Leader changes plans, won't travel to Cuba
BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's President Néstor Kirchner will
not travel to Cuba in February as originally planned, yet the Argentine
foreign ministry said
Thursday that the president's decision has nothing to do with
Kirchner's recent meeting with President Bush.
Asked whether the change of plans was a goodwill gesture toward
the United States, the foreign ministry's chief of staff, Eduardo Valdés,
told Radio
America, ``I do not think we should read it that way. We think
there still has to be some change, a little more maturity surrounding the
issue of the
president's presence in Cuba.''
Kirchner also told a local cable network Wednesday night he was not planning a trip to Cuba in the near future.
The comments came one day after meeting with Bush at the Americas
Summit in Mexico, and amid a war of words with U.S. Assisant Secretary
of State
Roger Noriega, who publicly questioned Argentina's relationship
with Cuba.