Posted on 04/24/2002 1:33:10 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Uruguay's president announced Tuesday that his country was breaking diplomatic ties with Cuba, days after Uruguay sponsored a U.N. human rights vote targeting Fidel Castro's government.
The surprise announcement by President Jorge Batlle came as the Uruguayan leader charged Cuba with a series of insults against this South American nation.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, who was speaking live on a government television program in Havana when the announcement was made, characterized Batlle as "a lackey."
Uruguay sponsored a resolution targeting Cuba that was passed Friday by the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The vote was a tight 23-21 with nine abstentions.
The resolution invited the communist-run country to provide its people with greater civil and political rights. It also exhorted Cuba to allow a U.N. representative to visit the island - an idea Havana rejected.
Almost all Latin American nations on the 53-member commission approved the human rights measure, prompting Cuba to term them all "Judases."
Castro seemed unconcerned as he read the story about Uruguay aloud on air.
He said that that while Uruguay was breaking relations with Cuba, plans were under way to vaccinate 300,000 Uruguayan children with meningitis vaccines donated by Cuba to the South American country.
On Monday night, Castro had referred to Batlle as that "hungover, abject Judas who presides over Uruguay."
Leading up to the U.N. vote in Geneva, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque accused Uruguay of "genuflecting" and of "being servile" to the United States by sponsoring the resolution.
At a news conference late Tuesday, Batlle bluntly complained that insults by Cuban leaders "continued to escalate in tone" to the point that Uruguay was forced to act.
"The rupture will remain until it is clear that the Cuban people have peace and liberty," Batlle bristled at the news conference in this South American capital.
Batlle said he instructed Foreign Minister Didier Opertti to carry out the necessary steps to formalize the break. He did not elaborate.
But Guillermo Valles, an undersecretary to Opertti, later told The Associated Press that Cuba's ambassador would be ordered to leave the country within 72 hours.
The Cuban ambassador to Uruguay, Jose J. Vazquez Portela, had no immediate comment. And there was no immediate word if Cuba would take any similar steps toward Uruguay.
Diplomatic relations between Uruguay and Cuba were restored in 1986, a year after the end of 12 years of right-wing military-dictatorship in Uruguay that had interrupted ties.
But relations fell on rocky times in the weeks leading up to the Geneva vote. Uruguay's government went so far as to recall its ambassador, Enrique Estrazulas, to show its displeasure.
November 23, 2001- Most Latins disapprove of Castro, survey says***The finding comes days before this weekend's Ibero-American Summit in Peru, a forum where Castro has often attracted the lion's share of the attention from the media -- and from other participants, in some cases -- in spite of representing a country at variance with the prevailing democratic currents in the region. Saladrigas said he hoped that knowledge of the poll would prod Latin American leaders to take a more outspoken position against Castro and the Cuban government.*** (Castro sent a last minute letter of regret to the Summit---he said he was needed at home)
December 11, 2001 - European Union Tells Cuba To Improve Human Rights*** The recent fence-mending between Cuba and the European Union evaporated Monday, with the EU telling the Castro government it had better improve its human rights record or else Cuba can forget about improved economic and diplomatic relations with the 15-nation EU. In a statement, the EU foreign ministers said the human rights situation in Cuba "is still seriously wanting as regards the recognition and application of civil and political freedoms." The ministers also criticized Cuba for refusing "to contemplate reforms leading to a political system based on those values." ***
March 7, 2002 Havana embassy incident should not cow Mexico*** If President Fidel Castro of Cuba instigated the Feb. 27 occupation of the Mexican Embassy in Havana in an effort to press the Mexican government to drop its defense of human rights and democracy on the island, as many of us suspect, he may not have succeeded. ………..My conclusion: Castro is aiming at Castañeda, because he does not want to burn his bridges with Fox. If Mexico does what it says, and joins all other modern democracies in demanding basic freedoms in Cuba, it will be a marked improvement over its longtime support for Cuba's dictatorship.***
April 16, 2002 - Mexico Will Support Censure of Cuba
March 20, 2002- Bush to Be Tough on U.S. Aid During LatAm Trip*** WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will go to a U.N. development conference in Mexico this week with a tough-love message that the United States will withhold aid to countries that do nothing to fight corruption. "It makes no sense to give aid to countries that are corrupt because you know what happens? The money doesn't help the people, it helps an elite group of leaders," Bush said. The president will take the message to the U.N. Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, where he will arrive Thursday night. He also will meet Andean leaders in Peru and Central American leaders in El Salvador before returning to Washington Sunday. During his talks with world leaders at the conference, Bush will promote his initiative to help poor nations that respect human rights, root out corruption, open their markets, and have education and health care systems. ***
April 9, 2002 - Mexico Leaves Castro's Cuba Behind*** Once upon a time, Mexico and Cuba were best buddies in the Western Hemisphere. Brandishing the banners of nonintervention and self-determination, both countries provided each other with unconditional support and kept quiet about their mutual lack of democratic development. Those days are over, and today relations between Cuba and Mexico are at an all-time low, for all the right reasons. Mexico's foreign policy toward Cuba is changing, and Fidel Castro is furious about it. The comandante is lashing out against Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's minister of foreign affairs--calling him a lackey of the United States--out of sheer desperation and growing isolation.... This tempest in the Cuba-Mexico teapot will pass. Meanwhile, Mexico's foreign policy will have changed and for the better. The principle of the protection of human rights will prevail in Mexico and elsewhere. As Castaneda's father, Mexico's minister of foreign affairs 20 years ago, said: "Friend, when you defend principles instead of interests, you never lose." ***
This is a big step forward. I hadn't heard about the Ambassador being told to leave, though
Cuban President Fidel Castro makes a point as he speaks before a national TV audience in Havana, April 22, 2002. Cuba's relations with long-time ally Mexico reached a new low on Monday after Castro repeatedly called Mexican President Vicente Fox a liar, and made public a private conversation between them to prove it. Castro insisted Fox lied about the Cuban leader's hasty departure last month from a U.N. aid summit in Monterrey, Mexico. REUTERS/Rafael Perez
***There was a story in the local news last month about Fidel and Uruguay.
It seems that Fidel had decided to send them a shipment of some sort of medication, one that without a doubt is desperately needed by Cubans. Ever the magnanimous one, Fidel made a statement that he was "donating" these medicines to help them.
Uruguay's President, Jorge Batlle, quickly responded by telling Castro that his country did not require any "help" from him, and that instead of donating the medicine, Castro could subtract its worth from the 28 million dollars Cuba owed Uruguay.
Ballsy people these Uruguayans.
Gotta love them!***
30 posted on 4/23/02 10:57 PM Pacific by Luis Gonzalez
We desperately need to take back the Senate so this man can continue with his democracy crusade!
LOL! So they're Judases for doing the right thing.
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.