By: Teo A. Babun, Jr.
Cuba-Caribbean Development Co., Ltd.
A Division of T. Babun Group, Inc.
All rights reserved

3 January Radio Rebelde reports on an editorial in the weekly Trabajadores which points out that 1995 will be a key period for the Cuban people to experience consolidation of the economic, political and social measures approved in 1994. The editorial warns that Cuba cannot afford to miss the opportunity to turn 1995 into a key period for reorganizing the economy, re-establishing the capacity for development and improving the population's standard of living.

10 January A senior Russian government official, Sergei Tsyplakov, the head of a government department responsible for foreign economic relations, says at parliamentary hearings that Russia is considering fresh raw sugar imports from Cuba and a new trade protocol for this year despite problems in implementing a 1994 oil-for-sugar barter deal.

10 January The Honduran government announces a plan to open an Office of Special Interests in Cuba, in a move interpreted as a major first step to reestablishing diplomatic relations which were broken in 1962. The office would deal with trade, immigration and cultural issues.

17 January Cuba begins a two-day cooperation meeting with the regional Caribbean group Caricom, hoping the organization will further strengthen ties by setting up a trade and economic office in Havana but Caricom reacts warily to the Cuban offer. Mr Edwin Carrington, Caricom secretary-general, says such a move would have to be evaluated and questions whether the current level of trade between Cuba and Caricom (around Dollars 35m in 1994) justified the opening of a trade office in Havana.

18 January Immigration talks between the U.S. and Cuba resume in New York, the Cuban delegation headed by Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly of the People's Government. The fate of 160,000 Cubans who have requested U.S. visas and thousands more at refugee camps is expected to be among the issues discussed. The talks are the second review of the September 9, 1994 accord under which Cuba pledged to stop boat people from trying to flee to the shores of Florida in return for Washington's promise to allow at least 20,000 Cubans to legally immigrate each year.

19 January The United States and Cuba end two days of talks with Washington asking to increase its staff in Havana to process the flood of Cubans applying for visas, U.S and Cuba pledging to stop the exodus of Cubans aboard makeshift rafts trying to reach the shores of Florida. "We agreed that progress has been made over the past months in ensuring that migration between our two countries is safe, legal and orderly," says Dennis Hays, the State Department's coordinator for Cuban affairs who led the U.S. delegation.

19 January #9; Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans meets with President Fidel Castro and says afterwards Cuba should continue its economic reform process and make efforts to "work away" on human rights issues.

25 January Cuban Carlos Alberto Mas Zavala becomes Cuba's first ambassador to Panama since 1990, when the government of former President Guillermo Endara was installed following a U.S. invasion.

24 January The Cuban government announces the removal of eight cabinet-level officials dealing with the economy in a move to bolster economic reforms now under way: Lionel Soto Prieto, vice president of the Council of Ministers; Antonio Rodriguez Maurell, minister of economy and planning, replaced by Osvaldo Martinez Martinez, director of the Center for Research on the World Economy, CIEM; Hector Rodriguez Llompar, president of the National Bank, replaced by Francisco Soberon Valdes, head of Acemex, a Cuban state enterprise; Francisco Linares Calvo, minister of labor and social security, replaced by Salvador Valdes Mesa, the second secretary of the Cuban Workers' Federation; Jorge Fernandez Cuervo-Vincent, fisheries vice minister, replaced by Orlando Felipe Rodriguez Romay, deputy transport minister; Eddy Fernandez Boada, light industry minister, replaced by Jesus Perez Othon, deputy basic industries minister; Manuel Vila Sosa, internal trade minister, replaced by Barbara Castillo Cuesta, deputy light industries minister ; Jose Naranjo-Morales, minister of government and longtime senior aide to Fidel Castro, replaced by Wilfredo Lopez Rodriguez, deputy chief of Castro's coordination and support team.

25 January Prensa Latina reports that in an interview published by Granma, Carlos Lage, executive secretary of the Council of Ministers, refers to the recent cabinet changes by saying that it a matter of "favoring the reorganization of the state apparatus with the participation of other valuable cadres" and that the objective was to "make it more rational, more energetic, more efficient, less costly and adjusted to the conditions we face today."

25 January The Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives holds a hearing on the Cuban tugboat sinking of July 13, 1994.27 January Cuba for the first time offers foreigners the possibility of buying property, rather than renting from the state. It is reported that the National Housing Institute distributed a circular to foreign embassies and businesses in Havana announcing plans to build new apartment blocks in joint ventures with foreign companies and sell them to foreigners. The circular mentions the newly formed Cuban Real Estate Association.

28 January Carlos Lage, vice-president of the Council of State, pointed out that the Cuban economy experienced a growth of approximately 1 per cent during 1994 and added that Cuba would not abandon the socialist model in which the state plays a vital role.

29 January #9; Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina holds talks in Pyongyang with North Korean Foreign Minister Kim Yong Nam.

30 January #9; U.S. officials say U.S. forces will begin transporting 7,500 Cuban boat people from Panama to the U.S. Guantanamo Bay base.

31 January #9; France agrees to increase export credits to Havana during a visit by Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage. Export credits available to Cuba increase by 50 million francs ($ 9.4 million) this year, thus raising the credit administered by the state Coface export credit guarantee agency for Cuba by about seven percent from the current 700 million francs ($ 130 million). France also renews a government guarantee worth $ 120 million to Cuba for wheat-for-sugar barter deals in 1995.

1 February The first batch of thousands of Cuban refugees due to return Guantanamo Bay from camps in Panama arrive at the naval base under tight security.

1 February Argentine Senator Antonio Cafiero, winding up a visit to Cuba, says at a news conference he told President Fidel Castro his country would like closer relations with the communist-ruled Caribbean island.

5 February #9; Radio Havana Cuba reports that the Economic European Community will present Cuba's eastern provinces of Las Tunas and Camaguey with a humanitarian aid donation. The donation was collected by a group of international non- governmental organizations such as Physicians without Borders, Caritas and the Spanish Association for Cooperation with the South. Most of the aid is for hospitals and clinics.

7 February The State Department says Cuba is violating its migration agreement with the United States by charging U.S.-bound refugees up to 1,000 dollars to leave the country.

8 February In Beijing, during a visit by Cuba's Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina, Chinese President Jiang Zemin expresses support for Cuban leader Fidel Castro by calling for closer ties between Beijing and Havana and by extending an invitation to Castro to visit China at his convenience.

9 February Key members of Congress, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms, propose to tighten U.S. sanctions against Cuba by taking aim at foreigners doing business with Fidel Castro's government. If passed the legislation would include barring any U.S. government of private business dealings with any foreigner who purchases U.S. property confiscated by the Cuban government. Other sponsors of the bill introduced by Helms include House International Relations Committee chairman Ben Gilman and Representative Robert Torricelli.

9 February The largest British trade mission to visit Cuba holds talks in Havana on development financing and investment opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, sugar production, energy, manufacturing and tourism. Proposals include setting up a Pounds 150,000 (Dollars 234,000) British Partnership Scheme to fund consulting work, and launching a Cuba initiative by the Caribbean Trade Advisory Group of the British Overseas Trade Board.

9 February In a meeting in Kiev with Carlos Dotres, a member of Cuba's state council, the Ukrainian parliament says the country is willing to cooperate with Cuba and it is proposed that the two countries sign a barter trade agreement under which ukrainian food will be exchanged for cuban medicines.

13 February Cuban dissident Rodolfo Gonzalez and member of the Committee for Human Rights arrives in Madrid as a political refugee after spending 28 months in prison in Cuba on charges of spreading false information about the Caribbean nation.

14 February The Cuban film ''Strawberry and Chocolate'' is nominated by the Academy of Arts and Sciences for an Oscar in the best foreign film category.

14 February #9; Granma reports that Cuba's government plans to regulate more strictly private entrepreneurs. The report says government inspectors will check workers for licenses and make sure they have paid their taxes and that violators will be punished with heavy fines.

15 February Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch testifies before the International Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights; Cuba is discussed.

15 February It is reported that Pedro Ross, president of the Cuban Workers Union and a member of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo, stressed in an interview that there was a need for a flexible labor market amid Cuba's current economic reforms; He says that Cuban workers, no longer guaranteed a meal ticket for life in state industry, will have to look increasingly at areas such as self-employment if they want a job.

16 February Cuban media report that Cuba and Russia have signed a protocol on military and technical cooperation involving the electronic monitoring station at Lourdes used to gather intelligence information in the Caribbean region. The accord was signed in Moscow, with Deputy Defence Minister Julio Casas Reguiero, leading the Cuban delegation, and Colonel General M.P. Koliesnikov, the chief of the Russian delegates.

16 February #9; Ricardo Cabrisas and Wu Yi, the foreign trade ministers of Cuba and China respectively, preside over the opening of the Seventh Session of the Sino- Cuban Mixed Economic-Commercial Commission in Beijing. They highlight the satisfactory progress of their relations and their intention to continue to promote them. China reports that Sino-Cuban bilateral trade totalled 267m dollars in 1994.

19 February Cuba offers Iran an unspecified amount of sugar in exchange for one million barrels of oil every year; the offer is made in Tehran by Cuban Economic Cooperation Minister Ernesto Melendez to Iranian Petroleum Minister Golam Reza Adqazadeh who agrees that bilateral relations should be expanded but gives no word on the offer.

19 February #9; The British Intelligence Economist Unit publishes a report "Cuba: Prospects for Reform Trade and Investment."

21 February Four documents concerning economic and trade cooperation between China and Cuba are signed in Beijing between Wu Yi, Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, and her Cuban counterpart Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz.

1 March The head of the US Interests Section in Havana, Joe Sullivan, says that the United States has granted 13,000 immigration visas to Cubans since the Cuban-US migration agreement was signed on September 9 in New York.

2 March The OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urges the United States to end restrictions on shipping food and medicine to Cuba. The commission says the ban violates international law. The appeal is made in response to a petition filed last fall by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights which alleged that the U.S. restrictions cause widespread suffering on the island.

2 March Vietnam signs a trade agreement with Cuba and offers to share its experience in free-market economic reforms.

2 March French firms during a trade mission to Cuba announce a string of projects on the communist-ruled island including plans for joint ventures or associations in the housing, construction and sugar sectors; Jean-Pierre Desgeorges, vice president of the leading French employers' group the CNPF, says that some 10 new joint ventures would be agreed upon either during the remainder of the trip or shortly after, and "numerous other contracts were in preparation"

2 March Lawyers acting for Canadian financial groups hope to set up a $ 14.3 million investment fund that will take advantage of Cuba's current openness toward foreign investment in its crippled economy; Jeffrey Burns, international chairman of Toronto law firm Burns Schwartz, says the firm hopes to use experience gained in emerging east European economies to set up the Cuban Development Fund Ltd., which will be listed on the Toronto stock exchange.

3 March Cuba signs an agreement with the French firm Electricite de France on cooperation in the nuclear power industry. The agreement concerns the finalization of the construction of a nuclear power station at Juragua, 300 kilometers from Havana. The agreement, signed by the Cuban Ministry of Basic Industry and a visiting deputy chairman of the National Council of French Businessmen (CNPF), Jean Pierre George, envisages work to diagnose the nuclear power station to find out whether the station's construction can be completed in accordance with the necessary safety requirements. Upon determining the cost of the work, Havana is expected to suggest its terms for the implementation of the project.

3 March Fidel Castro addresses the closing session of the Sixth Cuban Women's Federation (FMC) Congress, at the Havana Convention Center.

5 March It is reported that in an earlier interview, Vilma Espin, head of the Cuban Women's Federation, says that Cuban women offering themselves to tourists as prostitutes are putting their country to shame. She says, "It is painful for us all to see the cases of prostitution that have appeared among weak people, families without ethics, girls who are a great shame for the country.''

6 March It is reported that in an interview with the mayor of Havana, Conrado Martinez, in the weekly trade union newspaper, Trabajadores, speaks of the housing problem in Havana as one the major problems in the city. Havana's mayor says that houses and apartments in the Cuban capital are falling apart faster than city authorities can build new ones. Out of a total stock of 556,000 dwellings, 49 percent were in a "regular or poor state," Martinez says. Of those, some 134,000 dwellings could be improved, while nothing could be done to save the other 88,000.

7 March The United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva condemns Cuba for abusing "fundamental freedoms" and expresses deep concern over reports of arbitrary arrest and mistreatment of human rights activists. By a vote of 23 for, eight against and 23 abstentions, the commission adopts a resolution sponsored by the United States and several European countries calling on Cuban authorities to respect "freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and to refrain immediately from detaining and imprisoning human rights activists" and others peacefully exercising their rights.

7 March It is reported that administration officials say President Clinton's foreign policy advisors are recommending that he take steps toward easing relations with Cuba by revoking some economic sanctions adopted in August.

7 March #9; White House press secretary Mike McCurry tells reporters that is an "ongoing discussion" within the administration on the possibility of easing certain sanctions imposed on Cuba last August but there is "no suggestion" that the long-standing embargo be relaxed. Recently imposed restrictions on remittances and on travel have been under review, McCurry says, commenting that these sanctions were at the "margin" of U.S. government policy. Under a draft recommendation, a ban on remittances to Cuban citizens from American households would be lifted along with some restrictions on travel by Americans to Cuba. In addition, the advisers recommend issuing a list of steps that President Fidel Castro of Cuba could take to qualify for a "calibrated response" by the United States. That could lead to talks on issues that have separated the two countries for more than 30 years.

7 March The French government is granting Cuba a credit of 140 million dollars, the French ambassador to Havana, Jean-Raphael Duffor, tells Cuban state television. The credit will be used to help Cuba purchase equipment for industry and the agricultural sector. The loan is 10 million dollars larger than originally planned.

12 March In Copenhagen, Fidel Castro addresses the World Summit for Social Development.

13 March Fidel Castro begins a three-day visit to France, his first trip to the country since coming to power in 1959; he tells President Francois Mitterrand that his invitation marks the end of "apartheid" against Cuba; and in an hour-long speech at UNESCO, Castro calls the U.S. embargo "a brutal violation of the human rights of a whole people."

14 March #9; Cuba's Radio Progresso reports that Cuba and Germany ratified an accord on air service to come into effect on April 13. The agreement, the first between the governments of Cuba and the united Germany, lays down routes, airline companies, rates, services and customs tariff exceptions for aircraft, fuel and other equipment.

14 March A Latin American seminar to ban and stop chemical weapons throughout the world begins in Havana. The meeting's goal is for Latin American countries to think about the preliminary steps to take in implementing the treaty which prohibits the development, production, storage and use of chemical weapons and calls for their destruction.

15 March In an interview in the Davar newspaper in Israel, Fidel Castro is quoted as saying that "Cuba wants to do business with Israel, even in the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries."

15 March #9; Fidel Castro agrees to allow a team of human rights investigators to visit his country to probe cases of alleged political imprisonment. Castro makes the pledge during a meeting with Danielle Mitterrand, the wife of the French president, who heads a foundation campaigning for human rights, France-Libertes: "I've promised to examine these cases that I don't know about, then ultimately allow a mission of international associations'' including Mrs. Mitterrand," says Castro; In a communique, Mrs. Mitterrand says Castro "accepted in principle" a request by France-Libertes and Amnesty International to send a fact-finding group to Cuba, pending ''verification of the list'' of political prisoners..

17 March Prensa Latina reports that Raul Amado Blanco, vice-president of the Cuban National Bank, announced in Havana that six foreign bank branches were established in Cuba as part of the island's process of economic and commercial opening up. Amado Blanco added that the Cuban authorities were considering new licensing requests for other branches. The Dutch ING Bank opened in Cuba was followed in the last few months by Banco Exterior de Espana; the National Bank of Canada; the Netherlands Caribbean Bank, a Cuban-Dutch bank established in Curacao; Lebanon's Fransa Bank; and Havana International Bank, based in London.

17 March A visit by the People's Republic of China businessmen to Cuba ends with the signing of agreements to purchase merchant ships, import shoes and establish a large number of contacts between Chinese and Cuban businessmen.

18 March The Latin American news agency Prensa Latina and its counterpart in Hungary, the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), ratify in Havana an agreement to join efforts to strengthen relations between the two institutions. The agreement ... proposes, among other things, an exchange of their respective news and photographic materials. According to the agreement, they may also reciprocally request information on specific topics when there are events of special interest...

19 March Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina leaves for Canada for a five-day official visit at the invitation of his Canadian colleague Andre Ouellet.

19 March Cuban filmmakers, who have lost most state support with the collapse of the Caribbean country's economy, strike a deal with Spain to finance 12 films in the next four years

21 March #9; Prensa Latina reports that The National Assembly of the People's Government of Cuba will hold public hearings in April to debate bills, collect more information on others and analyze other issues of national interest. A Citizenship Bill, the application of the Defence Law, the instillment of values among the younger generation, and the problems of production and quality of shoes will be included on the agenda the upcoming meetings

22 March Cuban Radio Rebelde reports that the International Atomic Energy Agency has earmarked over half of its 1995-96 technical cooperation budget for priority development projects in Cuba. The 1.3 million dollar aid package will subsidize 11 projects. Agriculture, industry and radioactive marking of monoclonal antibodies are some of the areas that are to benefit. Projects include developing national alternative energy sources and nuclear technologies in agriculture, the application of nucleonic instruments and the treatment of low level radioactive waste

.22 March The Spanish banking group Argentaria launches the first real estate venture in Cuba involving foreign capital- a project to restore an old commercial building in Havana and convert it into office space for rent in hard currency. Inmobiliaria Aurea S.A., a joint venture between Argentaria's real estate unit Unidad Inmobiliaria and the Cuban state undertake the project.

22 March A subcommittee of the House Committee on International Relations today approves the Cuban Liberty Democratic Solidarity Act of 1995. The bill H.R.927 would seek international sanctions against the Castro government in Cuba and plan for the support of a transition government leading to a democratically elected government in Cuba. The measure would direct the President to take immediate steps to apply the sanctions contained in the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 against countries assisting or trading sugar with Cuba. The President would be required to submit a report to the appropriate Congressional committees on the progress toward the withdrawal of personnel of any independent state of the former Soviet Union from Cuba. The States that are determined to aid Cuba would be the object of U.S. sanctions

.23 March #9; Ottawa formally protests pending U.S. legislation to penalize Canadian companies operating in the U.S. and investing in or trading with Cuba; Foreign Affairs Minister Andre Ouellet says after meeting with Roberto Robaina: "Certainly we cannot accept that our Canadian firms doing business in other countries are restricted by [laws from] foreign nations."

23 March Cuban embassy officials in Havana say a bilateral trade accord for this year between Cuba and China includes a contract for the delivery of 400,000 tons of Cuban raw sugar but foresees no nickel shipments for the first time in several years.

23 March The Financial Times reports that Cuba is preparing a new foreign investment law it hopes will attract more overseas capital and the legislation under study would seek to simplify and modernize foreign investment procedures and eliminate some of the bottlenecks and rigidities that potential investors have complained about. The new legislation, expected to be ready by summer, would revise and update the existing Decree Law 50, which first established a legal framework for foreign investment in 1982. The revised legislation would address sensitive issues such as the process of negotiation and approval of investments, increased shares for foreign partners in joint ventures with the Cuban state and mechanisms for hiring and laying off workers.

25 March Cuba signs the Tlatelolco Treaty banning the proliferation of nuclear arms in Latin America and the Caribbean.1 April The Cuban government announces that muncipal council elections will be held throughout the communist-ruled island on July 9. Under Cuba's 1992 constitution, municipal elections are to be held every two and a half years. Elections to the national and provincial legislatures are held every five years.

1 April Defense Minister Raul Castro tells the Military Council of the Armed Forces that "the main economic, political, ideological and military task we have ahead continues to be the production of foods, including sugar." His remarks are published by the ruling Communist Party newspaper Granma.

3 April The official news agency, AIN, reports that Cuba spent $ 3 million last year providing hard currency bonus payments to workers in key sectors of the economy.

3 April According to a report in the Cuban daily, Granma, the opening of the agricultural free markets six months ago did not cause the predicted increase food production.

5 April The European Union urges the United States not to adopt the bill proposed by Jesse Helms that would penalize other nations or non-U.S. companies that do business with Cuba. A statement issued by the E.U. said: "it opposes the adoption of any measure with extraterritorial scope that goes counter to the rules of the World Trade Organization."

6 April #9; A State Department attempt to have two Cuban diplomats tried for assaulting New York policemen is thwarted after Cuba rejected a U.S. request for waivers of diplomatic immunity. Department spokesman David Johnson says Cuban action means the diplomats will be asked to leave the country

.6 April U.S. State Department official says U.S. and Cuban representatives will meet again on April 17-18 in New York to discuss the refugee agreement reached by the two countries last September to allow 20,000 Cuban immigrants a year into the United States.

6 April It is reported that the vice-minister of tourism, Miguel Bruguera, estimates that the tourism sector will generate US $1 billion in revenue this year as a result of growth in the number of foreign visitors.

7 April Cuba and Chile renew diplomatic relations, which were interrupted in 1973 following the coup d'etat that overthrew socialist President Salvador Allende.

10 April The weekly, Trabajadores, says the sugar industry lost $1.6 billion over the past three years when harvests reached historical lows.

12 April The United States expels two Cuban U.N. diplomats on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting New York City policemen last summer and give them until midnight Sunday to leave the country; Cuba responds by condemning the United States for expelling two Cuba diplomats over an alleged assault on New York City police officers last month calling the move "ridiculous."

12 April Cuba today denies having threatened the United States with a possible new exodus of illegal immigrants if the anti-Cuban bill sponsored by US legislators Jesse Helms and Dan Burton is approved, a local source states. Rafael Dausa, the head of the Foreign Ministry's Analysis Department, tells Prensa Latina that "it is not Cuba's policy to threaten anyone."

12 April Ricardo Alarcon, the National Assembly of the People's Government president, arrives in New York City heading the Cuban delegation to take part in the next round of negotiations on migration issues with the United States.

12 April The conditions for standing and voting in July Municipal Assembly elections are broadcast on Cuban radio, the text as follows: "Every politically-aware Cuban citizen has the right to be elected as a delegate to...the People's Government in the forthcoming...elections. According to electoral law, a candidate must be at least 16 years old to hold a delegate's two-and-a-half-year term of office, and can be removed from office by voters if he fails to fulfil his obligations. The electoral law stipulates that individuals certified mentally disabled, on probation or serving jail terms are unqualified to exercise their right to vote."

13 April Canada, France, Britain and the 15-nation European Union initiate an unusual campaign to block the Helms-Burton bill in the U.S. Congress that would tighten the trade embargo against Cuba, saying the bill would unjustifiably punish foreign companies that have dealings with Havana.

13 April It is reported that two foreign groups, Italy's Stet International and its Mexican partner Grupos Domos, have completed the purchase of a 49 per cent stake in Cuba's telecom company, Etecsa. The deal values Etecsa at Dollars 1.44bn, making the investment the largest in Cuba by a foreign venture.

18 April The foreign minister of the 14-nation Caribbean Community, Caricom, says the grouping opposes a proposed U.S. legislation intended to punish Cuba's trading partners, the Helms-Burton bill.

19 April In Prague, Carlos Alberto Montaner, president of the opposition exile Cuban Liberal Union, says that the internationalization of the embargo was doomed and that the he hopes that Helms's proposal would be rejected by Congress. He also says that the Czech experience could be used in Cuba's transition to democracy.

21 April Cuban dissident and human rights activist Francisco Chaviano is sentenced on Friday to a 15-year jail term for falsifying documents to help people obtain visas to the United States; the United States reacts by urging the Cuban government to release him. The State Department says: "We call on the Cuban government either to dismiss the charges against Mr. Chaviano and release him or to present the charges in open court in accordance with internationally recognized standards of jurisprudence."

25 April The Pentagon is studies whether some of the 21,000 Cuban refugees languishing at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be allowed to enlist in the military.

25 April China's ambassador to Cuba says that relations between the two nations are excellent and that trade and technical collaboration is increasing.

26 April Cuba's Deputy Tourism Minister Eduardo Rodriguez de la Vega issues forecasts that the number of tourists visiting Cuba to increase to 2.5 million in the next five years.

27 April A french human rights group led by first lady Danielle Mitterand, France-Libertes, says it is visiting Cuba to inspect the condition of political prisoners.

27 April Canada and Mexico agree to work together to oppose the passage by the U.S. Congress of legislation to punish third countries that trade with Cuba. Both countries find the bill (S 381) sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to be inappropriate and inconsistent with the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

2 May Clinton administration, reversing policy on Cuba, says it will resettle in the United States nearly all of the 21,000 Cubans now held at Guantanamo. Attorney General Janet Reno says from now on Cubans picked up at sea would be taken back to Cuba for first time in 29 years of dealings with Castro.

3 May Foreign Trade Minister Ricardo Cabrisas arrives in Moscow in response to an invitation from Russian authorities to participate in a new round of talks on economic and trade relations between Cuba and Russia; Sugar-for-oil deal concluded: Moscow agrees to supply Cuba with 3m tonnes of oil this year in exchange for 1m tonnes of raw sugar; Moscow and Cuba also agree to finish the Juragua nuclear power plant project, launched in cooperation with the former USSR and frozen due to financial problems two-and-a-half years ago

.9 May #9; The U.S. Coast Guard returns thirteen Cubans who tried to reach the United States back to Cuba. These are the first boat people sent back to Cuba under the recent White House policy reversal.

9 May Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage has defines the rationalization of the labor force now under way in Cuba as " an effort to create job opportunities, relocate workers and provide better human and political treatment to them."

11 May The government of St. Kitts and Nevis establish diplomatic ties with Castro's regime.

12 May Cuba and Surinam re-established full diplomatic relations. The decision to re-establish ties at ambassadorial level after 12 years was taken during a visit by Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina to Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam.

12 May Cuba's Radio Progresso reports on new economy, finance and health ministers named by the Council of State: the Economy and Planning Minister Martinez Martinez is replaced by the Finance and Prices Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Garcia; Manuel Millares Rodriguez, the first finance and prices vice-minister, is promoted to the finance and prices minister; and the Public Health Minister Julio Tejas Perez is replaced by Carlos Dotes Martinez, the director of the William Soler paediatric hospital.

14 May It is reported that in an effort to make Cuba's sagging economy more efficient, the government is abandoning one of the most cherished concepts of the communist state, the guarantee of full lifetime employment, and has begun layoffs that are expected to eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs. By official estimate, as many as 800,000 people, or more than one-fifth of Cuba's total work force, may eventually be affected by the new policy, which is intended to reduce overstaffing, reduce state subsidies and attract foreign investment.

14 May A Colombian trade delegation of 22 businessmen from various Colombian sectors arrive in Havana led by Lazaro Mejia, the manager of Proexport (Export Promotion Fund) who emphasized that priority would be given to the construction, metal work, tourism, education, health, ceramics and crafts sectors.

15 May President Fidel Castro's government announces it will convene a second conference here to try to normalize its often tense relations with Cuban exiles worldwide; Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina said the conference dubbed "The Nation and Emigration," referring to exile communities, was planned for November 3-6 in Havana as a follow-up to the first meeting of the same name in April 1994.

18 May It is reported that at study sponsored by the Pentagon says that Cuban President Fidel Castro stands a good chance of keeping his hold on power over the rest of the decade if he continues a policy of gradual, modest economic reform.

18 May The president of Mexico's ruling PRI, Maria de los Angeles Moreno, arrives in havana to begin a 48-hour official visit to Cuba.

18 May The House of Representatives subcommittee on Western Hemispheric Affairs holds hearings on Cuba.

19 May #9; With an eye toward Fidel Castro's downfall, Miami businessman Jeb Bush announces that he will lead efforts by the International Republican Institute to produce guidelines for establishing democracy in Cuba. The 44-member Cuba Transition Committee - which Bush will chair - is made up of U.S. lawmakers, authors and Cuban-American activists.

22 May #9; Cuba's Roman Catholic bishops welcome the recent U.S.-Cuban accord on immigration but express deep concern over the hardship and discontent that made Cubans want to leave their country. In its first public comment on the immigration deal, the Catholic Bishops' Conference said the May 2 agreement was a "positive" step that would save lives. "But it is necessary to repeat our call for some of the deeper causes of Cuban migration to be addressed in future conversations," the bishops said in a statement.

23 May The foreign ministers of Russia and Cuba say they are eager to cement relations between the two countries on the basis of "respect and mutual economic interests." Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina's visit to Moscow "marks a step forward in the establishment of new relations founded on the historic friendship between the Russian and Cuban peoples," Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said upon meeting his Cuban counterpart. Both sign an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in combating illegal traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and their abuse. Commercial relations between the two countries are discussed

23 May #9; A French human rights, France Libertes, led by former First Lady Danielle Mitterrand, says Cuba has released six political prisoners including two prominent dissidents; U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns calls the report "good news" and "a step in the right direction." But he adds and that "It would appear that the Cuban regime remains determined to arrest and prosecute on state security grounds members of independent human rights organizations." Those released are Sebastian Arcos Bergnes who was sentenced in 1992 to four years and eight months in prison for "enemy propaganda"; Yndamiro Restano, sentenced to 10 years in May 1992 for "rebellion"; Agustin Figueredo; Pedro Castillo; Ismael Salvia; and Luis Henrique Gonzalez. France Libertes says a seventh prisoner, Omar del Pozo, is to be hospitalized.

25 May President Clinton announces the appointment of Richard Nuccio as a special adviser to the president and the secretary of state for Cuba.

25 May Cuba sets up a National Audit Office charged with overall financial supervision of all state enterprises, cooperatives and joint ventures with foreign firms that have a financial link with the Cuban state

30 May Cuba restates its will to promote integration with the Caribbean in the area of tourism, in which it has increased its participation in the region from 2.9 to 4.3 per cent during the last four years; Tourism Minister Osmany Ciienfuegos states that a multifaceted plan with Santo Domingo, Jamaica, Bahamas and Cancun is being developed and that the program will expand to all the Caribbean area to achieve a joint sustained development

.30 May Cuba's Radio Rebelde reports that the Holguin electricity generating plant is nearing completion.

30 May Francisco Soberon Valdes, minister president of the National Bank of Cuba, is quoted as saying that the national banking system of Cuba will be restructured into two types of banks, central and commercial, in order to conform to economic transformations taking place on the island.

31 May Cuba announces it has ratified an international convention against torture. This follows confirmed reports that political prisoners Sebastian Arcos Bergnes and Rolando Indamiro Restano were freed.1 June It is reported that Ricardo Alarcon, chairman of the Cuban National Assembly, that the Cuban government is preparing to legalize small family-operated businesses, and allow some professionals to work as consultants. Cuba also plans to tax these private ventures, which include thousands of clandestine restaurants and boarding houses already operating outside the law. Those taxes and license fees would be a new revenue source for a government badly in need of cash.

3 June Cuba's tax system is expanded to include new sectors and activities; Resolution 7 on payment of noncommercial tariffs and resolution 8 on migration paperwork taxes are both instituted by the minister of finance and prices.

3 June Radio Progreso reports that over 1,400 negotiation [as heard], operational and commercial contracts were signed by various Cuban and foreign enterprises during the Cuba-95 16th Tourism Convention, which concluded 2nd June at the Havana Convention Center.

5 June Plans for reform in Cuba's light industry sector are reported in Cuba's press.

6 June OAS Secretary General and former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria unexpectedly proposes during the annual OAS summit the readmission of Cuba; and other member states respond favorably.6 June Cubiertas y MZOV SA says it won a 1.4 bln peseta contract to refurbish the Lonja de Comercio building in Havana, Cuba. In a statement, Cubiertas said the building, which is to be turned into office blocks, is owned by Aurea SA, a holding company in which Argentaria, Corp Bancaria de Espana SA and Cuban company Habaguanex have stakes. Cubiertas says work on the building will last 14 months, and is the company's first contract in Cuba.

6 June Foreign Relations Minister Roberto Robaina emphasizes that Cuba would definitely not accept conditions being put on its return to the OAS.

7 June Cuba's chief of nuclear energy, Miguel Serrades Acoseta, says in Granma Weekly that an international team is expected to recommend that construction be renewed on the Juragua nuclear plant just 180 miles from Key West. Prompting concerns in the United States over the safety of the Soviet-made reactors at Juragua, Cuba's statement was the strongest sign so far that the deal with Russians is on again.

7 June The Economic Commission on Latin America (ECLA) releases a report on the Cuban economy which notes a growth in GDP.

8 June Hundreds of Cuban exiles rally in Washington Cuba's freedom and in support of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (the Helms-Burton bill).

8 June Clinton administration sources say the Cuban authorities have arrested Robert Vesco, a fugitive US financier who fled the United States more than two decades ago to avoid fraud charges.

10 June Prensa Latina airs interview with Ernesto Melendez, Cuban foreign investment and economic cooperation minister.

12 June Senior Chinese official Li Ruihuan arrives in Cuba, the first important visit by a Chinese leader since President Jiang Zemin's visit two years ago.

12 June Miguel Figueras, adviser to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation, says that Cuba has signed a letter of intent with the Mexican company Domos for the creation of the first industrial park in Cuba which will constitute a new type of foreign investment in Cuba and will generate new sources of employment.

13 June #9; Cuba moves closer to free markets allowing citizens to work privately in 19 job categories, including pet beauticians and appliance repairmen. The new jobs are added to 130 other occupations legalized since September 1993 as the communist country struggles to find jobs and provide services in its troubled economy. On the following day, the Cuban government adds restaurants Wednesday to its list of newly-authorized self-employment fields to ease the pain of recent job cuts that will leave 500,000 Cubans out of work.

13 June Cuban Vice-Foreign Minister Fernando Remirez de Estenoz and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Abbas Sharif opened official talks in Havana. Cuban-Iranian relations and other issues of mutual interest were discussed. The Iranian delegation is to visit areas of economic interest and meet other Cuban authorities.

13 June The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Treasury Department plans to prohibit four Canadian-Cuban companies from selling to or buying from the United States. The four companies are formed by the Canadian Metals company Sheritt Inc. and at least three are part of joint ventures with Compania General del Niquel, SA, Cuba's state nickel company. Sheritt is among the most aggressive companies investing in Cuba.

13 June Canada's Trade Ministry says the federal government will protect Canadian firms whose business activities could be threatened by their potential blacklisting by the U.S. Treasury Department.

14 June The Senate Foreign Relations Committee continues its consideration of legislation aimed at tightening the existing trade sanctions against Cuba, introduced earlier this year by Sen. Jesse A. Helms (R-NC), chairman of the committee. Three Republican presidential candidates, Bob Dole of Kansas, Phil Gramm of Texas, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, endorse the bill.

14 June Cuba's Roman Catholic bishops tell the government they are concerned about the jailing of a Pentecostal preacher last month and appeal to authorities to reconsider his sentence; the Catholic Bishops Conference say in a brief statement Wednesday that it had "expressed to the Cuban government its concern over the arrest and prison sentence of evangelical pastor Orson Vila."

14 June Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, a leading moderate critic of the Cuban government who spent 21 years in a Cuban jail for counter-revolution, arrives in Cuba for a visit that he said carried a "message of reconciliation."

14 June It is reported that the U.S. government has begun negotiations in Havana to repatriate fugitive financier Robert Vesco.

14 June It is reported that Cuba's financial weekly, Opciones, has informed that Mercedes Benz is planning to open an office in Havana.

15 June Cuba and Ukraine have reaffirm their will to increase bilateral relations with the signing of a trade protocol. The agreement is directed at streamlining commercial cooperation between the two countries.

15 June The Cuban government denies that the United States has formally requested the extradition of U.S. financier Robert Vesco, who is accused of fraud and drug trafficking.

15 June Two former presidents of Costa Rica and Ecuador, Oscar Arias and Osvaldo Hurtado, arrive in Havana as part of a delegation from the Inter-American Dialogue looking at the situation in Cuba and how to improve U.S.-Cuba relations; Arias ends his visit to Cuba with harsh criticism for the country's leadership, saying the Cuban people live in fear, frustration and uncertainty about their futures.

15 June Members of the U.S. Congress, led by Congressmen and women from the state of Florida, pressure President Clinton to do all he can do to block the completion of a nuclear power plant in Cuba; in a letter to the White House, 131 lawmakers call the plant a threat to the health and safety of the hemisphere.

16 June Alberta-based resource producer Sherritt Inc. says its has no intention of giving up its operations in Cuba just because of criticism from conservative politicians in the United States.

19 June The Financial Times reports that Vice President Carlos Lage has said the Cuba has produced 3.3m tonnes of sugar in its 1994-95 harvest, the lowest Cuban sugar crop in more than 50 years and its third disastrous crop in a row.

20 June The U.S. Congress House of Representatives votes for an amendment to slash by 15 million dollars the 595 million dollar aid package to be issued to Russia because of its supporting Cuba's efforts to resume the nuclear power plant project in Juragua.

21 June It is reported that Cuba has sent a note of protest to the venezuelan government over the visit of a mission from venezuela to the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo following an official mission of the venezuelan government to interview Cuban rafters being held in the military enclave who had asked for trips to venezuela. The Havana government considered the visit unacceptable because it would have meant recognizing Washington's authority over that part of the nation's territory.

23 June The Clinton administration and the Cuban Foreign Ministry say that the fourth round of US-Cuban migration talks will be held in Havana on July 17-18.24 June A Spanish military delegation visiting Cuba signs a protocol to allow officers of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces to attend courses at Spanish military training institutions for the first time.

26 June It is reported that the Cuban government has commissioned an investigation into the national employment situation, severely affected by the workforce restructuring currently underway; the Minister of Employment and Social Security, Salvador Valdes, declares that the survey would offer information on those needing work and where the vacancies are. The aim is to provide the government with a cross section of the nation's employment situation in both state, cooperative, private and mixed companies.

26 June Cuban Foreign Trade Minister Ricardo Cabrisas reports that Cuban exports grew by 18 per cent in 1994 and that the upward trend was maintained during the first half of 1995.

27 June German Federal Deputy Chancellor Dieter Spoeri arrives for a two-day visit to cuba at the invitation of Cuban Economic Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez. He is led by a delegation of parliamentarians and businessmen to the Caribbean island country to seek closer cooperation with it.

27 June Octavio Castilla, deputy minister of foreign investment and economic cooperation, says that the new law on investment in Cuba is completed and is undergoing review.

28 June The European Commission proposes that the 15 EU member states hold a political dialogue with Cuba to help bring about democracy in the Caribbean island nation; "A peaceful and successful transition to a market economy and political pluralism in Cuba necessarily hinges on the creation of new international and regional linkages for this country," says Manuel Marin, European Union commissioner for relations with Latin America.

28 June Cuban Labour Minister Salvador Valdez acknowledges that "a significant number" of people will lose their jobs on the island. The rationalization (dismissals) is being made gradually and in a regulated manner, and goes hand in hand with the search for new jobs while the economy improves.

28 June Cuban official sources say GDP growth in 1994 and progress shown by Cuban exports are signs of a recovery trend in the island's economy; Foreign Trade Minister Ricardo Cabrisas notes that the GDP registered a 0.7 per cent increase last year, while commercial trade rose by 9 per cent.

29 June It is reported that the Cuban government has contracted the Club of Paris to negotiate a restructuring of its $6.4 billion foreign debt.

29 June It is reported that Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori has personally invited Fidel Castro to attend his swearing-in ceremony next month; the pro-government newspaper Expreso quotes officials of the executive branch as saying Castro had accepted the invitation.

29 June Cuba and Caricom signed an agreement on market analysis and reciprocal cooperation regarding exportable products at the Expo-Caribe 95 international fair.

30 June The House International Relations Committee June 30 begins its consideration of HR 927, the "Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act."

1 July Cuba takes another very cautious step to liberalize its labor market by announcing that from now on university graduates may seek licenses to practice the some 140 trades and services authorized for self- employment.

3 July Julian Rizo Alvarez, the top leader of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in the eastern province of Camaguey, is dismissed from his responsibilities during a meeting presided over by Raul Castro, second secretary of the PCC.

3 July Two Cubans trying to flee to the United States on jet-propelled water scooters run out of gas and are picked up by a cruise ship in the Bahamas and returned to Cuba.

3 July Cuba reports that it will begin setting up free trade zones to facilitate foreign investment in product assembly for export.

3 July Cuban authorities say they have freed Donald Nixon Jr., the nephew of the late U.S. President Richard Nixon who was arrested in the Cuban house of fugitive financier Robert Vesco.

4 July Sweden has decides to resume aid to Cuba, suspended in 1992 by the then center-right government.

5 July Fidel Castro meets with Carlos Castillo Peraza, the leader of the main Mexican opposition party, the National Action Party (PAN), who is in Cuba for a three-day visit

6 July The Washington Post reports that the Clinton administration is considering a limited easing of travel restrictions to Cuba over the coming weeks.

6 July Cuba's Agriculture Minister Alfredo Jordan begins an official visit to Vietnam Thursday to study the agricultural reforms in place since economic liberalization.

6 July The U.S. State Department says it is weighing the possibility of allowing U.S. news organizations to open news bureaus in Cuba.

7 July Fidel Castro receives a delegation from the European Parliament in Havana to study the possibility of increasing ties between Cuba and the EC. The delegation is led by Stanley Newens, the chairman of the Central America and Mexico committee.

9 July Cubans go to the polls to elect more than 14,000 municipal officials in a vote touted by the government as evidence of democracy but slammed by critics as controlled by the Communist Party.

10 July Agence France Presse reports that the Cuban government reports a 94 percent turnout in the municipal elections held on July 9.10 July Cuba's first ambassador to Chile in 22 years, Aramis Fuentes, arrives in Santiago after both countries restored diplomatic relations this year on April 7.

11 July The Miami Herald reports that the weekly Trabajadores (on July 9) reported that Cuba concluded the worst sugar harvest since the start of the revolution in 1959, reaping less than four million tons of cane.

11 July The Cuban Liberty and Democracy Solidarity Act (Helms-Burton) is approved 28-9 by the House International Relations Committee.

11 July Cuban exile leader Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, speaking on the day Clinton restores diplomatic relations with Vietnam, urges Clinton to take similar action to improve relations with Cuba.

11 July Cuba wins support from members of the World Trade Organization for a warning that proposed U.S. legislation extending its embargo against Havana would violate the rules of the new body; diplomats said the European Union as well as Mexico, Washington's partner in the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA), and Colombia voiced concern over the pending bill in the United States Congress.

11 July Fidel Castro meets with Cuba's Roman Catholic bishops during a reception at the residence of the Vatican envoy in Havana; the rare encounter coincides with reports that Castro may be received at the Vatican by Pope John Paul II in early fall.

11 July Twenty-five U.S. lawmakers ask Secretary of State Warren Christopher to deny a visa to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who reportedly plans to attend United Nations 50th anniversary ceremonies in New York in October. In a letter to Christopher, the lawmakers say Washington should not allow entry to "a totalitarian communist dictator who has murdered, imprisoned and tortured thousands of Cuban citizens for 36 years."

11 July In a letter sent to the media today, a group of Mexican intellectuals, who had invited Cuban dissident Elizardo Sanchez to visit Mexico, denounce the repression of human rights activists in Cuba; The group of intellectuals includes writer Carlos Monsivais, political expert Joel Ortega, Pablo Molinet and Federico Cambell, as well as others who invited the Cuban dissident to visit Mexico to exchange views on human rights issues. The Mexicans said they were disappointed by the Cuban government's refusal to authorize the departure of the Cuban activist, who had been invited by the Mexicans to spend a few days in this country. The letter states: "The decision by the Cuban authorities comes within the context of increased repression against human rights activists and peaceful dissidents in recent weeks."

12 July The Inter-American Dialogue's Task Force on Cuba, whose members include former Costa Rican president Oscar Arias and former U.S. attorney general Elliot Richardson, holds a briefing at the U.S. House of Representatives to discuss its recent trip to Cuba to meet with government officials and leaders of non-governmental organizations.

12 July Cuba's Economy Ministry says it is increasing to $4.5 million the total to be paid in hard currency incentives this year to workers in key production sectors; Enrique Martinez, first deputy minister for the economy and planning, says $1.3 million have already been paid out in the first quarter of 1995 as incentives to 117,000 workers in some 20 industries that generated convertible currency for Cuba.

13 July Citing an citing an upsurge of corruption linked to Cuba's opening to foreign investment, Fidel Castro calls for a crackdown against bribery, theft and influence-peddling in the island's growing hard currency sector; the official Communist Party daily Granma publishes a three-page report on a meeting chaired by Castro which focuses on apparently serious problems of corruption and financial mismanagement in Cuban companies.

13 July The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) says it is protesting the Cuban government's "new campaign of harassment and intimidation" against journalists; the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information says it sent a letter to Fidel Castro condemning the arrest and interrogation of five journalists since July 3.

13 July A Cuban gunboat rams at least one craft in a flotilla of small boats carrying exiled Cubans from Florida after the flotilla tries to enter Cuban territorial waters to protest against the Castro regime.

13 July The official state newspaper Granma publishes a report about a meeting last week that focused on allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement in Cuban companies; President Fidel Castro, citing a rise in corruption linked to Cuba's opening to foreign investment, calls for a crackdown against bribery and theft.

14 July Colombian Vice-President Humberto de la Calle arrives in Cuba for a three-day visit expected to focus on increasing bilateral cooperation in areas like health and education; De la Calle also carries a personal invitation from Colombian President Ernesto Samper to Cuba's President Fidel Castro, asking him to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement to be held in Cartagena, Colombia in October.

14 July A U.S. State Department spokesman says in Washington that his government "deeply regretted" an incident in which Cuban gunboats deliberately rammed a boat carrying protesters from the United States; The incident occurred when a flotilla of boats carrying exiled Cubans appears to have strayed into the Caribbean island's waters.

15 July Cuba and Belize, which have had consular ties since 1992, agreed to upgrade their diplomatic relations to full embassy level; An agreement is signed to this effect between Roberto Robaina and his visiting Belize counterpart Dean Oliver Barrow.

15 July Stafford Oliver Neil, a top official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, is appointed non-resident ambassador to Cuba

15 July The Office of Statistics projects that the Cuban population will total 11 million people by the end of 1995; Specialist Juan Carlos Alfonso Fraga told the media that 10,980,000 people were living on the island on 31st March 1995.

16 July Fidel Castro says he will attend the 11th Summit of Non-Aligned Countries in Cartagena, Colombia, in October.

16 July The highest-ranking U.S. official visit to Cuba in more than a decade, led by Anne Patterson, deputy assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, arrives in Havana to review immigration agreements between the two countries.

17 July A group of Cuban-Americans backing an end to the 33-year-old US embargo on Cuba announce its campaign to try to stop the Republican-run Congress from tightening the sanctions; Delvis Fernandez Levy, coordinator of the Cuban-American National Alliance, tells reporters the group's members would support Democratic President Bill Clinton's moderate policy toward Cuba and oppose "extremist sectors that are looking for a bloodbath in Cuba."

17 July Colombia agrees to buy $ 10 million worth of Cuban vaccines against meningitis and hepatitis in a bilateral health agreement signed with Cuba.

17 July The European Union's Council of Foreign Ministers approves a report by fact-finders, who visited Havana, which endorses a proposal to give Cuba $20 million per year in aid and to establish a political dialogue with the administration of President Fidel Castro.

17 July Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Raslan Allush during a visit to Cuba talks with Cuban Vice-Foreign Minister Benigno Perez on the status of relations between both countries and the need to increase bilateral economic trade.

18 July It is reported that the administration of President Bill Clinton is close to announcing a decision to end a long-standing policy and allow U.S. news organizations to establish news bureaus in Cuba.

18 July It is announced that Russia and Cuba have reached an important commercial agreement that will allow the island to import 3m tons of oil in exchange for 1m tons of sugar.

18 July Cuba's Public Health Minister Carlos Dotres announces that the infant mortality rate fell to 9.5 per 1,000 live births in the first six months in 1995, compared to 10.45 per 1,000 live births in 1994.

20 July It is reported that Cuba's six-year statistical blackout has come to an end and that the Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas (ONE) has produced its first full report on the performance of the economy since 1989 -- to highlight that last year marked the first year of growth (a minimal 0.7%) after a 34% slump.

22 July Cuban Agriculture Minister Alfredo Jordan stresses that the production of foodstuffs had increased during the first half of 1995 and that the condition of the equipment for the sector's technical insurance had improved.

26 July In a state-of-the-nation speech, Fidel Castro says Cuba will avoid the former Soviet Union's "disastrous" embrace of capitalism and follow instead the example of China and Vietnam, combining socialism with gradual economic reforms. Castro makes clear Cuba that is willing to introduce reforms that include "unquestionable elements of capitalism" to adapt the economy to the world's new realities but stresses this does not mean following the path taken by Cuba's former communist allies in the now-defunct Soviet bloc by jettisoning state control of the economy and socialist ideology.

29 July It is reported that the Inter-American Press Association, IAPA, has sent a letter to Cuban President Fidel Castro condemning the "flagrant violations of press freedom and human rights" demonstrated in a series of arrests and interrogations of independent journalists. The letter asks Castro to "cease these intimidating practices and to withdraw the iron-fisted control over Cuban news agencies and other media."

29 July - Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina on a Latin American tour meets with Colombian President Ernesto Samper in Lima, after Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori's inauguration, to discuss the progress of bilateral relations and the forthcoming Non-Aligned Movement summit. It is reported that Robaina also held positive, separate meetings with Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera, Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Jose Angel Gurria, Chilean Foreign Minister Jose Miguel Insulza, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Alvaro Ramos, Paraguayan Foreign Minister Luis Maria Ramirez and Costa Rican Foreign Minister Fernando Naranjo.

30 July Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina declares that his nation is not interested in rejoining the Organization of American States (OAS) if conditions are imposed; His remarks are carried in the weekly Juventud Rebelde.

31 July European Union announces it has decided to donate 15 million European currency units($20.25 million) in special humanitarian aid to Cuba as part of an international effort to support its crumbling health system.

1 August In Panama City continuing his Latin American tour, Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina announces that Cuba is drafting an investment law to attract foreign capital. According to Robaina, Cuba will be more open to foreign investment from other Latin American states because the law will be broad enough to ensure that no-one is excluded.

2 August Cuban television reports that Ecuador has signed a preferential trade agreement with Cuba lowering tariffs on a range of products.

4 August It is reported that Fidel Castro will attend the first summit of the Association of Caribbean States at its Trinidad and Tobago headquarters August 17- 18.4 August The U.S. Department of State issues statement "Cuban Government Crackdown on Independent Journalists." The statement says that beginning on July 11 Cuba's security police began a crackdown on independent journalists who transmit reports to foreign publications. Detainees were threatened with adverse consequences if they continue their journalistic activities. State security agents seized the documents and equipment of journalists. Nestor Baguer, president of the Association of Independent Journalists of Cuba, had his telephone disconnected and his fax machine seized. The Department of State calls on the Cuban government to desist from actions that inhibit freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

5 August In Havana, Fidel Castro leads the "march against the blockade" summoned by the " Union of Young Communists" and afterwards delivers a speech. The march is to commemorate the anniversary of 1994 anti-communist riots that helped trigger a chaotic exodus of 30,000 Cuban rafters fleeing Cuba for the U.S.

5 August The Cuban government appoints a new director for the party newspaper Granma; the new chief is Frank Aguero Gomez, who had been working since 1992 as director of the trade union weekly Trabajadores

6 August Fidel Castro gives a two-and-one-half-hour speech at a youth meeting in which he acknowledges that opening up Cuba to foreign investment and legalizing the use of dollars have created inequalities and privileges.

8 August The chief of the public relations department of the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry says Russia intends to continue the construction of a Juragua nuclear power station in Cuba.

14 August Cuba's top economic strategist, Carlos Lage, says the the modest growth of the economy in the first half of 1995 should not raise "false expectations" as the full benefits of this were still not felt by the population. The government announced in July that the economy had grown 2 percent in the first six months of the year, thanks to recovery in several non-sugar sectors such as electricity generation, nickel mining and domestic oil output.

17 August In Port of Spain, Trinidad Heads of state and ministers of the newly formed Association of Caribbean States (ACS), including Fidel Castro, begin their first-ever summit aimed at creating one of the world's largest free-trade blocs.

18 August Cuba's government, stepping up efforts to reduce money held by the public and revalue the peso, offers discounts on Friday to allow citizens to buy their homes through lump sum purchases instead of installments. Officials say debts owed to the state savings bank, Banco Popular de Ahorro, stands at more than 1 billion Cuban pesos.

21 August The U.S. government announces it has fulfilled its part of a bilateral immigration agreement with Cuba by granting more than 20,000 entry visas to Cuban immigrants in the first year of the accord.

22 August The Cuban government launches a new magazine aimed at reaching out to the Cuban exile community living outside the island. The publication, called Correo de Cuba (Mail from Cuba), will be published every three months with an initial circulation of 15,000. It will be sponsored by a new department in Cuba's Foreign Ministry that deals with relations with Cubans living abroad.

22 August Roberto Robaina, Cuba's foreign minister, reiterates that Cuba's return to the Organization of American States (OAS) is not a high priority on the country's foreign policy agenda.

22 August At the proposal of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Council of State appoints Juan Mario Junco del Pino to be the new construction minister, replacing Homero Crabb. Until his appointment, Del Pino served as the head of the Blas Roca Contingent, which builds important social and economic works in the country.

23 August An Argentine government delegation holds talks negotiations in Cuba to negotiate a possible investment promotion and protection agreement between the two countries. The delegation is headed by Rafael Iznieta, a subsecretary of Argentina's Economy Ministry, holds talks with Cuba's Deputy Minister for Foreign Investment, Raul Taladrid and with officials from the Banco Nacional de Cuba, the central bank

28 August Cuba officials attribute the sharp rise of the Cuban peso on the black market a direct consequence of the economic reforms that the government has implemented; Raul Taladrid, deputy minister of foreign investment and economic collaboration, attributes the recovery of the national currency against the dollar to the restructuring of the country's financial system that got underway slightly over a year ago.

28 August It is reported that Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina has said that his country's possible return to the Organization of American States (OAS) is not a priority for the government and his country will not accept imposed conditions to rejoin.

30 August Cuba and Chile sign an agreement to promote tourism; the agreement is signed by Cuban Tourism Minister Osmany Cienfuegos and Chilean National Tourism Director Ramon Cesar Gomez Viveros. The accord is aimed at facilitating and encouraging the operations of tourism operators, travel agencies, hotel chains and other tourism-related businesses. It also calls for closer cooperation in personnel training, exchange of information, promotion of advertising and encouragement of investment in this sector.

3 September A controversial anti- Castro protest planned by Cuban exiles off the coast of Havana turns into a debacle when one of 25 boats carrying demonstrators sinks 10 miles away from Key West, Florida.

5 September After heated debate, Cuba's parliament passes a new law aimed at luring badly needed foreign investment. The proposal, approved without opposition by the more than 500 deputies, is the first major overhaul of foreign investment law since Cuba cracked the door to outside business in 1982.

9 September In a bid to attract foreign currency, Cuba announces that its citizens, including those living abroad, can open bank accounts using dollars and other foreign currency. Under the initiative, the National Bank of Cuba will allow all Cuban adults to deposit convertible Cuban currency or foreign currency in savings accounts and certificates of deposit.

10 September Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage arrives in Mexico on an official visit at the invitation of President Ernesto Zedillo.

11 September The Pentagon issues a study on Latin America; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Joseph Nye, who authored the report, says increasing ties between the United States, Latin American and Caribbean nations in trade, investment, culture and geography have sharpened U.S. national interests in promoting stability throughout the region, but that the U.S. approach does not include Cuba, which is the only non-democratic nation remaining in the hemisphere. Nye say the U.S. policy is that Cuba has to make reforms before it can participate with the rest of the hemisphere.

14 September The Inter-American Dialogue urges the Clinton administration to redirect its policy toward Cuba and negotiate agreements on specific issues beyond migration.

14 September Sebastian Arcos Bergnes, jailed by the Castro regime for his political activity, arrives in Miami to receive treatment for cancer.

15 September The Carter Center, in Atlanta, announces that former U.S. president Jimmy Carter plans to meet Cuban exiles and Cuban government officials.

15 September It is reported that Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, backed by conservative Cuban exiles, may try to force a shutdown of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana based on reports that diplomats there are secretly negotiating friendlier U.S.-Cuban ties.

16 September A Cuban parliamentary delegation led by Reynaldo Endis concludes a week-long visit to Syria, during which it met several party and state officials, held parliamentary and political talks, and visited several historic sites.

16 September The Washington Post reports that Frank Terpil, a former CIA agent and convicted arms trafficker, was placed under house arrest in Cuba pending a probe of his business practices on the island.

18 September The U.S. State Department announces the United States government intends to ask Cuba to extradite Frank Terpil, convicted weapons dealer and former CIA agent.

18 September A delegation of the Cuban National Assembly's Commission for External Relations headed by its president, Jorge Lezcano Perez, concludes a three-day visit to Vietnam.

19 September Cuba names first deputy foreign minister Fernando Remirez de Estenoz chief of its Interests Section in Washington. His appointment is said to mark an upgrading of the US post.

19 September Cuba and Gambia sign a document for the creation of a ministerial commission on economic, scientific and commercial cooperation between the two countries; the agreement establishes multilateral cooperation in different sectors such as health, education - training and development of human resources - agriculture, fisheries and construction - infrastructure for development.

20 September The British Government steps up attempts to improve relations with Cuba by attacking US policy towards the island, describing moves to tighten the American embargo as "blinkered"; Ian Taylor, the Science and Technology Minister, criticises Washington's Cuba policy during a four-day visit to Havana which was aimed at boosting British investment.

20 September Mexican Foreign Minister, Jose Angle Gurria, arrives in Cuba for a brief visit to try to improve traditional close political and economic ties between the two countries.

20 September Former President Jimmy Carter beging meeting with Cuban exile leaders to discuss the future of U.S.-Cuban relations.

21 September The House of Representatives votes overwhelmingly to tighten the U.S. embargo on Cuba by approving (294-130) the "Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act" (HR 927); Secretary of State Warren Christopher recommends a veto, saying the bill would damage prospects for peaceful change in Cuba.

26 September Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage Davila leaves for an official visit to Colombia to meet with high-ranking Colombian government officials and business leaders. Before his departure, Lage told the press that he will present the new Cuban law on foreign investment and will explain in detail the forthcoming Havana International Fair to be held in November.

27 September Mexico's government strongly condemns the September 21 approval in the U.S. House of Representatives of the Helms-Burton, a bill designed to tighten the U.S. embargo against Cuba, saying that the measure could strain relations among partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement.

28 September It is reported that Cuban dissident Elizardo Sampedro Marin was removed from his post as chairman of Cuba's Democratic Solidarity Party (PSD) as a result of his colleagues accusing him of falsifying the signatures of several dissidents on letter in support of the Helms-Burton bill.

28 September Cuba's armed forces conduct military exercises aimed at testing the effectiveness of the forces.

1 October The Miami Herald publishes and article by Tad Szulc, a former New York Times correspondent and author of biographies of the pope and Castro, which says that Pope John Paul II has begun discussions with Fidel Castro that could result in the pontiff visiting the island next February; Two days later, Cuba's conference of Roman Catholic bishops denies reports of secret negotiations between the Vatican and the Cuban regime on a possible visit to Havana and states that report by Szulc was "completely groundless."

2 October In Luxembourg, Spanish Foreign Minister Javier Solana announces after a meeting with EU foreign ministers that the European Union is to have talks with Cuba over future relations with the Cuba; A statement adopted by the 15 countries says: "This dialogue could be the chance for a complete exchange of views and a deepening of the reforms in progress, as well as the other reforms that are necessary, notably on the development of civil society, guarantees for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the expansion of private enterprise"; Cuba responds by saying that it would welcome a trade and economic agreement with the European Union (EU) but would not accept any pre-conditions for such an accord.

6 October President Clinton announces that he has approved liberalized rules for exiles, academics and others to visit the island. The measures will permit U.S. new agencies to establish news bureaus on the island and allow Cuba to do the same in the United States. Clinton says the steps will encourage the island's "peaceful transition to a free and open society."

6 October In Johannesburg, President Nelson Mandela tells the Cuba-Southern Africa Solidarity conference that South Africa would develop stronger diplomatic ties with Cuba and show solidarity despite what other powerful nations may say

.9 October Fidel Castro welcomes Chinese Premier Li Peng who arrives in Havana.

11 October In Beijing, Zhang Siqing, procurator-general of the Chinese Supreme People's Procuratorate, holds talks with Cuban Attorney-General Juan Escalona Reguera. During the talks, they exchange views on issues concerning promoting friendly cooperations between the procuratorates of their countries.

10 October U.S. State Department officials say Fidel Castro has applied for a visa to attend the United Nations' 50th anniversary festivities.

11 October The Cuban exile group Cambio Cubano (Cuban Change) says that its leader, Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, and thirty other members, will attend a meeting November 3-6 in Havana called by the Cuban government to continue discussions with exiles.

12 October Republicans fail to muster the votes necessary to end debate in the Senate on legislation to tighten the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

12 October The European Parliament in Strasbourg urges Cuba to release Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, the head of the Cuban civil rights council sentenced to 15 years in prison and who has been on hunger strike for the past month.

12 October Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh arrives in Havana for an official visit to Cuba at the invitation of Fidel Castro. An investment agreement is signed during his visit.

12 October The education ministers of Cuba and Angola, Luis Ignacio Gomez and Joao Manuel Bernardo, respectively, sign a new cooperation protocol that will be in effect between the two countries until 1997.

13 October President Fidel Castro arrives in Montevideo, Uruguay on a state visit until October 15; he will then travel to Bariloche, Argentina to attend the Fifth Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government.

15 October Yndamiro Restano, a dissident and former journalist freed after three and a half years in prison, says freedom of the press is increasing in Cuba; In an interview at the opening of the 51st general assembly of the Inter-American Press Association in Caracas, Venezuela, Restano says that the future of the press in Cuba is "unstoppable."

15 October In Havana, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage and Russian First Deputy Vice Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets, and other officials, sign eight economic agreements to rebuild ties between the two countries. This includes a barter deal in which Cuba will export a large portion of its 1995-1996 sugar crop to Russia in exchange for Russian oil.

17 October In Bariloche, Argentina, Ibero-American nations end a two-day summit attended by Fidel Castro. The summit focused on education and social development and ended with lukewarm criticism of the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba.

18 October The 11th Non-Aligned Summit opens in Cartagena, Colombia with Fidel Castro present.

18 October The Inter American Press Association (IAPA), meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, unanimously approves a resolution that urges Fidel Castro to permit independent journalists to operate freely on the island and to let U.S. news media open offices there "without any restrictions."

18 October The Clinton administration approves a visa for Fidel Castro to attend the U.N. General Assembly 50th anniversary celebration.

19 October By a vote of 74-24, the U.S. Senate approves the Cuba Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (HR 927) after Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC) agrees to delete a provision that would have allowed U.S. citizens whose property was confiscated by the Castro regime to sue persons or entities that are knowingly benefiting from use of the property. The Clinton administration opposed the provision and warned that it would create friction with U.S. allies and increase litigation risks for U.S. companies abroad. Supporters of the provision argued that it would dry up foreign investment in Cuba, while opponents claimed that it would clog up the U.S. court systems and violate international obligations.

19 October In Montevideo, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Enrique Iglesias, says that unless Fidel Castro's regime introduces reforms to democratize the island, the IDB would not give financial aid to Cuba.

22 October Fidel Castro addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York and condemns the "abusive use of the Security Council by the powerful." He is also interviewed by CNN's Bernard Shaw.25 October It is reported that an independent Cuban journalist, Olance Nogueras Roce, was by state security in Cuba after writing a piece on the Juragua nuclear power plant in Cienfuegos. He is released after being detained for five days.

25 October Castro hosts a meeting at the Cuban Mission in New York with the editorial board of the New York Times and senior magazine editors from Time Inc. Other media guests included Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer of ABC television news, correspondent Mike Wallace and producer Don Hewitt of CBS News, talk show host John McLaughlin, and New York Times columnist William Safire. They ask about political and economic change in Cuba.

26 October A 17-year-old Cuban national soccer team member, Lazaro Abuin Sanchez, defects to the United States at Miami International Airport.

30 October Prensa Latina reports that a record 1,700 exhibitors from 52 countries were present at the opening of Cuba's eighth international trade fair in Havana.

2 November By the largest margin to date of 117-3, members of the United Nations vote to call an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba; Israel and Uzbekistan vote with the United States to oppose the resolution.

2 November It is reported that a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that the mysterious outbreak of an eye disease in Cuba in the early 1990s was caused by a combination of poor diet and cigar smoke. The study marks the first cooperative effort in decades between the Cuban Ministry of Public Health and a U.S. government agency.

3 November In Havana, Cuban emigres and government officials begin to discuss topics of bilateral interest in the first session of the second "The Nation and the Emigres Conference." Cuba announces its decision to ease travel restrictions at the conference.

6 November In Havana, Iranian Commerce Minister Yahya Al-e-Eshaq confirms the will of his government to expand relations with Cuba, during a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Ricardo Cabrisas.

7 November A European Union delegation begins talks with the Cuban government in Havana aimed at the signing of a trade cooperation agreement. The delegation, led by Spanish foreign ministry official Yago Pico de Coana, says that the creation of further links with Cuba and other parts of Latin America is a priority for the European Union.

9 November It is reported that according to a study on suicide prevention by the Institute of Legal Medicine, suicide and self-inflicted wounds occupy seventh place among causes of death in Cuba.

12 November The Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde says that Cuba could start testing a trial vaccine against AIDS on human volunteers in the first half of next year. Manual Limonta, head of Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, is quoted as saying the Cuban formula was already being tested on small animals and would soon be tried on chimpanzees.

14 November In Caracas, Venezuela and Cuba expand a bilateral trade agreement allowing for preferential rates for dozens of export products. The new accord, which includes a pledge to boost tourism, is signed by visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina and his Venezuelan counterpart Miguel Angel Burelli. The trade deal, which renews a 1989 agreement, increases the number of products with preferential tariffs to 400 for Cuba from only 25 and for Venezuela to 230 from 16.

15 November In Havana, former Spanish economy minister Carlos Solchaga, advising Cuba on its economic reform process, urges faster and deeper change saying there is a risk of social breakdown if economic recovery is too slow.

15 November Special observer for the U.N. Human Rights Commission in New York, Carl-Johan Groth, says serious violations of civil and political rights are continuing in Cuba while there is a new willingness to evaluate economic policies critically.

23 November Cuban authorities in advance announce Fidel Castro's visit to China later scheduled for late November

26 November It is reported that Cuban Vice President and Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez has said that economy could grow by nearly 3 percent in 1995 and by even more in 1996, from a severe recession, Cuban Vice President and Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said.

29 November A $2 million donation is announced from France to finance projects in Cuba including the island's thermoelectric power plants.

29 November Fidel Castro begins a visit to China to promote economic and political ties.

6 December A report sponosred by the International Republican Institute entitled "Cuba Transition Resource Guide: Preparing for Freedom" concludes that Fidel Castro's government is not undergoing a meaningful transition and does not merit overtures from Washington.12 December Fidel Castro arrives in Tokyo for a two-day visit.

13 December With a vote of 72-23, with 73 abstentions, the United Nations Human Rights Committee approves a resolution calling on Cuba to release political prisoners, ensure freedom of expression and assembly, and grant a U.N. human rights monitor access to the country.

18 December In Los Angeles, the FBI arrests three reputed members of a paramilitary group who allegedly stockpiled weapons in a building in anticipation of invading Cuba and prompting an armed rebellion.

21 December #9; It is reported that in an interview for the Opciones weekly, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage forecasts a 20% improvement in the country's sugar harvest for the 1995/96 marketing year at 3.96 million tons. The latest estimate is lower than the 4.5 million ton forecast earlier issued by the Cuban Central Bank.

25 December Longtime adviser to Cuban President Fidel Castro, Jose Alberto "Pepin" Naranjo Morales, dies of a heart attack. 26 December Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez says that Cuba's economy, slowly emerging from crisis, should grow by 5 percent in 1996.