From: "Walter Lippmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 14:26:56 -0700 To: "CubaNews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [CubaNews] Fidel Castro Tours Mideast, Asia Friday May 4 3:32 PM ET Fidel Castro Tours Mideast, Asia By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer HAVANA (AP) - Communist road warrior Fidel Castro will embark on a far-flung tour to the Middle East and Asia this weekend, following a decade of travel limited mostly to the Western hemisphere. The tour will include three days in Iran - like Cuba a country the United States says sponsors international terrorism. Cuba's communist government, ever mindful of its president's security, almost never announces Castro's travel schedule in advance. But Algeria, Iran and Malaysia all said Cuba's leader was indeed coming. Castro also may visit Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula across the Persian Gulf from Iran. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said during a visit to Qatar in February that Castro likely would visit there this year. Such a long trip is rare these days for the 74-year-old Cuban leader, who has now been in power for 42 years. Castro's travels in recent years have been concentrated largely in the Western hemisphere, mostly for regional summits in Latin America and the Caribbean. He did visit South Africa for Nelson Mandela's inauguration as president in 1994, and went to both China and France in 1995. The latest trip comes as Cuba bolsters relations with old and new political and economic allies in the Arab world and Asia. A decade ago, the Soviet bloc countries and numerous African nations were Cuba's principal allies. Cuba took a new diversified foreign relations tack after the former Soviet Union's collapse in late 1991. Castro formed political and financial partnerships with a variety of nations - many in the developing world. Under U.S. pressure, all countries in the Western hemisphere save Mexico and Canada cut ties with Cuba in the early 1960s. But relations with most Latin American and Caribbean nations have been restored as pragmatic interests replaced ideological ones. Now, El Salvador and the United States are the only nations in the region without some kind of diplomatic links with Castro's government. Cuba has also been reaching out to nontraditional allies in other parts of the world, such as Japan. And Cuba has been trying to promote itself as a new kind of vacation getaway for Asian travelers, teaming up last summer with Japan Airlines to bring four charters of Japanese tourists to the Caribbean nation. At the same time, Castro has been reviving some old friendships, playing host to Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Fellow communist leader Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Castro in Havana last month. Castro's current far-ranging tour begins Saturday in Algeria, according to Algerie Presse Service, the country's official news agency. The Cuban president has made numerous visits to Algeria in the past, particularly in the 1970s. After three days in Algeria, he travels on Monday to Iran, presumably for a meeting with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who visited Cuba last year following an OPEC summit in nearby Venezuela. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Castro would arrive Monday, leading a high-ranking delegation of political and economic figures, Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. In January, Cuba's foreign minister Perez Roque visited Iran to discuss increasing trade and investment between the two countries as well as U.S. trade sanctions against both countries. The U.S. State Department classifies both as ``sponsors of international terrorism.'' Castro will make his first official visit to Malaysia on May 11-13, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday. ``We will discuss bilateral cooperation, the world economic situation - all these things are subjects for discussions,'' Mahathir said. Both Mahathir and Castro have often played spokesman for the developing world, hitting out at the United States in particular over policies that they say discriminate against poor nations. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
