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Yahoo!
November 4, 2002
STOCKHOLM, Sweden, 1 (AP) - The head of a Swedish organization working for
democracy in developing countries said Friday he was expelled from Cuba after
meeting with dissident groups.
Erik Jennische, secretary general of the Swedish International Liberal
Center, said he was arrested on Wednesday in Havana and placed on a plane to
Madrid, Spain, the following day.
Speaking by cell phone from Madrid, Jennische said Cuban authorities accused
him of violating his tourist visa, which doesn't allow political activities.
"They got me on the street in Havana after I spoke to several
dissidents for quite some time," Jennische said, adding that he was treated
"very correctly and professionally" by the authorities.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry did not respond immediately to a request for
comment on the expulsion.
Cuba in the past has expelled numerous foreigners for engaging in political
activism or human rights work, saying that such activities are inconsistent with
the tourism visas they used to enter the country.
Jennische's group is working for democratic development in the communist
nation and is closely linked to the Liberal Party, the third-largest political
group in Sweden.
(kr-hav-krg) | 
