address to the party last Friday, Castro affirmed a "willingness to conduct a respectful dialogue and build a new kind of relationship with the United States." 

Miguel Diaz-Canel, a suit-and-tie wearing, tech-savvy Beatles fan, is a
staunch party disciple

But he stressed the country would not renounced "the principles of the revolution and socialism" as he urged the new generation to "zealously protect" the one-party dogma. 

"There are limits that cannot be crossed," warned Castro, who wore a military uniform. 

The leadership change comes as Cuba battles its worst economic crisis in 30 years, sky-high inflation, biting food shortages, long lines for basic necessities and growing disgruntlement over limited freedoms. 

Cuba, one of just five communist countries along with China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea, faces constant shortages and imports 80 percent of what it consumes for lack of sufficient local production. 

"Since I was born, I have only known one party," said Miguel Gainza, a 58-year-old in Havana. 

"And no one dies of hunger, it's true," he adds. But today, "we are a little stuck, and it's a shame that Fidel is dead because he solved all our problems". 

Ten key dates Cuba's Castros

Internet drives change

The Internet, which arrived on mobile phones the island in 2018, has been an engine of social change, even used to organize protest, previously unheard of in the country. 

Young Cubans, many of whom go overseas each year for lack of opportunities at home, are increasingly venting their frustrations on social media. 

Slamming social networks for "subversion" and what he called fake news, Castro said the platforms spread "a virtual image of Cuba as a dying society with no future, on the point of collapse, giving out under a social explosion."

 The PCC had pledged to tackle the issue of online "political and ideological subversion" at its congress. 

Ties with the United States, after a historic but temporary easing of tensions under president Barack Obama between 2014 and 2016, worsened under Donald Trump, who reinforced sanctions. 

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday the United States was not planning any immediate change in its policy toward Cuba. 

"Support for democracy and human rights will be at the core of our efforts," she said.

Bolsonaro takes on Norway for whaling, but bungles it

Yahoo – AFP, August 19, 2019

Bolsonaro was ridiculed on social media after criticising Norway for whaling
techniques which the country does not use (AFP Photo/Andrija ILIC)

Oslo (AFP) - Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday responded to Norway's decision to halt its forest protection subsidies, taking to Twitter to criticise the Scandinavian country for its whaling practice and post spectacular -- albeit misleading -- images.

"Look at the killing of whales sponsored by Norway," Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter.

The post includes a video and photographs of a spectacular whale hunt, where mammals in the shallow waters of a bay are slaughtered by people wading on shore, armed with hooked knives. The whales' blood turns the waters red.

However, the images, reportedly taken on May 29 in Norway, illustrate a "grind", a type of pilot whale hunt practised exclusively in the Faroe Islands -- a Danish territory in the North Atlantic.

Norway is one of the few countries in the world that authorises commercial whaling, but the whales are hunted individually, at sea from a ship, and with grenade-mounted harpoons.

"We can confirm that the video/the photos are not from Norway," the Norwegian fisheries ministry told AFP in an email.

"Our whale hunt takes place from ships at sea," he said, arguing that the Norwegian practice was "sustainable".

Bolsonaro was ridiculed on social media for the mix-up.

Bolsonaro posted images of a spectacular whale hunt of a kind practised not in 

Norway, the target of his criticism, but the Faroe Islands -- a Danish territory in 

the North Atlantic (AFP Photo/Mauro Pimentel)

"Haha what a stupid president Brazil has! This is NOT from Norway! We don't kill whales like that. Do your homework to get respected! 'Fake news' as Trump would have said," wrote one Twitter user.

"False information is a crime Mr President," wrote another.

Bolsonaro has been taking digs at Norway since the country announced last week that it, like Germany, was blocking 30 million euros ($33 million) of subsidies to Brazil, accusing it of turning its back on the fight against deforestation.

Norway has been the single largest donor to the Amazon Fund for forest protection, giving almost 830 million euros since its creation 11 years ago, equivalent to almost 95 percent of total funding, with Germany providing most of the remainder.

Backlash

Oslo said Brazil, under Bolsonaro's leadership, "no longer wishes to stop deforestation" and added it unilaterally "broke the agreement" on the Amazon Fund.

Bolsonaro reacted immediately and angrily.

"Norway, isn't that the country that kills whales up there, at the North Pole? And that produces oil too? That is not at all a role model to us. Let them keep their money and let them help Angela Merkel reforest Germany," he said.

Bolsonaro's comments drew an angry reaction from the governors of federal states in the Amazon region which form an inter-state consortium on sustainable development for the world's largest and most diverse tropical rainforest dubbed the Earth's 'lung'.

"We regret the Brazilian government's positions which provoked the suspension of the subsidies" to the Fund," the governors said in a statement.

"We completely oppose all illegal practice of economic activities in the (Amazon) region, they added, saying they would "speak directly with the countries which finance the Fund."

The governors furthermore proposed that the regional Bank of Amazonia become the "financial manager" of the fund in future rather than the state development bank BNDES.

Cubans use new found social media heft to challenge leaders

Yahoo – AFP, Moises AVILA, March 19, 2019

Cubans like this woman pictured in Havana on March 17, 2019, have seen an
explosion of mobile internet usage (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Havana (AFP) - Cubans are using new found social media muscle to challenge their leaders in ways hitherto unseen on the communist-run island.

Using Twitter to snipe at once-untouchable ministers over government failures is catching on in a country whose leadership once demanded, and got, total unity.

"This confluence of people entering the social networks -- with the leaders within reach of their keyboards and being able to tell them what they think -- has changed the dynamics of Cuban society," says Cuban Twitter influencer Camilo Condis.

It's all down to an explosion of mobile internet users since Cuba became one of the last countries in the world to roll out a 3G mobile internet service in December.

It suddenly put the internet within reach of anyone with a mobile phone.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on his election in April that dragging Cuba into the modern online age was a top priority.

Cubans are increasingly using Twitter to snipe at once-untouchable ministers 

over government failures (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

Analysts say he is now experiencing the other side of the coin -- rolling criticism of his government.

Social media muscle

Cuban citizens first saw the power of social media in January as they picked up the pieces after a powerful tornado devastated large parts of Havana.

Residents mobilized on WhatsApp to help thousands of disaster victims, for once without waiting for the state to react.

"Nobody knew each other before but we contacted each other through the social networks," says 29-year-old Aida Duarte, who coordinated donations of food and material.

"We started to get out there and we created a WhatsApp group to get organized."

The strength and efficiency of the public reaction took the authorities by surprise in a country where the state has sole authority to coordinate labor.

Cuban citizens first saw the power of social media after a powerful tornado devastated 

large parts of Havana in January 2019 (AFP Photo/ADALBERTO ROQUE)

"The social networks put a bit of pressure" on the state, Duarte says.

"I think that this civil society was already there, but it did not have the means to organize and communicate. Now it gets the message out there thanks to mobile internet," says Condis.

Diaz-Canel, 58, became the first Cuban leader to use Twitter when he opened an account in August. He made his embattled Socialist counterpart in Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and Bolivian ally Evo Morales, his first follows.

The president instructed his government ministers to make themselves more visible on the social networks. They did, but increasingly, Cuba's 11 million people can tweet back, often with a bit of bite to boot.

Cubans' embrace of the internet has led to sharper criticism of the socialist government as many social media users challenge ministers over day to day problems.

Cubans' embrace of the internet has led to sharper criticism of the socialist government 

as many social media users challenge government ministers over day to day problems 

(AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

One user slammed Canel-Diaz for still riding the wave of Fidel Castro's revolution -- talk of 1959 simply won't do in modern Cuba, was his message. Another thanked him for steering the country towards a "prosperous socialism".

Before the roll-out of 3G technology in December -- opening up the online world to the country's 5.3 million smartphone users -- the internet was available to the general public only via wifi hotspots, payable by the hour.

Small-business owner Condis has built a following in Cuba by constantly questioning ministers and authorities on everyday problems facing Cubans.

"I'm pretty critical but I do it with respect and a modicum of common sense," says Condis, who claims several ministers -- including Communications Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo -- have blocked him on Twitter.

A source close to the government acknowledged that ministers still have a lot to learn about communicating on the social networks.

President Miguel Diaz Canel has made dragging Cuba into the modern online 

age a top priority (AFP Photo/YAMIL LAGE)

'The new Cuba'

Cuba has been long accustomed to political unanimity -- more than 97 percent voted for the current constitution in 1976, 99 percent in a later referendum.

However, Cuba's embrace of social media is now shaping a different kind of civil society, one more inclined to express itself.

Last year, new restrictions on the emerging small business sector sparked an outcry on social media, and were later modified.

"Now people have the opportunity to send a tweet to a minister or the president," said political scientist Carlos Alzugaray, "and they've managed to force the government to rectify its policies."

"That's the new Cuba. But it's not counter-revolutionary. The majority of the Cuban population want things to improve," he added.

Internet usage by region, 1990-2016, according to World Bank. (AFP Photo/

Simon MALFATTO)

Cubans are not considering overthrowing the government, Alzugaray says, but are enthusiastically taking the opportunity to speak out if they think the government isn't doing its job.

"There's a civil society there that the government does not recognize as such, but it's there regardless," he told AFP.

"It's a challenge for the Cuban state apparatus which has never been confronted by that."

Brazil fighting fake news in the classroom

Yahoo – AFP, Paula RAMON, July 13, 2018

Students attend a lesson on "Fake News: access, security and veracity of
information" in Sao Paulo, Brazil (AFP Photo/Miguel SCHINCARIOL)

Sao Paulo (AFP) - Brazil has taken a stand against the explosion of "fake news" stories swamping the internet by making media analysis studies compulsory for schoolchildren.

Around the world, debates proliferate about the problem of unfettered information flooding social media, uploaded by people with no consideration for journalist ethics, impartiality or even the truth.

Of particular concern is the effect such misinformation can have on those most impressionable.

"The aim is to teach students to identify fake news, and now it's part of the national curriculum because the country has decided it's necessary," said Leandro Beguoci, editorial director at Brazilian education specialists Nova Escola.

"The proliferation of social media networks have created an urgent situation in this respect," Beguoci said.

Media analysis studies became compulsory in December 2017, but have been offered alongside traditional subjects like mathematics and history for years in some Brazilian schools.

Kayo Rodrigues, 14, said the Brazilian press is not perfect, but plays a vital role in combating fake news "because not everyone has the internet or the tools to check facts."

She enrolled in the "Young Press" program launched six years ago in the Casa Blanca public school in Sao Paulo.

At Casa Blanca, teachers Lucilene Varandas and Hildenor Gomes do Santos ensure their students, aged eight to 14, know not to take everything they watch or read at face value.

'Think about clicks'

"When I receive a piece of information, I look for it on the internet and ask myself if it's true," said Helena Vital, 11, whose parents are teachers. She said the program has taught her to view the media from a different perspective.

"Now I know that things aren't so bad, the whole country isn't going to collapse," added Vital, who said that consuming news without questioning it "leaves people sad" and that "there are many negative things that aren't true."

The children do not have the tools to systematically check everything, but "they look at the articles, who wrote them, who could be interested in them and where they're published, which are all ways of questioning the information," said Varandas, who is looking to create partnerships with fact-checking agencies to expand the children's education.

The measures seem to be working despite the children's young age.

"All it takes is one click to share false news; this project teaches me to think about my clicks," said Rodrigues, daughter of a shopkeeper and a manicurist.

The students enrolled in "Young Press" have also been analyzing local media stories about the project, and even found inaccuracies.

AFP was told its own coverage would be equally scrutinized.

With a population of almost 208 million people, Brazil has a massive social media presence: 120 million WhatsApp users, more than 100 million people on Facebook and another 50 million signed up to Instagram.

"In the past, kids were taught by their parents, but now that happens through a variety of means, something which alters the role of the school," said Beguoci, a trained journalist.

"What's so interesting in Brazil is that media and technological literacy are considered as important as classical literacy."

'Digital age natives'

Beguoci denies that information analysis is an additional burden on the education system, saying it rather offers "a context that can improve education."

"We're talking about things that are part of the student's world," he said.

For Veronica Martins Cannata, who coordinates technology and communication studies at the private Dante Alighieri school, children have their own responsibility when it comes to fake news.

"Technology has facilitated communication, but the time has come to question its content," she said.

"As natives of the digital age, children and teenagers must take the responsibility to analyze that content before reproducing it."

Dante Alighieri has been analyzing media content for 11 years and has also brought the fight against fake news into the classroom.

Children are born "with ingenuity," but at school they acquire "a critical eye and no longer consume information in the same way," said Martins Cannata.

Such media analysis studies will not necessarily create a new generation of wannabe reporters, though.

Vital, for one, is suspicious about the press that "is sometimes flawed in its credibility."

Asked if she would like to one day become a journalist, Vital said: "I prefer swimming!"

VIDEO: Restricted internet access doesn't stop young YouTubers in Cuba... even if it means working from outdoor public areas - the only place where they can access Wi-Fi - to passing their content across the island through a USB stick

VIDEO: Restricted internet access doesn't stop young YouTubers in Cuba... even if it means working from outdoor public areas - the only place where they can access Wi-Fi - to passing their content across the island through a USB stick pic.twitter.com/CtStDNkCrf

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 13, 2018

Cuban town hooked on pirate social network

Yahoo – AFP, Alexandre GROSBOIS, May 9, 2017

The small Cuban town of Gaspar is one of the most connected spots in one
of the least wired countries on Earth (AFP Photo/ADALBERTO ROQUE)

Gaspar (Cuba) (AFP) - On a traffic island in a country town, young Cubans are doing what most of their compatriots cannot: surfing an online social network.

In one of the least wired countries on Earth, Gaspar, population 7,500, is one of the most connected towns of all.

Illegally, but with the grudging tolerance of the authorities, four local techies have launched "Gaspar Social" -- rural Cuba's answer to Facebook.

"I think it's wonderful what these lads here in Gaspar have done. It was a healthy change for a town that had rather lost its spark," says Arletty Guerra, 22, one of the locals thumbing her smartphone.

More than that, Gaspar Social's promoters hope it will lead the rest of the communist island to greater connectivity.

Social networking

Most Cubans must pay a $1.50 an hour to connect via state telecom firm Etecsa's wifi points. Users of Gaspar Social do not.

Though they cannot access the world wide web via Gaspar Social, they can share photos and videos with other users in the town.

The four creators of the Gaspar Social network in Cuba hope that it will lead 

the rest of the communist island to greater connectivity (AFP Photo/

ADALBERTO ROQUE)

It opened to the general public in October -- two months before Etecsa installed the town's first official wifi hotspot.

"In the beginning it was a network just for playing video games," says one of its creators, municipal computer technician Osmani Montero, 23.

"Then we opened it to all the people in Gaspar and the number of users grew hugely in just a month."

Extra capacity

Yoandi Alvarez, 30, a medical student, raised money to buy the first aerial and server for the network.

"The antenna was near my house," he recalls. "There were users at two or three o'clock in the morning sitting in the doorway to get online, covered in quilts and blankets."

Some 500 of the town's 7,500 inhabitants have started using Gaspar Social.

The team had to buy four extra relay antennas to handle the large number of users.

To the chat and file-sharing functions it has added a news page -- with state-authorized stories only.

Cuba's Gaspar Social started as a network for playing video games and has 

developed into a local version of Facebook (AFP Photo/ADALBERTO ROQUE)

Not-so-wide web

Cuba's government has been gradually opening up the economy over the past decade. It has said it aims to provide internet access to all Cubans by 2020.

But the online revolution has been slow in coming.

In a country of 11 million people, there are just 317 public wifi hotspots.

Only selected groups such as scientists, journalists and doctors are allowed to have internet access in their homes.

Small-scale local projects like Gaspar's "offer an alternative given Cuba's infrastructure problems," which prevent many homes from getting online, says Yudivian Almeida, a computing specialist at Havana University.

If just one home has an internet cable, using wireless technology "a whole network can be generated" for neighboring homes to get online, he says.

Got a permit?

Gaspar Social is one of about 30 local networks launched by young amateurs in Cuba in recent years.

In a small Cuban town some 500 people from a population of 7,500 use 

"Gaspar Social," an illegal but tolerated answer to Facebook (AFP Photo/

ADALBERTO ROQUE)

They are unlicensed but the communist authorities tolerate them as long as they do not venture into politics or pornography.

Gaspar Social's founders were called in last month after the network's success came to the attention of the ruling Communist Party.

They thought they were going to get shut down -- but the officials gave them instructions on applying for a permit, raising hopes that the state may authorize projects like theirs.

"They made it clear our network was illegal," Alvarez says. "But they said they wouldn't be taking our antennas down."

Panama pardons Dutch journalist jailed for libel

DutchNews, December 20, 2016

Panama’s president Juan Carlos Varela has given an official pardon to Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein, who was arrested last month and ordered to spend three years four months in jail. 

The Panama authorities published a list of names of people who are being pardoned on Tuesday. Ornstein will be freed on Friday if he does not object, the Dutch foreign ministry said.

‘It will be terrific if he is free in time to celebrate Christmas with his family,’ said foreign minister Bert Koenders. 

Ornstein was arrested last month on a charge of criminal libel dating from 2012 as he entered Panama where he lives. 

The libel charges followed articles on his blog Bananama Republic about the business practices of Canadian national Monte Friesner who lives in Panama City. The blog has since been closed down.

Venezuela to remove the 100-bolivar note from circulation

The 100-bolivar bank note will be removed from circulation in Venezuela on Wednesday. The Venezuelan government promised six much larger notes in coming days.

Deutsche Welle, 12 December 2016

Stuck in an economic crisis and facing rampant inflation, the Venezuelan government announced Sunday it would pull its largest bill from circulation on Wednesday.

The 100-bolivar note, which is worth approximately two cents, will be replaced by much larger bank notes. Venezuelans will have 10 days after the 100-bolivar bill is removed from circulation to exchange the notes at the central bank. In the wake of the 100-bolivar note's demise, six bank notes worth between 500 and 20,000 bolivars will be made available, and three new coins. One US dollar can buy up to 4,400 bolivars on the black market.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the move was necessary as international mafias kept the notes in Colombian and Brazilian cities. Maduro demanded "all land, air and sea possibilities closed immediately so that they do not return those notes that were taken," on his television show "Contact with Maduro."

Critics were quick to denounce the decision, saying Maduro should fight against the use of contraband bills on the Colombia-Venezuela border, and that there was no realistic way for Venezuelans to exchange 100-bolivar bills currently in circulation within the allotted time. Data from the central bank showed there were more than six billion 100-bolivar notes in circulation in November, which is about 48 percent of all bills and coins in use.

"When ineptitude governs! Who would possibly think of doing something like this in December amid all our problems?" said two-time opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles on Twitter.

Cuando la ineptitud gobierna!A quién se le ocurre hacer algo así en Dic y con las dificultades que hay?Maduro y su cúpula! https://t.co/oaNqDMwlD9

— Henrique Capriles R. (@hcapriles) December 11, 2016

Unprecedented inflation

No official data exists for inflation in Venezuela in 2016, but economic consultants Ecoanalitica estimates annual inflation in 2016 is more than 500 percent. The Venezuelan currency has fallen 55 percent against the US dollar on the black market in November.

Paying for simple items in the oil-rich company - often after waiting in lines that can last for hours - requires a large sack of bills in order to pay for whatever may be needed. But getting cash has proven difficult in recent months and credit card machines have suffered many problems, forcing many businesses to ask customers to pay by bank transfer.

kbd/kl (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Related Article:

India pulls 500, 1,000 rupee notes to fight graft

Mexican army makes rare apology over woman's torture

Yahoo – AFP, April 16, 2016

Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos reads out a public apology before
 26,000 soldiers assembled at a military base in Mexico City on April 16, 2016
(AFP Photo/Ronaldo Schemidt)

Mexico City (AFP) - The Mexican army made a rare public apology on Saturday over a scandal in which two soldiers and a policewoman tortured a terrified woman in a video that went viral.

It is just the latest allegation of abuse committed by security forces in Mexico, who are often accused of violent acts against civilians, including murder.

General Salvador Cienfuegos, the defense minister, read out the apology before 26,000 soldiers assembled at a military base in Mexico City.

"In the name of all of us who make up this great national institution, I offer my heartfelt apology to all in society wronged by this impermissible event," Cienfuegos said.

In the video, which went viral on social media this week, a barefoot woman is seen crying and screaming on the floor as a female soldier puts the muzzle of an assault rifle to her head.

A federal policewoman is then seen handcuffing the woman and proceeding to tightly wrap a plastic bag around her head while one of the officials demands threateningly: "Are you going to talk?"

This screengrab of a video posted on several youtube sites on April 14, 2016 shows 

two soldiers standing over a woman with her head covered in an unknown location in 

Mexico. The two Mexican soldiers face military charges after this video surfaced of

 them helping a federal police officer torture a female suspect. It's unclear if the police

 officer faces charges. Mexico's Defense Department says the events occurred 

Feb. 4, 2015 in a small mountain town in southern Guerrero state. (via AP)

The incident is reported to have taken place in February 2015 in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, in the southern state of Guerrero.

The defense ministry says it only learned of the video in December.

The male army captain and the female soldier seen in the video were arrested in January and charged with disobeying orders.

Mexican authorities are investigating a policewoman to determine if she was the one in the footage.

"It's necessary to publicly express our outrage over the regrettable events that occurred nearly 14 months ago," Cienfuegos said.

"Bad members of our institution besmirch the honorable behavior of thousands of women and men in military uniform."

"Although isolated, (such incidents) damage in a major way our image and the prestige we have worthily earned." he added.

Messi sends autographed jerseys to his little Afghan fan

Yahoo – AFP, 25 February 2016

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi proudly wears one of the jerseys sent by his idol

Lionel Messi (AFP Photo/Mahdy Mehraeen)

Kabul (AFP) - Argentine football star Lionel Messi has sent not one, but two jerseys to the five-year-old Afghan boy who became an Internet sensation last month when he was pictured wearing a plastic bag with "Messi" scrawled on it in marker pen.

Murtaza Ahmadi travelled with his family from eastern Ghazni province to Kabul to receive the gifts sent by Messi through UNICEF, where he is a goodwill ambassador.

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi is

hoping to meet his idol Lionel

Messi (AFP Photo/Shah Marai)

"Murtaza couldn't stop smiling. He kept repeating: I love Messi," UNICEF Afghanistan spokesman Denise Shepherd-Johnson told AFP.

Messi autographed the jerseys, writing "With much love" in Spanish on them, and added a football to the treasure trove, UNICEF said.

Purchasing a Messi jersey was beyond the means of Murtaza's poor family, members of the persecuted ethnic Hazara minority living in volatile Ghazni, near Kabul.

His elder brother Homayoun, 15, improvised the blue-and-white-striped plastic shirt with Messi's name scrawled in black marker, and posted the photos of Murtaza wearing it on Facebook in mid-January.

The image touched a chord with football fans around the world, and earned Murtaza the sobriquet "little Messi" on social media.

The Afghan Football Federation had said Messi was in contact with them to arrange a meeting with Murtaza as soon as possible, with the Spanish embassy in Kabul telling AFP it would do whatever possible to facilitate.

Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi earned the nickname "little Messi" 

after pictures went viral of him wearing an improvised shirt made out

of a plastic bag (AFP Photo)

But a source close to Messi's entourage said earlier this month they could neither confirm nor deny the speculation regarding a possible meeting.

Setting up a meeting in Afghanistan, in the grip of a fierce Taliban insurgency, is fraught with security challenges.

Football and cricket are the two most popular sports in the war-ravaged country -- but sports were rarely played under Taliban rule, and the football stadium in Kabul was a notorious venue for executions, stonings and mutilations.