Tue May 12, 2009 1:31pm EDT
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA, May 12 (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has accused
Mexico's government of keeping an outbreak of H1N1 flu under wraps
during a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, after the Caribbean
island reported its first confirmed case.
The Cuban government reported late on Monday a Mexican student in Cuba
was found to have the new flu virus. Cuban state television said the
student at a Cuban medical school became ill after returning from a trip
home in late April. No more details were given of the student's condition.
The Public Health Ministry said that it had found 84 people from eight
countries with flu-like symptoms and that they and 511 other people who
had contact with them had been tested for swine flu.
On April 28, Cuba suspended flights from Mexico, epicenter of the flu
outbreak that has spread to at least 30 countries, in a move that upset
Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Calderon said in a television interview last week that he might cancel a
planned trip to Cuba "as one of the unforeseen consequences of decisions
that have no technical basis."
In an Internet column published late on Monday, Castro took offense at
Calderon's threat and said Mexico had not disclosed the flu outbreak as
soon as it knew about it.
"The Mexican authorities did not inform the world of (the outbreak),
awaiting the visit of Obama. Now they threaten us with suspending
Calderon's trip," he said.
Obama visited Mexico in mid-April on his way to the Summit of the
Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. A federal agent who traveled with Obama
was later reported to have come down with a mild case of swine flu.
"We and dozens of other countries are paying for the broken dishes
(consequences) and on top of that they accuse us of harmful measures
against Mexico," Castro wrote.
"The only thing that can be confirmed now is that (the flu) wasn't
brought here by the CIA. It came from Mexico," he said.
Calderon has rejected suggestions from critics that his country was slow
to confront the H1N1 flu outbreak and has accused governments that
restricted the movement of Mexican citizens and goods of discrimination.
Fidel Castro, who is 82, was replaced as Cuban president last year by
his brother, Raul, but he retains a powerful voice through columns
published in state-run media.
Mexican diplomats in Havana declined to comment on Castro's comments in
the column. (Reporting by Jeff Franks; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and
Bill Trott)
Castro upbraids Mexico as Cuba reports 1st flu case | Reuters (13 May 2009)
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