US concern and intervention over Cuba overshadows Spanish summit
SALAMANCA, Spain: Leaders from Spain, Portugal and Latin America debated immigration and debt today but talks were overshadowed by an unusual intervention by the United States, concerned over summit support for Cuba.
The two-day summit neared its end after leaders and ministers from 22 Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries discussed terrorism, aid to Central America and how to give their Ibero-American grouping a higher international profile. The leaders found it hard to shake off controversy over Cuba which has dominated the summit despite the unexplained absence of Cuba's veteran communist leader, Fidel Castro. The US embassy in Madrid publicly announced its concern over a Cuban-backed resolution on terrorism being debated at the summit and a second resolution calling for an end to the US trade embargo on Cuba.
''It would be unfortunate if these texts were interpreted as a sign of support for the Castro dictatorship,'' a US embassy spokesman said.
No comments:
Post a Comment