Associated Press. February 25, 2001.
Chicago Sun-Times.
CARBONDALE, Ill.--Former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, fresh from a meeting with
Fidel Castro, said he wants the Cuban leader to attend a summit at Southern
Illinois University and will work to try to get him a visa to do so.
Simon said Friday he plans to call Secretary of State Colin Powell "in
the near future" to discuss getting a visa for Castro. Simon was part of a
group that just returned from a five-day education and public policy mission to
Cuba.
The Democrat said he wrote to Powell before he left for Cuba informing him
he would be following up about allowing Castro to come to a summit on Caribbean
affairs.
The summit is planned for SIU and will be coordinated by the Public Policy
Institute that Simon now leads.
Simon had tried to bring Castro and former President Bill Clinton to SIU for
a summit on U.S.-Cuba relations. Simon said Clinton was intrigued but other
matters prevented the meeting.
Simon, SIU President James Walker and four others met with Castro privately
for nearly six hours Wednesday, discussing student-faculty exchanges and the
U.S. political attitude toward Cuba, among other issues.
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