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Cuba, Mexico Decide to Return Ambassadors
By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO,
Associated Press Writer. Thu May 27.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico, 27 - Cuba's foreign
minister said both his nation and Mexico
agreed Thursday to return their respective
ambassadors, moving to ease the latest diplomatic
dispute between the traditional allies.
At a news conference on the sidelines of
an international summit here, Cuban Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque said he met
with Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto
Derbez and that they had decided to restore
the ambassadors to their posts. He did not
give an exact date for their return.
"Derbez and I have agreed on the necessity
to re-establish relations," he said.
Mexico was angered by Cuban allegations
that a Mexican official arrested in Havana
on fraud charges was part of a larger political
conspiracy inside Mexico. Officials also
said members of Cuba's Communist Party were
holding unauthorized political meetings
in Mexico, and took offense at comments
by Cuban leader Fidel Castro that Mexican
President Vicente Fox was a lackey of the
United States.
On May 2, Mexico announced it was withdrawing
its ambassador from Havana, and Cuba responded
by doing the same with its ambassador in
Mexico City.
Historically, Mexico was Cuba's strongest
ally in the region. But relations have become
strained under Fox, whose administration
has criticized Cuba's human rights record.
Derbez, who spoke to reporters earlier,
did not mention the decision to restore
the ambassadors. Mexican officials were
not immediately available for comment.
But Derbez had called the meeting with
Perez Roque "positive" and the
"first step" toward normalizing
relations. When asked if he felt the two
countries would be able to overcome their
differences, he said: "I always see
a resolution."
The decision was a surprise, especially
considering that Perez Roque had said he
didn't expect much from the meeting.
Late Wednesday, in a statement from Havana,
Castro said he wasn't attending the summit,
in part because he was angry with Mexico.
He also condemned Latin American nations
- especially Mexico - for not supporting
his communist-run island.
It hasn't been the first fight between
Castro and Mexican President Vicente Fox's
government. In 2002, after a U.N. summit
of world leaders in Mexico, Castro released
a tape of a phone call in which Fox asked
him to leave the summit early to avoid overlapping
with President Bush. Fox's government had
denied making the request.
Castro mentioned the incident in his statement
Wednesday, saying the "bitter experience"
made him believe there weren't even "minimum
conditions" for a constructive meeting
in the western city of Guadalajara.
Latin American, European Leaders Meet
By Robert Wielaard, Associated
Press Writer. May 28, 2004.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Leaders of almost
60 European, Latin America and Caribbean
nations said Friday they want the United
Nations to remain the premier organization
to resolve international conflicts, and
they called for U.N. reforms to make that
possible.
Although it didn't specifically mention
the United States, it was clear the summit's
draft document was critical of Washington's
foreign policy and the allegations of torture
and abuse of prisoners in Iraq. The meeting
was a signal to the Bush administration
to shed its go-it-alone tendency and return
to the U.N. fold.
As they opened the one-day summit, leaders
called for making the United Nations more
effective and sparing it the embarrassment
of being sidelined, as happened last year
when the United States invaded Iraq without
U.N. backing.
"We all recall that 2003 was a difficult
year," said Irish Prime Minister Bertie
Ahern, speaking on behalf of the 25-nation
European Union (news - web sites).
He said the U.S. decision to invade Iraq
showed the United Nations to be "unable
to deal with hard questions of peace and
security and unable, therefore, to command
confidence."
Ahern, whose country holds the EU presidency,
said no country can act alone.
"Peace and justice can best be guaranteed
by states working together. Only by working
together can terrorism conditions, which
can sometimes rise to terrorism, be addressed,"
he told the summit's opening session.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero, speaking of an increasingly "fractured
world" urged Europe and Latin America
to make a "common front" in pushing
for a stronger U.N. role.
Summit host Vicente Fox, the Mexican president,
called for a new international order by
making far-reaching reforms in the way the
United Nations runs its affairs.
"I am convinced Latin America, the
Caribbean and the European Union should
have an important role in forming a new
international order in which multilateralism
and social cohesion translate into a more
secure, equal, prosperous and fair world,"
Fox said.
The plea for reforms is part and parcel
of a drive for more "multilateralism"
- a catchall phrase for more international
cooperation, not only in issues of war and
peace, but also terrorism, trade disputes,
poverty and the fight against AIDS (news
- web sites) and other crippling epidemics.
"Security problems that raise the
issue of the use of force are now global
ones which must be addressed in a multilateral
framework in order to be dealt with legitimately,"
French President Jacques Chirac said.
He backed U.N. reform ideas that would
tone down the overwhelming influence now
wielded by the United States, Britain, France,
China and Russia, the five permanent Security
Council.
The Iraq war loomed large over the summit,
which was expected to wrap up later Friday
with a declaration condemning "all
forms of abuse, torture and other cruel,
inhumane and degrading treatment of persons."
Several countries, including Cuba, had
pushed participants to specifically mention
the United States in the condemnation, but
leaders decided on a more general approach.
"We express abhorrence at recent evidence
of the mistreatment of prisoners in Iraqi
prisons," the draft documents says.
"Such abuse is contrary to international
law, including the Geneva Conventions. We
welcome the commitment by the relevant governments
to bring to justice any individuals responsible
for such acts.".
Catholic Bishops Decry Cuban Price Hikes
HAVANA, 27 (AP) - Poor Cuban families will
suffer most under new U.S. measures to tighten
an economic embargo and price increases
imposed by the Cuban government, Cuba's
Roman Catholic bishops said Wednesday.
"It hurts us to see that the measures
announced by the United States and those
taken by the Cuban government affect, directly
or indirectly, the poorest families of our
nation," Cuba's Bishops' Conference
said in a statement released to reporters.
Both governments have taken steps that
"inflame the already anguished situation
(of Cubans) and aggravate the separation
of those who live in Cuba and the United
States," the bishops said.
The U.S. government has said it would reduce
hard currency on the communist-run island
by limiting how often Cuban-Americans can
visit relatives, decreasing how much they
can spend while here and prohibiting money
transfers to Cuban officials and Communist
Party members.
In response to the measures, the Cuban
government raised prices an average 15 percent
on gasoline and nearly all goods sold in
dollars, including food, clothes and personal
hygiene products. Officials said the increases
were necessary to offset the anticipated
blow to the Cuban economy.
The bishops urged open dialogue among Cubans
to find solutions to their economic and
political problems.
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