Panama foreign minister invites Raul Castro to Americas Summit
Panama foreign minister invites Raul Castro to Americas Summit
By Marc Frank
HAVANA Fri Sep 19, 2014 11:49am EDT
(Reuters) - Panamanian Foreign Minister Isabel de Saint Malo personally invited Cuban President Raul Castro to the Summit of the Americas her nation is hosting in April, according to a Cuban government statement published on Friday.
De Saint Malo met with Castro on Thursday during a one-day visit to Cuba, where she delivered a verbal invitation that puts the United States on the spot diplomatically.
Washington, which initiated the summits in 1994, blocked Cubas invitation to the previous six events, saying the Communist-ruled countrys one-party political system was not democratic.
Panamas invitation amounts to a diplomatic coup for Cuba and follows demands by governments of many Latin American and Caribbean countries that it be invited.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/19/us-cuba-panama-idUSKBN0HE1TW20140919?rpc=401