Cuba accuses Bill Richardson of "blackmail"

[flamingdem]

Bill Richardson

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, right, sits in the National hotel after a press conference in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday Sept. 13, 2011.
(Credit: AP Photo)


**** It looks like Richardson was hoping to get a career boost out of this. I can't believe he's this naive. Isn't there ANYONE in the US government that understands that the Cubans know their rights in this game?

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HAVANA - The Cuban Foreign Ministry fired back at former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson Wednesday night, accusing him of lying to the press and of being disrespectful to the Cuban authorities. Officials further denied that there is anything out of the ordinary with the health of a jailed U.S. aid worker.

An official statement says Richardson's visit to Cuba came "at his initiative and we received his request, on a private visit, as on other occasions in the past."

Richardson left Havana in a huff this morning, "disappointed and perplexed," he said, because he was not allowed to visit Alan Gross at the Havana Military Hospital where he is being held, and because the Cubans refused to discuss the case with him. Richardson insisted to the press that he had been invited here by the Cuban Government, told to come after September 1. He said they told him Alan Gross would be on the agenda.

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Vidal says the ex-governor's request to see the prisoner had not been on the agenda and "was made impossible by his slanderous statements to the press, in which he described Alan Gross as a 'hostage' of the Cuban Government and his attempt to pressure by affirming publicly that he would not leave Cuba until he had achieved this goal."

Vidal's statement affirms that her government reminded Richardson "that Cuba is a sovereign country that does not accept blackmail, pressure or prepotency."

The Cuban government's official response to Richardson's claims made in two separate encounters with foreign journalists in Havana, goes on to say that while "it is under no legal obligation to give private citizens access to any sanctioned person, for humanitarian reasons it has facilitated meetings with Mr. Gross by U.S. public figures who have visited the country and who have asked to do so in a private, discrete and respectful manner."

One of Richardson's complaints to the media before leaving Havana was that he couldn't understand why he was not being allowed to see Gross when other Americans had been given that opportunity.

--- snip

In an impromptu press conference Tuesday at the Hotel Nacional where he was staying, Richardson said he was "disappointed and perplexed" and put forth the possibility "that the Cuban Government has made a decision (to) not improve relations with the United States."

President Obama and the State Department have said that Gross' imprisonment is a major obstacle to any further improvement in bilateral relations.

Richardson reiterated that he was in Cuba as a private citizen and not representing the U.S. Government, although he spoke with the State Department before he came and had its support. He noted that just that morning President Obama voiced support for his efforts.

Obama told journalists in Washington Tuesday that "Richardson is acting as a private citizen on an humanitarian mission to try to free Gross. Anything to get Mr. Gross free we will support, although Mr. Richardson does not represent the U.S. government in his actions there."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20106419-503543.html#ixzz1Y0cLUJzL

[EFerrari]

1. Is he a drinking man or something?

What an unnecessary mess!

[flamingdem]

2. I think he thought he was someone special in Cuba

No Bill, Havana doesn't belong to you in spite of how it seduced you. (My theory)

[flamingdem]

3. That plus the Havana club that is! nt

[EFerrari]

4. You may be right.

It's surprising that a man of his experience would pitch a capricho in a foreign capital.

[flamingdem]

5. The plot thickens un poco

** Could it be bad communication. Goes to show he's out of his element. In Cuba one faction will say yes and the other no so nothing is straightforward

*** On second thought it might have been the "hostage" comment that probably sealed it..

Richardson aide answers Cuban criticism

American remains jailed

Updated: Thursday, 15 Sep 2011, 3:48 PM MDT
Published : Thursday, 15 Sep 2011, 3:48 PM MDT

HAVANA (AP) - A top aide to Bill Richardson says the former New Mexico governor held a series of meetings with Cuban officials in Havana, New York and Washington before a trip to the island to discuss jailed American subcontractor Alan Gross.

Gilbert Gallegos accompanied Richardson on a failed trip last week to Havana to try to win Gross' release. He tells The Associated Press that the Cubans suggested they come. And he says they knew the subject was Gross.

Gallegos details multiple meetings over the course of a year between Richardson and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, as well as Cuba's top diplomat in Washington. He said Thursday they left no doubt the Cubans were ready to at least talk about freeing Gross, but their tone changed once Richardson arrived last week.

On Wednesday a Cuban foreign ministry official accused Richardson of trying to blackmail the country and denied the former governor was invited to Cuba to negotiate Gross' release.