Ag commissioner calls for an end to Cuba trade embargo

[Osolomia]

By JAMES MacPHERSON, Associated Press Writer

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson has joined other American farm leaders in calling for an end to the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba.

Johnson said U.S. agriculture suppliers are "negotiating with one hand tied behind our back" in trying to sell food to the communist country.

"It's clear the embargo has to be lifted," Johnson told a news conference on Friday. "That day will come."

... Having to go through third parties results in a "de facto surcharge" of up to 30 percent, Johnson said. That results in "pretty skinny margins while we're trying to grow this market."

... Johnson said the Cubans wanted 20,000 metric tons of peas, but North Dakota, the nation's largest pea-producing state, could not meet the order.

Canadian producers, which don't have an embargo with the communist nation, got the contract, Johnson said.

More...
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2003/12/20/news/topnews/top01.txt

[Judi Lynn]

1. Sounds like North Dakota food producers don't intend to give up

This is a consistant message across the country, too.

From the article:

(snip) Jerome Knudson, president of Superior Grains of Crosby, said North Dakota farmers planted 155,000 acres of peas this year. Knudson said the acreage is expected to go up to 300,000 acres next year, in part to meet the demand of the developing Cuban market.

Larry White, marketing director of Paulson Premium Seed in Bowman, said Cuba will be buying as much as 10,000 metric tons of peas in the spring.

White said North Dakota may have enough to fill the order then.

"We'll probably find it," White said. "As a market, Cuba is just the tip of the iceberg, especially for peas -- they can't grow them and they love to eat them."
(snip/...)

Bush is going to come out of this looking really stupid, and totally out of step with all of his country, with the exception of Miami and a fragment of New Jersey.

[Osolomia]

2. Problem is the Dems look really stupid and out of step with the country!

Majority of American Likely Voters Favors Ending Cuban Embargo
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=770

But,

Of the ten current democratic hopefuls, Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is the only one who supports an end to the embargo.
http://www.lawg.org/pages/new%20pages/Misc/prez-candidates1.htm

[Mika]

4. Kinda make you wonder why?

If the Dems are going to use the Bush economy as a stepping stone to victory, then they better get on the ball and listen to the heartland of America on this issue.

So far, only Dennis Kucinich has openly endorsed ending this insane policy against Cuba, US businesses and the American people.

-The Democratic Presidential Candidates on Cuba-
http://www.lawg.org/pages/new%20pages/Misc/prez-candidates1.htm

[Osolomia]

7. Looks like spineless hypocritical Dem complicity with the Bush Doctrine

lacking any evidence to the contrary that holds up to simple scrutiny for 2 seconds.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. As The Rest Of The Country Gets...

As the rest of the country gets "pea'd" off at the Cuban exile lobby, support for continuing the embargo and the travel ban will decline.

Doesn't ND have Republican senators?

[Osolomia]

6. At 12% now, how much more must it decline for Dems to get real?

Released: December 15, 2003
Majority of American Likely Voters Favors Ending Cuban Embargo, Foreign Policy Association/Zogby Poll Reveals

More than half (56%) of America's likely voters now favor re-opening trade with Cuba, while 12% oppose the idea, according to a recent Zogby International poll.

Polling was conducted September 5-9, 2003 for the Foreign Policy Association, with 1,000 likely voters chosen at random nationwide from listed residential phone numbers. The margin of survey error is +/- 3.2 percentage points. Margins are higher in sub-groups.

"The mission of the Foreign Policy Association is to promote citizen participation in the foreign policy process. It has never been more important to be educated about world affairs and to cast an intelligent vote," noted Noel V. Lateef, President of the Foreign Policy Association.

Support for ending the Cuban embargo does tend to turn more sharply on party affiliation, with 59% of Democrats and 66% of Independents saying the embargo should end, and 45% of Republicans agreeing.

Older respondents - presumably more familiar with the Cold War experience - are slightly more likely than younger respondents to favor ending the embargo (65 and older: 57%, compared to those 18-29: 51%).

Others who favor ending the embargo include: college graduates (62%), African Americans (61%), higher income respondents ($75,000-plus: 61%). Hispanics (45%) Born-again Christians (43%) and conservatives (47%) are significantly less likely to favor ending the embargo.

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=770

[Osolomia]

12. ND's Governor Hoeven (R) went on a trade mission to Cuba last year

Here's the transcript of North Dakota's Republican Governor Hoeven's telephone conference in Cuba regarding the trade mission

Havana, Cuba
July 25, 2002

http://www.governor.state.nd.us/media/audio-video/doc/020725-transcript.html

[Judi Lynn]

5. Port to send food to Cuba (Galveston)

Port to send food to Cuba

By Laura Elder
The Daily News

Published December 20, 2003

GALVESTON — Ending a trip to Cuba that included dinner with Fidel Castro, Port of Galveston officials formally pledged to increase the amount of U.S. cargo shipped to the Caribbean island from this city’s docks.

The formal pledge between Galveston port leaders and Alimport, the Cuban government agency that imports food, came at a time when groups representing American farmers were calling for an end to the U.S. trade embargo against the Communist country.

“We have viewed Cuba as a possible trading partner for some time now,” said Steven M. Cernak, Galveston’s port director. “Agricultural commodities have always been a strong part of Galveston’s cargo mix and an important part of the port’s exports. Cuba is a natural market for Texas products and for Port of Galveston exports because of our proximity to the Gulf and Cuba.”

The memorandum of understanding followed a four-day visit to Cuba by a delegation of port officials that included Cernak; Rusty Legg, vice chairman of the board of trustees; and John Peterlin, senior director of marketing and administration.

The formal agreement calls for use of port facilities for the movement of U.S. licensed cargo, especially food, agricultural and forest products to Cuba. The expansion of products through the port is concentrated on increased movements of wheat, corn, rice and other grain products and cotton. The agreement is for two years.
(snip/...)

http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?wcd=16230

[robcon]

8. This is not really news.

Business leaders and farmers have been urging an end to the embargo for decades. It is only the politicians who want to keep the embargo - not the people who would be directly affected by the end of the embargo.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Karl Rove, and Cuban "exile" extremist Otto Reich from Regan's State Dept

would LOVE to get us all back in the dark about Cuba. I'm hoping the cat is out of the bag, the toothpaste out of the tube, and that it's going to be one hell of a fight getting Americans back to the child-like state of profound ignorance about US/Cuba relations we were languishing in before the Elián event happened in Miami.

Osolomia, every one of these articles we read is one more testimony to the fact that Americans are waking up, but FAST on this subject.

[Osolomia]

10. Repubs are evidently awake, Dems still sound asleep at the wheel

hence the extremist minority stances of all the leading Dem presidential candidates. What a shame.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Yeah, isn't that odd?

When American business people started going to Cuba in great numbers, I was posting on a US/Cuban message board, attended by Miami "exile" posters, and their immediate insult to be hurled against this burgeoning class of Americans was "selfish pigs, who are just interested in lining their pockets."

They were ready for this, and knew damned well there was NO WAY they were going to call ANY of these Republicans COMMIE TRAITORS, FIDEL-HUMPERS, FIDEL'S USEFUL IDIOTS, or any of the names they toss about in profusion at Democrats who reject the embargo and travel ban.

So they just made up a new nasty insult.

They've outstayed their welcome, I think. They should round up all their right-wing extremist pals, like Jesse Helms, and Dan Burton, and the Bushes & company, and leap into a giant time machine and get back to the Eisenhower-supported bloody butcher Batista's Cuba of the 1950's.

[Osolomia]

14. 71 Repubs defied Bush and Miami mafia and voted FOR your freedom to travel

While Lieberman and 27 other Dems* sided with the extremist right wing minority AGAINST your freedom to travel!

Results of this year’s vote on lifting the travel ban:

House vote 9-SEP-2003

For: 227 including 53 Repubs
Against: 188 including 22 Dems

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll483.xml

Senate vote 23 OCT 2003

For: 59 including 18 Repubs
Against: 36 including 5 Dems plus Lieberman

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=1&vote=00405#top

The Dem party is rapidly running out of time to get their act together imho.

[Judi Lynn]

11. Oh, Please!

Just saw this comical article printed in the MIAMI HERALD, showing so much spin I nearly fell of my chair.

It concerns two Cuban "exiles" from Florida who were found "packing heat" of a horrendous proportion in Cuba, and were, duh, convicted an put in jail.

It's the view of the Miami Herald, apparently, that everyone should burst into tears at the very thought of these two poor, poor would-be assassins having to spend time in the slammer:

(snip) The Miami Herald
October 11, 2000
Two Miami men captured in Cuba given prison terms

LUISA YANEZ

Two aging Miami men, captured inside Cuba two years ago with a cache of
weapons and recently convicted for ``acts against the state,'' have been handed
long prison sentences by an island tribunal.

Displaying the supplies for the men's planned internal revolt during a two-day
tribunal last month -- a tableful of guns, ammunition and medicine -- Cuban
prosecutors had sought to slap the two with 26-year sentences, which meant
they would likely die in prison.

The exiles, Ernestino Abreu Horta, 75, a South Miami-Dade engineer and former
head of a local exile group, and Vicente Martinez Rodriguez, 66, a Miami truck
driver and anti-Castro activist, are in poor health, Miami relatives said Tuesday.

There were conflicting reports on the length of the sentences. The Associated
Press said both men received 15-year sentences. Other reports said Martinez
received 10 years and Abreu 15.

The two, who have lost weight and are battling a series of ailments, have been
temporarily moved from a prison to a military hospital. As soon as their health
improves, the two will be sent back to prison, Cuban officials said.

A State Department spokesman Tuesday criticized the lengthy sentences for the
two Cuban exiles for illegally reentering the island. ``If these reports of 15-year
sentences are true, we think these are outrageous sentences in light of the
advanced age and failing health of the defendant,'' said spokesman Richard
Boucher.

As news of the sentences spread, the men's wives, daughters and brothers said
they will likely not last a year because of their age and poor physical condition. ``I
don't think my husband can take much of this,'' said Epifania, Martinez's wife of
40 years, who traveled to Pinar del Rio in late September for her husband's
two-day trial. ``He is emaciated. He has severe stomach problems they can't
seem to cure.'' (snip/...)

http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/belligerence/abreu.htm

Gee, the poor lambs. Just what WOULD happen to them if they showed up here, from another country, bearing arms?

[Osolomia]

15. Embargo ruling leaves engineer club in a tizzy

Sunday, December 21, 2003
BY KEVIN COUGHLIN
Star-Ledger Staff

A powerful yet little known federal agency that has dogged everyone from Hugh Hefner to George Steinbrenner is making life difficult for one of the world's foremost technical societies.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control -- which enforces trade embargoes and tries to thwart money-laundering terrorists, drug kingpins and merchants of mass destruction -- has turned its attention to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which has 360,000 members in 150 countries.

Critics of the IEEE say the society, based in Piscataway, brought on its troubles by asking too many questions.

... The engineering society then pressed OFAC to clarify U.S. sanctions. The result was an odd ruling in September that could hinder free speech on a broader scale. It requires newspapers and religious groups to seek permission to publish certain materials from embargoed countries or risk millions of dollars in fines or jail terms up to 30 years.

While few observers expect things to go that far, the quirky and paradoxical saga shines a light on OFAC -- an organization so secretive that it took a lawsuit to pry names of fined companies from the agency earlier this year. Even then, details remained sketchy. But the list reads like a Who's Who of American business, from Amazon.com (fined for an online auction of Cuban cigars) to Wal-Mart (pajamas allegedly made in Cuba). Playboy Enterprises paid a $27,500 fine for a Cuban foray; the New York Yankees ponied up $75,000, presumably for raiding Fidel Castro's pitching rotation.

More...
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1071989093263670.xml

[Judi Lynn]

16. Beyond odd, this simply seems perverse.

From the article:

(snip) The International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, was flagged by its bank for wiring $6,000 to affiliates in Canada. The money was meant to defray expenses for four Cuban doctors traveling to a Paris conference, said Doug Kline, the organization's finance director.

"I was a bit naive about it. I thought it was perfectly legal," said Kline. "I was shocked the government could do this."

He said it took two years to reclaim the seized funds -- minus a $500 penalty. (snip)

Who would think they have the time to monitor such minute transactions as this. Horrid.

A good swift kick in the embargo would take care of all this nonsense.

We have the chance to contact our Senators and Representatives and let them know it's time to lose the travel ban and embargo, by getting veto-proof legislation this session. We could do something historic ourselves now, rather than waiting until we get a Democratic President.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Here's ONE American who isn't gathering any moss!

Ben Treuhaft, creator of "Senda Piana to Havana" is a guy you might really like. New story:

(snip)
Piano tuner on a mission

Amidst the angry noises that have characterized U.S.-Cuba relations for more than 40 years, there is a New York man who, almost by himself, has been adding a little music to the mix for the last decade.

His name is Benjamin Treuhaft, and he is a piano tuner. At 56, he is a hefty figure in jeans and yellow bandana sitting on an old chair in his Underwater Piano Shop on the lower East Side's Ridge St.

The tools of his trade - tuning pins, sets of piano hammers, different kinds of strings and several books - surround him. There is not much more in the shop, aside from two or three additional battered chairs and a work bench. Yet, this is Treuhaft's natural environment.

"I love my shop," he said.

Five minutes of conversation are enough to make you realize that this man with the inquisitive eyes is no ordinary piano tuner. He founded Send a Piana to Havana ("'piana' because piano doesn't rhyme," he says), a not-for-profit organization that has been sending pianos, piano tuners and technicians to Cuba since 1995.
(snip/...)

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/147556p-130244c.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Another story, with interesting photos, from the St. Petersburg Times, which is tempting fate, and the chance of bomb threats in printing this story!

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/25/Floridian/The_Mirror_Piano.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Photo essay on Ben Treuhaft's terrific operation, Senda Piana to Havana:



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ovation Channel on cable runs the program, "Tuning With the Enemy" frequently:


Ben, walking in his piano suit, on his way to the American Interests Section in Havana.

http://www.ovationtv.com/cuba/tuning.html

[Bridget Burke]

21. "Tuning with the Enemy" is on Ovation January 4th & 8th

Thanks to Ovations never-ending re-runs, I've seen this one before & may see it again. Ben Treuhaft is a true character. He scoffs at our government's stupid embargo but doesn't leave Cuban bureaucrats unscathed.

The film has moments of painful beauty, with talented students playing wonderful (mostly Cuban) music on pianos almost destroyed by humidity & insects.

[Judi Lynn]

22. You've seen it, too!

It shows he's had a hard, gruelling battle getting his job done.

One exquisite detail is his announcement he opened a factory in Cuba producing bass strings for the pianos, and named it after Jesse Helms, in honor of Jesse Helms' contribution of the Helms-Burton Act, which made it even far more difficult for Cuba to get essential products for daily life, by threatening other countries which do business with Cuba, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I just noticed a link I posted above, with a story, and interesting photos didn't work. This should do it:

~~~~ link ~~~~

Photos of Ben Treuhaft's piano tuning efforts in Cuba, which I neglected to link, above:

~~~~ link ~~~~

[Judi Lynn]

18. Stupendous article, with some history thrown in for Cuba beginners!

Weekend Edition
December 20 / 21, 2003

Is Havana Laughing?
Bush Tries Farce as Cuba Policy
By SAUL LANDAU



(snip) In 1952, Batista staged a fraudulent election and made himself President again. In the ensuing years, Batista tortured, murdered and imprisoned dissidents, but behaved obsequiously to the power in Washington and the Mafia in Havana.

When revolutionary anger manifested itself throughout the island, the United States allowed the dictator to use its Guantanamo base to refuel and provide bullets and bombs for his planes, which bombed supposed rebel positions -- often defenseless rural areas and towns that suspected of "sympathy" with the rebels.

These historical sketches illustrate the past Administrations' evolving understanding of "free Cuba." "Free" euphemistically means "obedient." So, in 1898, Washington "freed" Cuba from Spain, and called it "independent."

The 1959 revolution "freed" Cuba--it began to disobey -- from US domination. So, Washington again announced it wanted to "free" the island from the new Cuban government which had not asked permission to make a revolution. By 1960, after the Soviet Union offered aid to Cuba, Washington changed its line: "free" Cuba from communist domination. By 1990, the USSR having imploded, President Bush (41) tried to "free" Cubans from the social benefits they had achieved over thirty years and replace them with Miami-based Cubans who would privatize ("free") everything. (snip)

(snip) To get support from the Florida-based anti-Castro Cubans who continue to show their love of the island through violence, the Commission will advise the President on how to "establish democratic institutions, respect for human rights, and the rule of law" and "create the core institutions of a free economy." The 2000 elections in Florida illustrated the evolving fine points of freedom: erasing opposition voters from the register; preventing others from voting; not counting all votes. Cubans now know how fair elections work.
(snip/...)

http://www.counterpunch.org/landau12202003.html

[Judi Lynn]

19. Cuban Carnival

Carnival runs in troupe director's blood
Published November 16, 2003


HAVANA · It's carnival week in Havana, and for Santos Ramirez Garcia that means no time for fun and games.

"I'm drained; I can't wait until this is over," he says as fireworks explode over his head and the sounds of blaring trumpets, thundering drums and brash salsa music envelope Havana's seaside avenue.

(snip) His great-grandfather was the only black man in El Alacrán (The Scorpion), a famed ensemble founded in 1908 by white men. They painted their faces to represent the slave cane cutters who once carried the island's all important sugar harvest. The group disbanded in 1914 when a fight with a rival ensemble ended in pride-swallowing defeat. Ramirez Garcia's grandfather, Santos Ramirez Arango, rekindled El Alacrán in 1937. In the 1970s his father took over and now, at age 30, it's his turn.

"It's a lot of sacrifice to achieve the performance, to overcome the problems of the special period," he says, using the common euphemism for Cuba's post-Soviet economic crisis. "What brings me the most satisfaction is to see that the group goes on and doesn't disappear."

To Beneranda Betancourt, 90, who started dancing in El Alacrán as a teenager, the group's longevity comes as no surprise.

"When we paraded in the streets people would leave their cooking pots behind and burn their food. That's the kind of sound we had," Betancourt said from her living room in the broken down barrio of Cerro, El Alacrán's home base. "I always knew it would last because of the love we have for it."
(snip/...)


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-abauza16nov16,0,5384654.column?coll=sfla-home-headlines

[Osolomia]

20. ABC News list Cuba in "Hot Spots to Escape the Winter Wonderland"

Under the December Sun
Hot Spots to Escape the Winter Wonderland
ABC News

Dec. 22— They are the hot spots in December, where the winter-weary can catch some sun, sand, surf and escape the consumerist crush of the holidays.

... Here are some favored winter hotspots:...

Cuba: A destination for intrepid travelers seeking to avoid the commercialism of the Caribbean. While U.S. citizens are barred from visiting Cuba except for journalists, researchers and special groups — all of whom require the permission of the Treasury Department — some Americans have been able to circumvent the ban by taking "educational tours" or illegally flying to Havana from Mexico or Canada.

But the number of Americans heading to Cuba has been dropping in recent years, according to George. "The Bush administration policy has been not to renew licenses for educational tours, so it's harder for Americans to go," he says. "Of course people can still go illegally, but these days, I wouldn't recommend it."

America's loss is Europe and Canada's gain, and the winter sees numerous Europeans and Canadians head for the serene, unspoiled beaches of Cuba, many of them determined to experience the tranquil charms of the communist island before U.S. trade barriers fall and hordes of Americans head to Havana.

More...
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/travel/World/holidays_escape_sidebar_031222.html

[Osolomia]

23. More voters for Dems to ignore at their own risk

The Hawk Eye, Iowa
Monday, December 22, 2003

Every American charged with a crime is entitled to a speedy trial.

But what of citizens who are charged with something that lies in a legal gray area — like violating a Congressional ban on travel to Cuba.

Those unlucky souls face a legal limbo in which there is no speedy resolution of their cases, and no equivalent of the most basic tenet of democracy — the fair trial.

... The official offense is spending money there, which Washington says supports Fidel Castro.

In glaring contrast, Cuban–Americans who travel to and send millions to relatives in Cuba are exempt from punishment.

... Congress ought to summon its courage at the earliest opportunity and repeal this travesty masquerading as law.

More...
http://www.thehawkeye.com/daily/stories/co1_1222.html

[Judi Lynn]

24. Right from the midst of America's heartland, too

Outstanding article.

(snip) The ludicrousness of the ban is further evident in the fact Americans can visit communist China or dictator–run Pakistan without repercussion, but Cuba is off limits. That makes no sense.

Recognizing as much, Congress recently voted to eliminate the travel ban, but retreated under the threat of President Bush's veto. (snip)

Reminds one of some great pro-American travel freedom writing which has been coming from a great college town, Colombia, Missouri, home of the University of Missouri's great journalism school.

Their town's publisher has written at least TWO scorchers on the subject, and that part of the country is truly CONSERVATIVE, to say the least.

Just like Democratic Senator, anti-embargo advocate Max Baucus's state, Montana.

[Osolomia]

25. The Rest of the World is not about to be fooled by ignorant Dems either

December 22, 2003
Understanding Cuba
Revolution and Misinformation
The Dominion, Canada's Grassroots Natioanl Newspaper

Cuba: A revolution in motion
by Isaac Saney
Fernwood Books 2003

Reviewed by Dru Oja Jay

A small island nation. Cigars that Americans have to smuggle into their own country; sublime music played by old men; Caribbean vacations; quaint old buildings. They had a revolution, years ago. Some guys named Che Guevara and Fidel Castro were involved. There were others, but what were their names again? They overthrew Batista, the guy with the solid gold telephone in The Godfather: part II. They seemed to have good ideals at the beginning, but eventually turned into yet another corrupt communist dictatorship. Castro the despot rules with an iron fist, jailing those who dare to defy him. The country remains poor due to outdated, inefficient socialist policies. The US and others are biding their time, waiting for Castro to die so that democracy can be restored, and the Cuban people freed from his authoritarian grip.

Aside from the cigars and music, these are a few of the well-worn images of Cuba that Isaac Saney, a history professor at Dalhousie, would like you to reconsider.

In Cuba: A revolution in motion Saney sets out not only to take apart popular disinformation about Cuba, but to put forward a very different image altogether. Cuba, he argues in the face of almost everything we know about the country, is in many ways an inspiration, and represents an alternative model of development for most of the nations of the world. If this wasn't outlandish enough, Saney manages to argue--convincingly--that Cuba is more democratic than most developed western countries.

More...
http://dominionpaper.ca/features/2003/12/22/understand.html

[Judi Lynn]

26. This is a phenomenal Cuba article.

I've scanned it, and noted it touches a ton of bases most people in a hurry to swallow the propaganda won't take time to learn.

(snip) Indeed, it is nearly impossible to speak of Cuba accurately without addressing the supernaturally effective campaign of disinformation about the country. (snip)

Have to leave for a while, have already bookmarked this great article to study later.

So glad you posted it.

[Judi Lynn]

28. Just looked over this article again. It's great.

It was interesting reading material about the elections which has already been attested by DU Cuba travellers here.

It's an excellent article, the book should be tremendous.

"Each day in the world 200 million children sleep in the streets. Not one is Cuban."

[Judi Lynn]

27. Mexico, Cuba to patch old ties after 2002 tiff

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 23 December 2003 1257 hrs

Mexico, Cuba to patch old ties after 2002 tiff

MEXICO CITY : Mexico and Cuba, whose historic ties suffered a war of words in 2002, would like a meeting between Presidents Vicente Fox and Fidel Castro to usher in renewed relations, a top official said.

"We both have decided to work from top to bottom," Mexican vice minister of foreign relations Miguel Hakim told Formato 21 radio.

"When we see improvement and the level has risen, we will think about a meeting between the leaders."

Hakim said that Mexican foreign minister Luis Derbez and his Cuban counterpart Felipe Perez Roque would meet in the first half of next year. After evaluating those meetings, they would determine whether Fox and Castro should meet.

Mexico and Cuba have long enjoyed warm relations as Latin American neighbors across a narrow stretch of the Gulf of Mexico -- especially in light of the four-decade US embargo of the island.
(snip/...)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/63229/1/.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There'll be a gnashing of teeth in Miami over this. They went to a lot of trouble to create a nasty incident involving Mexico and Cuba by broadcasting false information about Mexico offering an open-door policy to all Cubans a couple of years ago on U.S. taxpayer-funded Radio Marti, which is staffed and operated by Miami Cuban-Americans. It resulted in some Cuban men, ("dead enders," with criminal records) stealing a Mercedes bus, and crashing it through the gate of the Mexican embassy.

It was a plan designed to cause a whole lot of trouble, and it did, and got a Mexican official, Castaneda fired, but it was in vain, after all.

Miami Mafia strikes out again. :silly: :crazy: :dunce:

Here's an account of the free-for-all created by malicious mischief, AGAIN, by exile-run (we fund, at $28,000,000 annually) Radio Marti in Miami, which lead to the disruption of relations between Mexico and Cuba, being repaired in the present.

Reuters story here:

http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/dissidents/out.htm