More information which didn't get a moment of coverage in our corporate media:
Former Ambassador Says Mexico Provoked Cuba to Appease Bush White House
Written by Stephan Lefebvre
Friday, 19 December 2014 13:02
In response to Wednesdays announcement that the United States would work to restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba, Mexicos former ambassador to Cuba revealed that his country had pursued a strategy of provoking the Cuban government in order to gain favor with the Bush administration. Ricardo Pascoe, who served as Ambassador from 2000-2002, says that Mexican President Vicente Fox and Foreign Minister Jorge G. Castañeda worked to appease the White House by damaging Mexicos ties with Cuba, while he fought to maintain the bilateral relationship. Pascoe says his position is now vindicated since Mexico, a natural interlocutor between the U.S. and Cuba, which could have played a large role in the two countrys negotiations, lost out to Canada as host for secret bilateral talks.
Mexico was in the worst position of all: completely left out, said Pascoe, also exclaiming: They didnt choose Mexican territory for the talks (as would have been natural in other times). But with Fox and Castañeda we lost our historic standing with the island!
Pascoe explained that the bilateral relationship between Mexico and Cuba could not be repaired under the governments of Felipe Calderón and current President Enrique Peña Nieto. For Pascoe, this not only demonstrates the failure of Mexicos foreign policy toward Cuba, but more generally the countrys foreign policy toward Latin America.
Speaking more broadly about global issues, Pascoe said that President Obamas decision to normalize relations with Cuba has significance beyond the domestic Latino/Latina vote and even considerations of Obamas own legacy. Taken together with the previous days announcement that the European Union was removing Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations, Pascoe suggested that this can be seen as an indication that circumstances are forcing our political leaders to support more sensible and pragmatic policies.
More:
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/former-ambassador-says-mexico-provoked-cuba-to-appease-bush-white-house