Posted on 03/26/2004 5:36:40 PM PST by AM2000
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A diplomatic rift between Britain and Mexico widened on Friday when President Vicente Fox (news - web sites) refused to accept London's explanations for the presence of a British military group found stuck in a Mexican cave.
Fox said Britain had not clarified questions about the activities of six cave explorers, four of them members of the military, who were plucked from a cavern late on Thursday after a week trapped by an underground flood.
"We received a reply to our request from Britain, but it is frankly unsatisfactory, we need more clarification about what this was about," Fox told a news conference in Nicaragua, where he is on an official visit.
Mexico's attorney general's office said it was investigating media reports that the cavers were scouting for deposits of potentially radioactive materials.
"We do not have any indication up to this point that indicates illicit activity," Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, deputy attorney general, told a news conference.
Mexico does not allow foreign military exercises on its soil.
The Mexican government is upset it was not told in advance of the presence of the expedition, most of whom were members of the Combined Services Caving Association, an enthusiasts' group made up of active and retired British soldiers and civilians in the Ministry of Defense.
Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez spoke in strong terms.
"We are not going to tolerate on this occasion that no one explains to us exactly what their citizens were doing here," he said in comments published in the Mexican press.
RELATIONS SENSITIVE
Mexico's relations with Britain were already sensitive because of allegations that Britain helped the United States spy on Mexico's U.N. mission in the run-up to the Iraq (news - web sites) war.
After receiving medical checks at a military hospital, the cavers were brought in minibuses for questioning at a rundown immigration center in Mexico City on Friday, accompanied by trucks bearing rifle-toting members of a special police force.
British embassy sources told Reuters that all the expedition members were booked on a Friday night flight to London from Mexico City.
The trapped cavers were trapped by surging underground flood waters two days into a routine exploration trip in the Cuetzalan caves in Puebla province.
The British Embassy had originally described the cavers as being on a scientific mission and later clarified this to say they were mapping out the cave complex, one of the most extensive in the world.
Fox had asked on Wednesday for a "swift" explanation of what the foreign soldiers were doing in the caves.
Hoping to put an end to the incident, Britain said its minister for Latin America, Bill Rammell, met with Mexico's ambassador in London on Friday afternoon, and thanked him for help in getting the group out safely.
"We respect the Mexican authorities' need to clarify their immigration status," Rammell said, adding that he hoped the incident "could be resolved as quickly as possible."
Drinking tequila!
While he pets his pet chihuahua!
You position is not principled, you are merely irritated with the Mexicans.
A bit of food for 'the bite' and all of this could have easily been avoided.
No other way those caves are going to get mapped in a reliable manner. And look who's getting their feathers up over this...Vicente Fox. Of course this is totally unrelated to the British assistance to the US spying on Mesco during the recent Iraq activities...totally unrelated, of course.
Hey Mexico and Fox! Can you take YOUR citizens home? You know the ones that come here every day and have INVADED California, Arizona and Texas????
Do it NOW!
We should f'n detain every single one of their "people" in response to this.
You position is not principled, you are merely irritated with the Mexicans.
C'mon yourself, 4 guys on vacation is not a military presence. And mexico has a long history on being tough, even brutal to their illegal immigrants.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.