Trapped British Cave Divers at Center of Mexico Diplomatic Spat

AP ^ | Mar. 24, 2004

[nuconvert]

Trapped British Cave Divers at Center of Mexico Diplomatic Spat

Mar 24, 2004

By Morgan Lee/ Associated Press Writer/

CUETZALAN DEL PROGRESO, Mexico (AP) - The plight of British military team of cavers trapped in a Mexican cavern erupted into a diplomatic controversy Wednesday with Mexico saying Britain may have been carrying out training without permission. President Vicente Fox ordered a letter of protest sent to London and demanded an explanation for the ill-fated expedition that left five cavers and a guide trapped in the Alpazat caverns in central Puebla state.

"I have instructed the Minister of Foreign Relations to take immediate action and file a note of protest," Fox told reporters in Honduras, where he is on an official visit.

"We are asking the British government to tell us whether these people are military personnel, and if they are, what they are doing there," the president said of the 8.5-mile cavern complex.

The planned three-day underground expedition by Britain's Combined Services - which includes members of the country's Army, Navy and Air Force - stretched into a second week of entrapment as flood waters fed by incessant rains continued to block the cave's entrance.

"We are worried about the Englishmen's safety," Fox said. "We are offering help to rescue them."

However, the Britons have so far rejected Mexico's offer of help, and said they were waiting for the arrival of two specially trained civilian cave divers from the British Cave Rescue Organization.

As of Wednesday night, those expert divers were still en route to Cuetzalan, a mountain town near the cavern entrance in central Puebla state, 110 miles northeast of Mexico City.

Creel and Fox said the crux of the diplomatic issue was that the Britons had entered on tourist visas and may have been doing more than simply exploring the mountains of Puebla.

Vijay Rangarajan, acting British Ambassador to Mexico, said this country's concerns that the cavers were doing anything other than exploring was "pure fantasy."

"I think we just need to talk to the Mexican government and find out what their problems are," Rangarajan said. "If they're having problems down here, we'll have to look very carefully in the future (to see) if any future permits are needed."

Mexico's National Migration Institute said scientific or exploration teams need special visas in Mexico.

Six other members of the caving team have been waiting for their companions above the surface in Cuetzalan.

"It's an official military expedition to support adventurous training," said Stephen Whitlock, one of six cavers not stuck underground. Whitlock quickly added "You've got to disassociate the fact that we're here as a military" from the main purpose of the trip, which he said was to map the cavern system.

Asked about the fact that team members had entered Mexico in late February with just tourist visas - and without notifying authorities of their caving trip - Whitlock said, "There are no registration requirements for the sport of caving and cave expeditions in the state of Puebla."

Adventure training is commonly used by the British military to build teamwork and physical preparedness.

As the drama aboveground heightened, the six bored cavers spent their eighth day about 270 fett below, in a well-stocked emergency camp set up inside an unflooded portion of the Alpazat cave. Trapped with them was their civilian guide, whose nationality was not known.

Flood waters were blocking the cave's entrance, which is too narrow for convention scuba gear to fit through.

Whitlock said the Britons could just wait for the water to recede. But additional rain fell Tuesday night and Wednesday, making it unlikely water in the passage would recede quickly, and raising the prospect that trained divers would have to lead the cavers out underwater.

[xJones]

Offer Fox a big bribe and the whole Mexican army will be out tomorrow. Not that would necessarily help the trapped British, may God help them.

[SZonian]

Let Foz know that Britain will take some illegals, and they'll forget this whole thing.

[DoughtyOne]

Look at what Fox's nationals get away with in the US, then have a good laugh at him trying to make an issue out of this.

Fox is an ass. It's about time someone kicked him real hard!

[lonewacko_dot_com]

Meanwhile, the pile of unsent Letters of Protest from the U.S. to Mexico is now ten stories high.

[endthematrix]

""We are worried about the Englishmen's safety," Fox said. "We are offering help to rescue them." "

Thanks, but no thanks. We'll wait for some experienced rescuers to bail us out. They know what it takes to extricate them out and don't want fools screwing it up.