Cuba resumes official contact
with EU nations
The
Cuba government announced Monday
it has normalized official
contacts with all of the
European Union (EU) countries,
ending a bilateral diplomatic
freeze since June 2003.
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe
Perez said that his country was
resuming ties with the embassies
in Havana of the Netherlands,
Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic
and the EU mission.
Perez explained that the
decision came as a result of the
"respectful and cordial
petition" received last week
from the current EU president
Luxembourg, and also from the
authorities of Spain, Belgium
and European Commissioner Louis
Michel.
In mid-2003, the EU imposed
diplomatic sanctions against
Cuba as a response to the arrest
of 75 opposition members accused
of being mercenaries at the
service of the United States and
sentenced them to 6 to 28 years
in prison.
Cuba responded at once and
relinquished economic
assistance, and its officials
ceased to attend European
receptions. The foreign minister
refused to receive EU
ambassadors requesting to hold
meetings with him.
Last week, Cuba had already
resumed contacts with France,
Germany, Britain, Italy,
Austria, Greece, Portugal and
Sweden. The Latin American
country had also normalized
formal relations with Spain,
Belgium and Hungary a month
earlier.
Perez said that as the remaining
EU members -- Ireland, Finland,
Denmark, Cyprus, Luxemburg,
Malta, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia
and Lithuania -- do not have
ambassadors in Havana, Cuba has
in fact re-established official
relations with all of the EU
countries.
Venezuela seizes 820 kilograms
of cocaine
The Venezuelan judicial police
seized 820 kg of cocaine hidden
in the rural Lara estate, 350 km
west of Caracas, the Attorney
General's office said Monday.
A statement issued by the office
said police also arrested a
Colombian in the operation, who
was being wanted by police for
involvement in a
drug-trafficking case months ago
in the border state of Tachira.
In another development, Peruvian
police captured 100 kg of
high-purity cocaine and arrested
six suspected drug pushers
Monday in the northern province
of Loreto.
The drugs were found hidden in
lumbers that are to be
transported to Mexico in a
warehouse in Iquitos, the
capital of Loreto, the police
said.
Last week, Peruvian police
seized 324 kg of cocaine in the
country's capital Lima.
With an annual output of 300
tons, Peru, located in the
notorious "Silver Triangle," is
the world's second largest
cocaine producer after Colombia.
Some 50,000 families are growing
coca, the raw materials for
cocaine, in Peru, involving
40,000 hectares of land.
Former Chilean ruler Pinochet
gets freedom on parole
Former
Chilean President Augusto
Pinochet was granted freedom on
bail Monday after he was put
under house arrest on murder and
kidnapping charges.
Judge Juan Guzman, who filed the
indictment against Pinochet in
relation to the Operation Condor
case, agreed to the bail of
3,484US dollars, only hours
after Pinochet's lawyer made the
request.
A final decision will be up to
the Fourth Hall of the Court of
Appeals as it is dealing with
the case over Operation Condor,
which was carried out in the
1970s by the military regimes in
South America to hunt down
dissidents.
Pinochet remained at his estate
in Los Boldos, some 130 km
northwest of Santiago, awaiting
confirmation.
The former ruler has never stood
trial for the disappearance and
presumed murder of about 3,000
political opponents, who
vanished during his rule between
1973 and 1990.
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Peruvian interior minister
resigns
Peruvian Interior Minister
Javier Reategui resigned
Monday over his handling of
recent rebellion by
ultra-nationalist Antauro
Humala, which caused six
deaths in the southeast.
Reategui presented the
irrevocable resignation to
President Alejandro Toledo
before reporting to
Congress.
He termed the present
situation as political
"polarization" generated by
the uprising in the Andean
Peruvian city of Andahuaylas,
800 km southeast of Lima.
On Jan. 1, more than 100
armed men of the
Etnocacerista Movement
seized a police station in
Andahuaylas, demanding the
resignation of Toledo.
Their leader Antauro Humala,
a retired army major,
accused Toledo of selling
out Peru to business
interests in Chile and
forcing a number of
officers, including his
younger brother Ollanta
Humala, to retire.
A senior rebel group member
said they were taking
hostage 19 people, including
10 police officers and 4
army commandos, while
unconfirmed reports put the
number at 21.
The Peruvian authorities
later declared a state of
emergency in the city, and
sent 1,000 police and troops
to restore order.
The four-day standoff ended
when the rebels surrendered
and Humala was arrested in
the talks with the country's
police chief.
Various political sectors
have criticized the
government for lack of
preparation in face of the
uprising.
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