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Cuban delegate 'sucker-punches' rights activist*** The commission voted 22-21, with 10 abstentions, on a resolution offered by Honduras and supported by the United States and the European Union, demanding that Cuba permit democratic reforms. It specifically censured Cuba for arresting 75 dissidents last year, condemning many to sentences of 25 years and longer.

The measure, one of the most contentious in the annual six-week gathering, asked that Cuba allow a human rights investigator appointed last year to travel to Cuba. Cuba rejected the request as "ridiculous."

Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Honduras voted against Cuba. Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina abstained.

Cuban human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez applauded the vote but said Cuba would not allow the investigator to visit because "it has a lot to hide."

Mr. Calzon was participating in the annual human rights gathering as member of a nongovernmental organization. A well-known figure on Capitol Hill, he is regularly denounced by name in Cuban state media.

The State Department official, who called Mr. Calzon a "real champion for democracy in Cuba," said members of the official U.S. delegation witnessed the attack.

"If it turns out that the person who hit Frank was a member of the Cuban delegation - a schoolyard bully with diplomatic immunity - this is unprecedented. He was attacked on U.N. property," the official said.***

717 posted on 04/16/2004 1:25:54 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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Mexico Withdraws Ambassador from Cuba[Full Text] MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico, accusing former ally Cuba of interfering in its internal affairs, withdrew its ambassador from Havana on Sunday as relations hit an all-time low in a dispute over Cuba's human rights record.

"Mexico does not and will not tolerate under any circumstance any foreign government trying to affect our decisions on foreign or domestic policy," Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez told a news conference.

Mexico was for decades a close ally of the communist-run island in its fight against a U.S. embargo but the two countries drifted apart when President Vicente Fox swung Mexico closer to Washington after taking power in 2000.

Derbez said Mexico had asked Cuba to pull its envoy out of Mexico City within 48 hours. A spokesman for the Cuban government said Havana had no immediate comment on the Mexican decision.

Interior Minister Santiago Creel also said two Cuban government officials in Mexico had been found "carrying out activities incompatible with their status," a term often used by governments to denote spying.

Creel did not give details of what the Cubans, high-ranking members of the Communist Party, were alleged to have done in Mexico, where they spend several days in April.

Mexican-Cuban relations deteriorated sharply last month when Mexico voted to censure Cuba at a U.N. rights body.

Then on Saturday, in a May Day speech, President Fidel Castro harshly criticized Mexico for the vote, saying Mexico's prestige in the world had "turned into ashes."

Mexico said last week it would hand Cuba a diplomatic note -- a form of serious protest -- over comments it made about a corruption scandal in Mexico. [End]

718 posted on 05/03/2004 12:47:29 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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