February 19: Bedridden Castro resigned after nearly 50 years as "El Presidente".(
BBC News)
2007
May
May 22: Cuba announces plans to upgrade 11 of its 17 ethanol producing refineries, which produce up to 47 million gallons annually of ethanol from sugar cane.(
Canada.com)
May 16: The tobacco harvest in Cuba's main cigar-producing province fell 12 percent this year compared to 2006 as excessive rain in the region took a heavy toll.(
Yahoo News)
April 6: A judge in
Texas,
United States, rules that former CIA employee Luis Posada Carriles, wanted in Cuba and Venezuela to stand trial for terrorist attacks against Cuban targets including the bombing of
Cubana Flight 455, should be freed pending an immigration hearing.(
BBC News)
January 26: The number of Tourists visiting Cuba dropped 3.6% in 2006, reportedly due to high prices, while
Britain became Cuba's second largest market after
Canada.(
USA Today)
December 27: According to leading Spanish surgeon Luis Garcia Sobredo, Cuban President Fidel Castro does not have cancer. In a press conference in
Spain, Garcia described Castro's physical activity as "excellent" after being flown to
Havana to examine the 80 year old.(
BBC News)
December 22: Cuban
EconomicsMinister Jose Luis Rodriguez announces an economic growth rate of 12.5% GDP over the last 12 months. Cuba's methodology, which includes
health,
education and other social services makes the country's economic growth figures difficult to compare. The U.N. commission, known as
ECLAC, appeared to have accepted the 12.5 percent figure, but said it was still studying some of the economic data. (
ABC News)
December 2: Raúl Castro, the brother of Cuban leader, Fidel Castro and Cuba's defense minister, has asked that negotiations be reopened with the
United States as long as the U.S. "accepts that we
Cuba are a country." (
BBC News)
December 2: Celebrations to mark Fidel Castro's 80th birthday are led by
Raúl Castro in the absence of the
Cuban president. Plans to celebrate Fidel Castro's actual birthday in August were shelved after he was rushed to hospital and
forced to transfer powers to his brother
Raúl(pictured). The revised date,
December 2, was chosen to coincide with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the
Granma boat landing which launched the
Cuban revolution. Full details of the older Castro's non-appearance have yet to emerge.(
BBC News)
February 19: Bedridden Castro resigned after nearly 50 years as "El Presidente".(
BBC News)
2007
May
May 22: Cuba announces plans to upgrade 11 of its 17 ethanol producing refineries, which produce up to 47 million gallons annually of ethanol from sugar cane.(
Canada.com)
May 16: The tobacco harvest in Cuba's main cigar-producing province fell 12 percent this year compared to 2006 as excessive rain in the region took a heavy toll.(
Yahoo News)
April 6: A judge in
Texas,
United States, rules that former CIA employee Luis Posada Carriles, wanted in Cuba and Venezuela to stand trial for terrorist attacks against Cuban targets including the bombing of
Cubana Flight 455, should be freed pending an immigration hearing.(
BBC News)
January 26: The number of Tourists visiting Cuba dropped 3.6% in 2006, reportedly due to high prices, while
Britain became Cuba's second largest market after
Canada.(
USA Today)
December 27: According to leading Spanish surgeon Luis Garcia Sobredo, Cuban President Fidel Castro does not have cancer. In a press conference in
Spain, Garcia described Castro's physical activity as "excellent" after being flown to
Havana to examine the 80 year old.(
BBC News)
December 22: Cuban
EconomicsMinister Jose Luis Rodriguez announces an economic growth rate of 12.5% GDP over the last 12 months. Cuba's methodology, which includes
health,
education and other social services makes the country's economic growth figures difficult to compare. The U.N. commission, known as
ECLAC, appeared to have accepted the 12.5 percent figure, but said it was still studying some of the economic data. (
ABC News)
December 2: Raúl Castro, the brother of Cuban leader, Fidel Castro and Cuba's defense minister, has asked that negotiations be reopened with the
United States as long as the U.S. "accepts that we
Cuba are a country." (
BBC News)
December 2: Celebrations to mark Fidel Castro's 80th birthday are led by
Raúl Castro in the absence of the
Cuban president. Plans to celebrate Fidel Castro's actual birthday in August were shelved after he was rushed to hospital and
forced to transfer powers to his brother
Raúl(pictured). The revised date,
December 2, was chosen to coincide with celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the
Granma boat landing which launched the
Cuban revolution. Full details of the older Castro's non-appearance have yet to emerge.(
BBC News)