Pilip was educated as an economist, before entering politics in the Christian Democratic Party (KDS) after the fall of Communism in the Czech Republic.

[3] Pilip is married to Lucie Pilipova, who was a foreign ministry spokesperson, until she left the role when her husband became chairman of the KDS to avoid any conflict of interest.

[5] In the second half of 1997 pressure built on the prime minister Václav Klaus, over a donation to the Civic Democrats from a businessman who had recently gained a significant stake in a company privatised by the government.

[15] The detention of Pilip and Bubenik caused international outrage, with countries in Europe and Latin America calling for their release, and relations between Cuba and the Czech Republic broke down over the issue.

[17] Meanwhile Ivan Pilip's wife, Lucie, came to Cuba and met her husband while he was being detained in Havana and called for international help to obtain his release.

[1] However the Cuban government said they had been "conspiring against the revolution" and the official Communist Party newspaper, Granma, called them "agents working for the Cuban-American Mafia in the United States.

"[18] At the beginning of February the president of the Czech Senate, Petr Pithart came to Cuba and met the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, for six hours to try and obtain the release of Pilip and Bubenik.