Mexico: Castro's Flu Claims Hurt Ties with Cuba

Mexico: Castro's Flu Claims Hurt Ties with Cuba

MEXICO CITY – Fidel Castro's criticism about Mexico's handling of the
swine flu epidemic "are straining the bilateral relationship," the
Mexican foreign secretary told her Cuban counterpart on the eve of a
Europe-Latin America meeting in Prague.

The foreign ministry said that Patricia Espinosa conveyed that sentiment
to Bruno Rodriguez a few hours after Fidel Castro said the Mexican
government delayed sounding the alert about the AH1N1 virus to ensure a
planned visit to Mexico by U.S. President Barack Obama would not be
canceled.

Espinosa "regretted and categorically rejected the statements
disseminated in Cuba on this matter which, far from fostering
understanding, are straining the bilateral relationship," Mexico's
foreign ministry said in a communique.

The foreign minister emphasized that "the handling of the information
was and is objective and transparent, which has deserved the broad
recognition of the international community."

The differences began after Cuba suspended, as did other countries,
flights to and from Mexico out of fear that the epidemic could spread,
measures that were criticized by Mexican President Felipe Calderon as
unjustified and discriminatory.

The friction increased when Calderon hinted that he might suspend an
official visit to Cuba tentatively set for next month, thus provoking
Castro's reaction.

"The Mexican authorities did not inform the world (of) the presence of
it (the flu epidemic) awaiting Obama's visit. Now they are threatening
us with suspending that of (Mexican) President (Felipe) Calderon" to
Cuba, the 82-year-old Castro said.

Espinosa, in her meeting with Rodriguez, reiterated the opinion of the
Mexican government that the suspension of flights between her country
and Cuba "is not consistent with the recommendations of the World Health
Organization or with the spirit of cooperation necessary to overcome
this situation."

The Mexican foreign ministry said in the communique that Rodriguez
explained that the decision to suspend the flights was made as "a
mechanism to defend the public against the threats of various sorts,
with the limited resources his country has."

Calderon was invited to Cuba by President Raul Castro, who last year
succeeded older brother Fidel, in the context of what had been a growing
rapprochement between the two governments.

In 2004, then-President Vicente Fox withdrew Mexico's ambassador to Cuba
and expelled Cuba's top diplomat after accusing the communist-ruled
island of meddling in the country's internal affairs.

Tensions between the two countries had begun two years earlier, when Fox
asked Fidel Castro to cut short his visit to a U.N. gathering in
Monterrey, Mexico, to avoid crossing paths with then-U.S. President
George W. Bush. EFE

Latin American Herald Tribune - Mexico: Castro's Flu Claims Hurt Ties
with Cuba (16 May 2009)

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