Mexico says it will try to improve ties to Cuba

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mexico says it will try to improve ties to Cuba

By Ben Barber
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 31, 20001

     Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda yesterday clashed with U.S. 
policy on
Cuba, saying in Washington that the new government of President Vicente Fox 
hopes to
improve its financial, tourism and trade ties with the Caribbean island.
     He said that U.S. efforts to isolate the island are counterproductive, but 
that
Mexico will take a more active stance on human rights everywhere.
     Mexico has maintained close ties with Fidel Castro's Cuba, but some have 
expected
that the new conservative government in Mexico City would distance itself from 
the
communist-run island.
     Secretary of State Colin Powell, who met with Mr. Castaneda to prepare for 
a
visit by President Bush to Mexico next month, said at a joint news conference 
that the
United States would maintain sanctions on Cuba.
     "Mexico is, of course, a sovereign nation free to pursue its own foreign 
policy
and improve ties as it sees fit," Mr. Powell said in his first press encounter 
since
he was sworn in as head of the State Department.
     "We have had a chance to talk about Cuba, and the secretary [Mr. Castaneda]
understands our concerns about Cuba and the fact that there are people still 
living
under a form of government that should be, in this day and age, foreign to this
hemisphere.
     "So we will continue to pursue our relations with Cuba in a way that lets 
Mr.
Castro know that we disapprove of his regime. We will keep our sanctions in 
place.
     "We will only participate in those activities with Cuba that benefit the 
people
directly and not the government. And we will keep in close contact with our 
Mexican
friends so that they understand our point of view and we understand theirs," Mr.
Powell said.
     Mr. Castaneda remained firm on his plan to improve ties with Mexico.
     "Without this being a name-calling or finger-pointing policy, this is one 
of the
main priorities and one of the main changes that the Fox administration intends 
to
bring about," he said.
     "As President Fox has said on many occasions, we now have nothing to be 
ashamed
about, and we're going to be very explicit and very forceful on this issue," 
said Mr.
Castaneda, a leftist academic and former journalist recruited by the 
conservative Mr.
Fox.
     Mr. Castaneda, at a separate meeting sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment 
for
International Peace and the InterAmerican Dialogue, recalled that the pope 
visited
Cuba and called for the nation to open up to the world and for the world to 
open up to
Cuba.
     Mexico's relations with Cuba deteriorated in the late 1990s, a time when 
the U.S.
Congress passed several laws tightening its long-standing trade embargo against 
Cuba.
     The laws are unpopular in Latin America, where Mr. Castro's repressive 
regime has
little support but where U.S. interference and dominance in hemispheric affairs 
are
traditionally resented.
     An official of the anti-Castro Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF) 
said
yesterday that so long as human rights are increasingly emphasized, he approves 
of the
new Mexican policy.
     "The idea that Mexico can in any way benefit economically from increased 
ties to
Cuba is a fool's errand," said Jorge Cardenas, Washington director for CANF. 
"But if
they act on their professed goal of increasing awareness to human rights, that 
would
take any edge off an attempt to expand commercially with Cuba."
     Mr. Castaneda said all of Latin America was pleased that Mr. Bush chose to 
make
his first trip abroad as president to Mexico. He will visit Guanajuato, the 
home state
of Mr.Fox, on Feb. 16.
     Other issues raised in talks between Mr. Castaneda and U.S. officials 
included
drugs, migration and energy.
     Mexico considers the U.S. process of certifying that all countries 
cooperate in
fighting drugs "counterproductive" and "an irritant," said Mr. Castaneda. The 
U.S.
system should be replaced gradually by a multilateral process of measuring 
anti-drug
actions, he said.
     Mexico also is seeking a way to allow about 7 million Mexican citizens 
living in
the United States —both legal and illegal residents — to vote in 
Mexican elections
within two to four years.
     He said Mexico wants to combat violence along the U.S.-Mexican border by 
some
Americans targetingillegal entrants.
     Mr. Fox has proposed some form of a guest-worker program or worker visas 
to allow
Mexicans to provide labor for American businesses.
     Regarding Colombia, Mr. Castaneda said his government favors peace talks 
between
the Bogota government and rebel groups. But he would not endorse the more than 
$1
billion in U.S. military aid the U.S. Congress has approved for fighting 
narcotics.
     On energy, Mr. Castaneda said the Mexican constitution bars foreign 
ownership of
petroleum and gas production, but his government is searching for creative ways 
to
allow foreign financing of those industries.
     He also said U.S. investors may soon be allowed to invest in electric power
generation plants.
__________________________________________________________________