ON the evening of Wednesday, February 27, an incident took place
                   at the Mexican embassy in Cuba, when a group of lumpen and
                   antisocial elements tried to force their way into that diplomatic
                   headquarters, located in the Miramar district of Havana, and were
                   able to partially enter.

                   Starting in the afternoon, several dozen people had been loitering in
                   the area nearby the embassy and later dispersed. That night, at
                   approximately 9:30 p.m., several apparently coordinated groups
                   moved toward the embassy between 12th and 14th Streets.
                   Minutes later, about 20 individuals who had taken over a bus on 10th
                   Street, between 5th and 7th Avenues in Miramar, drove the car at
                   full speed along 12th Street, smashed the vehicle into the embassy
                   and went inside the building. Meanwhile, those arriving on foot tried
                   to enter through the gap opened by the bus, but they were impeded
                   by a detachment of 40 men from the Specialized Police in Playa
                   municipality, sent to the scene as soon as there were indications of
                   an abnormal situation at the embassy.

                   What happened? What was the immediate and direct cause of these
                   events?

                   On the night of Tuesday, February 26, Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge
                   Castañeda, while inaugurating the Cultural Institute of Mexico in
                   Miami, stated – according to a wire story released by the EFE news
                   agency early yesterday morning – "This cultural institute belongs to
                   all Mexicans, all Latin Americans and naturally, all Cuban-Americans."
                   He invited the Latin American community of Miami, especially the
                   Cuban community, to consider that institution their home, EFE
                   continued.

                   According to ANSA news agency, Castañeda added, "The doors of
                   the Mexican embassy in Havana are open to all Cuban citizens, as is
                   Mexico."

                   These words, spoken on the night before the incident by Mr.
                   Castañeda, were immediately picked up and cynically manipulated by
                   the improperly named Radio Martí.

                   At 7:31 the next morning, that radio station broadcast the following
                   news item in a spectacular manner: "Foreign Minister Jorge
                   Castañeda reiterated in Miami that the doors of his country’s
                   embassy in Havana are open to all Cuban citizens, as is Mexico."

                   The radio station added that the Mexican foreign minister had also
                   voiced that position after returning to Mexico from his visit to Cuba:
                   "Mexico’s relations with the Cuban Revolution have ceased to exist,
                   and have begun with the Republic of Cuba." This phrase was framed
                   in such a way that it could be interpreted that diplomatic relations
                   between Mexico and Cuba had just been broken.

                   This news was rebroadcast constantly throughout the day: at 8:33
                   a.m., 9:00 a.m., 9:32 a.m., 10:31 a.m., 4:04 p.m., 6:07 p.m. and
                   8:01 p.m. In all, the false and treacherous news item went on the air
                   eight times. It was an open call to occupy the Mexican embassy in
                   Cuba.

                   Incited by mercenary elements who in Cuba act at the service of the
                   United States, common criminals and lumpenproletariat encouraged
                   by the murderous Cuban Adjustment Act immediately saw the
                   possibility of taking advantage of Castañeda’s invitation, as they
                   interpreted it, to force their way into the Mexican embassy and travel
                   to the United States.

                   This is a vulgar provocation openly organized by an official radio
                   station of the U.S. government.

                   February 28, 2002

                   2:55 a.m.