Cuba Wins OK for Anti-Terror
Statement
Cuba
has won approval for a draft
resolution at the 21-nation
Ibero-American Summit condemning
a Panamanian pardon for four men
accused of trying to assassinate
Cuban President Fidel Castro at
a meeting four years ago.
Foreign ministers or ranking
diplomats from Spain, Portugal
and 19 Latin American nations
spent Thursday polishing a
declaration for their leaders to
endorse when the summit itself
gets under way late Friday.
Most of the declaration is a
non-controversial call for
greater funding and emphasis on
education throughout the region.
It says that multilateral
lending organizations should let
poor countries pay off part of
their debts by expanding
spending on education.
The biggest sticking point came
over a Cuban call to criticize
former Panamanian President
Mireya Moscoso for the pardon in
August of four Cuban exiles who
had been accused of plotting to
kill Castro at the 2000 Ibero-American
Summit in Panama. It also
criticized the United States for
taking in three of the men.
The measure was approved
unanimously, but only after
extensive editing of the harsh
original language, said Costa
Rican Foreign Minister Roberto
Tovar, the meeting's host and
spokesman.
"I would say it's more a matter
of wording than of meaning," he
said.
Tovar said the text presented to
the presidents Friday calls the
pardons incompatible with the
fight against terrorism.
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe
Perez Roque called it "an
important result" and said "Cuba
feels satisfied."
Even many of Castro's critics in
the region expressed outrage at
Moscoso's pardon, just six days
before her term ended, of the
group led by former CIA
operative Luis Posada. It led
Cuba to break relations with
Panama.
Posada still faces charges in
Venezuela of blowing up a
civilian airliner in 1976,
killing 73 people. Cuban
officials say he and the other
three men have been involved in
other bombings and assassination
attempts.
The summit's "Declaration of San
Jose" also reaffirms the
community's condemnation of a
U.S. law that punishes foreign
companies doing business in
Cuba.
At least 16 heads of government
are due to arrive at the summit.
Castro is missing because of a
broken knee and arm. Chile's
Ricardo Lagos and Peru's
Alejandro Toledo are staying
home to prepare for the
Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation summit. Portugal's
Jorge Sampaio is ill, and
Brazil's Inacio Lula da Silva
was hosting a visit by Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Spain becomes observer of
Central American sub-regional
body
The
Central American Integration
System (CAIS) on Saturday
accepted Spain as an observer.
Spain's King Juan Carlos and
Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero reached an
agreement with Central American
leaders on Spain's admission to
CAIS as an observer on the
sidelines of an Ibero-American
Summit in Costa Rica.
CAIS, founded in 1991 and
headquartered in El Salvador's
capital of San Salvador, groups
El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica
and Panama, with the Dominican
Republic as an associate member
and Mexico as a regional
observer.
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APEC leaders' meeting opens
The
12th Economic Leaders' Meeting
of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum opened
here Saturday to discuss
security and economic issues in
the region.
Under this year's theme of "One
Community, Our Future," top
leaders from 21 member economies
will mainly discuss APEC's role
in promoting multilateral trade
and the institutionalization of
free trade agreements, as well
as related security issues
during their two-day gathering.
Chilean President Ricardo Lagos,
who presides over the meeting,
greeted the leaders at the gate
of the "Espacio Riesco"
Convention Center.
Saturday's meeting began with a
private dialogue session called
Retreat, which focused on human
security matters, especially the
prevention of infectious
diseases such as AIDS, APEC said
in a website press release.
The closed-door session was
followed by a dialogue between
APEC economic leaders and the
APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC),
which urged the leaders to
"creatively and vigorously seek
an early conclusion" of the Doha
Development Agenda (DDA) talks
launched three years ago in
Doha, Qatar.
"There is no other issue with
such overarching importance to
business, across the APEC region
or globally," the ABAC Chair
Hernan Somerville was quoted by
an ABAC press release as saying.
The ABAC said in a previously
submitted annual recommendation
report that they believe a rapid
and successful conclusion of the
DDA talks is the top priority
for the regional economy.
The DDA talks to create a
binding trade treaty for the
147-member WTO faltered last
year amid bickering over
agricultural subsidies. But they
gained ground this year after
negotiators reached a deal on a
framework that could lead to a
deal.
The ABAC also urged leaders to
take effective measures to
fightcorruption and to
reinvigorate APEC's
liberalization and facilitation
agenda.
President Lagos expressed
interests in ABAC's proposals,
saying that they will make an
important contribution to the
APEC process.
The ongoing leaders' meeting is
the culmination of the week-long
APEC meetings, which also
include the Senior Officials
Meeting and the Ministerial
Meeting.
A series of bilateral meetings
between the world's key leaders
were also planned on the
sidelines of the meeting.
The leaders will start their
second-day session on Sunday by
posing for an official
photograph in Chile's
traditional garments of "Chamantos."
They will then devote the whole
morning to discuss regional
economic matters and issue a
declaration after the meeting,
said the APEC press release.
APEC, as the premier forum for
facilitating economic growth,
cooperation, trade and
investment in the Asia-Pacific
region, was set up in 1989 to
further enhance economic growth
and prosperity in the region and
to strengthen the Asia-Pacific
community.
It now groups Australia, Brunei,
Canada, Chile, China, China's
Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan,
South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
Peru, Russia, Singapore, Chinese
Taipei,Thailand, the
Philippines, the United States
and Vietnam. |
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