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Yahoo! Mon Sep 9, 7:30 PM ET
ST. PAUL - Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura asked Monday for an apology from
President George W. Bush and Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich.
On Friday, Reich criticized Ventura and U.S. business leaders for planning
to attend an agribusiness exhibition in Havana later this month.
Reich, who was born in Cuba and fled to the United States after Fidel Castro
came to power, said Castro uses American politicians who visit the communist
nation "as props."
He also said he hoped Ventura and the business leaders wouldn't engage in "sexual
tourism" while visiting Cuba.
"I found Assistant Secretary Reich's comments offensive and at the very
least, he and President Bush owe my wife and children a personal apology,"
Ventura said.
Charles Barclay, spokesman for the Department of State's Bureau of Western
Hemisphere Affairs, said Reich's remarks were intended as general advice to
business travelers and were not directed at Ventura or the Minnesota delegation.
"His tack there was to underscore what is the exploitative nature of
Cuba's economy," Barclay said. "What he didn't do was single out any
particular group of U.S. travelers or any individual traveler in any way."
A week before Reich's statements, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush urged Ventura to
cancel the Sept. 25-28 trip.
Ventura plans to attend the first-ever U.S. Food and Agribusiness Exposition
in Havana, an event sanctioned by the U.S. government to promote the sale of
American food products in Cuba.
He will become the third U.S. governor to visit Cuba, following George Ryan
of Illinois and John Hoeven of North Dakota, both Republicans. But Ventura, as a
political independent and former professional wrestler, is likely to bring more
attention to his visit and the broader debate about the relationship between the
United States and Cuba. | 
