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Yahoo!
Mon Apr 8,11:20 PM ET.
MEXICO CITY - Mexico has not decided how it will vote on a U.N. motion
condemning Cuba for its human rights record, Mexico's foreign minister told
lawmakers on Monday.
Amid controversy over his position toward Cuba, Foreign Minister Jorge
Castaneda met with five members of Congress to talk about Mexico's position on
the motion and hear their views, a statement released by his office said.
He said Mexico would decide how to vote once the text of the motion was set.
Mexico, the only Latin American country that ignored U.S. pressure to break
diplomatic ties after Cuban President Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s 1959
revolution, has traditionally abstained from the annual vote.
Last year, Cuban officials accused Castaneda of trying to get Mexican
delegates to vote in favor of the motion — even though Mexico abstained in
the end.
Mexican congressional members had requested that Castaneda appear before
them to explain why Castro suddenly left a U.N. conference last month in
Monterrey, Mexico, and to talk about his position on the U.N. motion.
In his speech March 21 to the U.N. International Conference on Financing for
Development, Castro said he had to leave less than a day after his arrival due
to "a special situation created by my participation in this summit."
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites), who made it clear he did
not want to cross paths with Castro during the conference, arrived in Monterrey
at the same time that Castro was leaving.
Later, the Cuban government accused Castaneda of bowing to U.S. pressure to
prevent Castro from participating in summit events.
Although Castaneda sent a letter to congressional members last week denying
that Mexico pressured Castro to leave, many leftist lawmakers said he must still
explain his position on Cuba.
Bernardo de la Garza Herrera, of the Ecological Green Party, said Castaneda
listened to the views of various congressional members during Monday's meeting.
"Dialogue and moving forward is important," he said. "That
was what we were looking for, and I think it enriched the meeting."
Marti Batres Guadarrama, the leftist Democratic Revolutionary Party
representative, said he wasn't formally invited to the meeting. He added that he
believed it should have taken place in Congress, rather than at the Foreign
Relations Department.
Since taking office more than a year ago, Castaneda's position on Cuba has
been a sensitive topic.
The former Communist-turned-Castro-critic was accused of inciting several
young men to crash a stolen bus into the Mexican Embassy's gates in Havana in
February. The men refused to leave after U.S.-based Radio Marti quoted Castaneda
as saying the embassy's doors were "open" to Cuban citizens.
Castaneda accused radicals in Miami of twisting his comments. Castro himself
said he did not blame Castaneda and the incident would not affect the two
countries' historically good relationship. | 
