Chronicle on Cuba - January 2004

Highlights

Domestic Affairs: Cuba announces and then postpones new legislation guiding the Internet. The Young Communists Union (UJC), prepares for its 8 th congress. Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo requests his legal resident status from Cuban authorities.

Economy: Cuban anti-cancer drugs are introduced to the European market. The number of foreign companies engaged in joint ventures with Cuba decrease.

Exile Community: Cubans residing abroad will be exempted from acquiring a visitor entry permit to the island.

Foreign Affairs: Orthodox Christians Patriarch, Bartholomew I, visits the Cuban capital. The III Hemispheric Meeting Against the Free Trade of the Americas Agreement (FTAA) takes place in Havana. Amnesty International adds four more Cubans to its list of "prisoners of conscience".

Security: Cuba starts 2004 with a reinforcement of its military defenses.

Terrorism: The trial of four Cuban exiles, accused of a plot to assassinate Fidel Castro, is postponed indefinitely.

US-Cuba Relations: US officials announce the suspension of bilateral migration talks with Cuba. The US accuses Cuba and Venezuela of trying to destabilize the region. The Carter Center meets with a dozen US-based Cuban exile groups.Fidel Castro accuses George Bush of plotting to assassinate him.