Chronicle on Cuba - February
2005
Highlights:
Domestic Affairs: Havana's International Book Fair opens its doors in San Pedro de La Cabaña fortress. Cuba bans smoking in public places. The wives of several Cuban dissidents march to Revolution Plaza to demand amnesty for all political prisoners. Cuban officials declare their fight against drugs as a national security issue.
Economy: Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are suffering the consequences of the severe drought that has been punishing the island since 2003. The Cuban Ministry of Tourism passes a resolution that regulates relations between the more than 100,000 Cubans who work in the tourism industry and "foreign personnel." Cuban enterprises can no longer issue checks in excess of $5,000 convertible pesos without prior authorization from the "Committee for Approval of Convertible Currency Expenditures".
Exile Community: Cuban writer and Miguel de Cervantes Award winner, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, dies in London.
Foreign Affairs: Fidel Castro expresses disdain for what was meant to be a conciliatory gesture by the European Union with regards to the lifting of diplomatic sanctions, saying Cuba does not need Europe. Cuban vice president Carlos Lage attends the 1st Economic Cooperation and China-Caribbean Forum held in Jamaica. Dominica's Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, holds talks with Fidel Castro. Cuba’s National Information Agency announces that Felipe Pérez Roque will be leading the Cuban delegation attending Uruguay’s president-elect Tabaré Vázquez’s inauguration.
US-Cuba Relations: A group of US senators presents a bill to Congress seeking to clarify a law that permits the sale of agricultural produce and food to Cuba. Fidel Castro warns the US against plotting to kill Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez. The US Treasury Department rules that American exports to the island cannot leave US ports until Havana pays cash. A Cuban government tobacco company loses its right to the Cohiba cigar name in the US.
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