Cuba, Mexico relations hit a low point Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - JosePertierra@aol.com Cuba-Mexico relations hit a low point Castro says Fox lied 'left and right' under pressure from Washington By Mary Murray NBC NEWS HAVANA, Cuba, April 23 - Relations between Cuba and Mexico appear strained to the breaking point after an angry Fidel Castro accused President Vicente Fox of bowing to U.S. pressure and then "lying about it left and right." CASTRO, READING a two-hour statement to a room full of journalists Monday night, warned that "the aftermath of telling these truths could be that diplomatic relations are severed." As proof of his accusations, Castro made public a private telephone conversation between Fox and himself, which the Cuban leader secretly taped. At issue is what prompted the Cuban leader last month to walk out of a U.N. development summit in Monterrey, Mexico, attended by leaders from around the world. Castro's abrupt departure after delivering his scheduled speech sparked speculation that Mexico had exerted pressure on him to depart before the arrival of U.S. President George Bush. Both Fox and his Foreign Minister, Jorge Casta=F1eda, repeatedly denied having arranged for Castro to abandon the conference just hours after it opened. Despite denials, the Fox government has been haunted by the incident. Just last week, Casta=F1eda again was forced to issue another disclaimer, "I, atno time, have spoken with anyone in Washington about our relationship with Cuba." But in the taped telephone conversation held 48 hours before the Monterrey meeting, a hesitant Fox can be heard trying to discourage a determined Castro from attending the conference, suggesting that the Cuban's last-minute decision "creates many problems for me." While Fox eventually conceded that the Cuban president had a right to attend the international gathering, he persisted in convincing Castro to leave Mexico immediately after delivering his statement and not participating in the rest of the two-day meeting. 6 MINUTES TO TALK "I could not travel to Monterrey against the expressed will of the president of the host country," Castro told the press, including a large contingent of Mexican journalists who traveled to Havana for the news conference. "I had to accept using the allotted six minutes and then leave after lunch." On the tape, Fox can also be heard giving the veteran Cuban leader advice on his speech. When a somewhat sarcastic Castro asked, "What else can I do for you?" Fox responded "Don't attack the United States or President Bush." Annoyed, Castro answered, "Listen Mr. President, I've been in politics for about 43 years. And I know what I should and shouldn't do." Challenging Fox to tell the truth, Castro promised he would resign if someone could prove the tape was false. Releasing the tape clearly violated diplomatic norms, especially since Fox prefaced his opening remarks with a request "to make this a private conversation." The protocol breach was guaranteed to raise an uproar in Mexico, although a Mexican government spokesman told the Associated Press that the government would not sever diplomatic relations. Many Mexican leaders - especially those on the left - still identify their nation's revolutionary history with Cuba's. Mexico was the only Latin American nation that refused to cut ties with the island after the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power. HUMAN RIGHTS VOTE Castro admitted he decided to release the tape only after Mexico reneged ona public promise not to support a resolution condemning Cuba at the U.N. human rights commission. Last week, Mexico switched sides and joined a number of other Latin American countries in censoring the Castro government. The U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva on Friday voted 23-21, with nine abstentions, to invite Cuba to extend greater civil and political rights to its citizens. It also exhorted Cuba to allow a U.N. representative to visit the island - an idea officials here have rejected. In Mexico City, President Fox's spokesman Rodolfo Elizondo accepted the contents of the tape on Monday night, but said that Mexico never unfairly pressured President Castro. That, according to Castro, was "the last straw." The Fox administration, however, stood by its vote. "A government can only truly be called a democracy if its leaders respect human rights," Interior Secretary Santiago Creel said at the Geneva vote. Prior to this year's debate, Mexico has abstained from criticizing Cuba. Late Monday, Fox's spokesman Rolando Elizondo accepted the contents of the tape released by Castro but said that Mexico never unfairly pressured Castro. "President Fox never asked his counterpart to not go to the Monterrey summit," Elizondo said. "As the recording shows, the president of Cuba accepted the agreed forms of participation which, at any time, he was within his rights to reject." Portia Siegelbaum in Havana, The Associated Press contributed to this report ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcari-04.25.02-19:35:23-17904