Weekly Report - 6 January 2004

Why did Cuban President Fidel Castro pay a highly secretive visit to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez just before Christmas? The agenda was not divulged; not even the venue was revealed — and Chávez gave no hint afterwards. Days later, though, a peculiar turn of phrase in a speech by Castro suggested that they might have been discussing the prospect of a big anti-Chávez push by the US.