Mexico's ousted ambassador to Cuba denounces Fox-Castaneda anti-Cuba policy

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mexican diplomat blasts Fox's policy toward Cuba

Havana, Sep 30, 2002 (EFE via COMTEX) -- In a parting shot,
the Mexican ambassador to Cuba who was removed from his post
after being accused of misuse of funds blasted his
government's increasingly unsympathetic policy toward
Havana.

Ricardo Pascoe, who leaves his post Monday, commented in a
letter to Mexican President Vicente Fox, a copy of which was
made available to EFE.

Diplomatic relations between Mexico and Cuba are "on the
verge of a de facto rupture," said Pascoe, lamenting the
deterioration of the nations' ties.

"For me, it has been a shock to experience first hand the
change of direction Mexico has adopted regarding diplomatic
relations between the two countries," said Pascoe, who
rejects the corruption accusations leveled at him early this
month.

"Aside from being irresponsible, this policy (of distancing)
that I absolutely disagree with represents a historic error
by our country," he said.

Pascoe, member of the opposition leftist Party of the
Democratic Revolution (PRD), was accused earlier this month
by the Foreign Ministry of misusing funds.

"I was offended by the way they tried to damage my
reputation with false, concocted accusations of corruption,"
he said.

After more than a century of good standing, diplomatic
relations between Cuba and Mexico are going through some of
their worst times ever, according to political analysts.

In February, 21 Cubans stormed the Mexican Embassy in Havana
after driving a bus through its gates. They were later
removed by police at Mexico's request.

Cuban authorities blamed the incident on Mexican Foreign
Minister Jorge Casta[eda, who, along with President Vicente
Fox, had met with a group of dissidents in Havana a few days
prior to the event.

Another diplomatic flap occurred in March, when Cuban
President Fidel Castro made public a taped telephone
conversation in which Fox cordially asks him to cut short
his stay at the UN Conference on Financing for Development
in Monterrey to prevent an encounter with U.S. President
George W. Bush.

Later, in an unprecedented move, Mexico voted in favor of a
resolution implicitly condemning Cuba's human rights record
at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.





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