Chronicle on Cuba - July 2004

Security

July 2: Cuba has ordered a study of its military recruitment program, hoping to enlist more young men in the armed forces during a period in which authorities say they are increasingly concerned about a US-led military attack. A special commission to "study, propose and control (military) recruitment policies and their ties with the nation's education program" will be created under a decree signed by Fidel Castro and his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro. "In the last years, the politico-military situation has deteriorated considerably, creating a new situation that has elevated international tensions against our country," the text reads. Although the decree does not single out the United States, Cuban authorities in recent months repeatedly have expressed concern that the United States might attack. Officials in Washington repeatedly have insisted that there are no plans for an American military attack on Cuba. (AP, 11/7/04)

July 14: Cuba's Defense Minister, Raul Castro, received a high-level military delegation from Vietnam. Granma newspaper reports that Colonel General Nguyen Huy Hieu, Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister, and his delegation held "friendly and cordial" talks in Havana with the Cuban military leader who stressed the importance of this visit and others by representatives from Vietnam. During the meeting, Lieutenant General Alvaro Lopez Miera, Deputy Minister of the FAR General Staff, highlighted how the example of the Vietnamese people’s resistance against US aggression has influenced the training of Cuban soldiers and officers. (Radio Habana Cuba, Prensa Latina, 14/7/04)