Chronicle on Cuba - January
2005
Highlights
Domestic Affairs: Cuba's Council of State announces that elections will be held in April to choose delegates of municipal assemblies of People's Power. Efforts aimed at raising educational standards are being debated during the Plenary Meeting of the Communist Party’s Provincial Committee, held in Havana. International drug traffickers coming through Cuba have become more sophisticated in the way they transport cocaine and marijuana, customs officials say.
Economy: Cuba predicts a smaller sugar harvest for 2005 because of drought. Tourism to Cuba increased eight per cent in 2004. Iran offers Cuba a 20 million euros line of credit during sessions of the 10th Joint Economic Commission held in Havana. The drought affecting Cuba since 2003 has cost the country $834 million pesos in economic losses so far.
Foreign Affairs: Cuba resumes diplomatic contacts with European Union nations. A new accord between Venezuela and Cuba to cooperate in judicial affairs is stirring debate over whether the agreement could be used by the Cuban government to pursue its critics in Venezuela. European Union foreign ministers agree to end a freeze on high-level contacts with the Cuban government.
US-Cuba Relations: The US Supreme Court rules that Cuban nationals held in indefinite detention in US jails must be freed. President Bush maintains the ban on lawsuits by US citizens whose property was taken by the Cuban government. US Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice warn about the "close association" between Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. |
