CNews.
Friday, Apr. 20, 2001. Canada's Internet Network.
QUEBEC (CP) April 19, 2001 -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien revealed Thursday
he "spent hours" trying to persuade Fidel Castro to sign an
international rights treaty after the last Summit of the Americas to eventually
get Cuba included at the hemispheric table.
Chretien made the comments shortly after he arrived in Quebec City to play
host to 33 hemispheric leaders. Cuba has been shut out of the meetings again and
Chretien says that's nobody's fault but the Cuban president's.
"I tried to persuade him. I spent hours trying to get him to sign this
covenant of the United Nations and he would not budge, so: 'Help me to help
you.'"" Chretien told reporters.
Chretien has pushed in the past for Cuba to be included at the summit
table, as have some Caribbean nations and Mexico. After the last summit in
Santiago, Chile, Chretien shocked the gathering when he announced he would pay
an official visit to Castro shortly afterward.
During that visit, he tried to get Castro to sign the United Nations
Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
At the time, Chretien also asked Castro to release political dissidents
facing jail time in the communist country.
Neither request was heeded and Canada's relationship with Cuba has cooled
considerably.
A pair of Cuban union activists attended the parallel People's Summit,
saying Cuba would be affected by a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) even if they weren't members. They explained that cultural and trade ties
Cuba has tried to build with countries in the region could be completely
overshadowed by such a structured deal. | 