But state officials say Cuban's visit welcome
Wednesday, November 24, 1999
By MICHAEL PAULSON SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
The promised warm welcome for Fidel Castro in Seattle will be a lot chillier if a Florida congressman has his way.
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., has asked Washington state Attorney General Christine Gregoire to arrest Castro if the Cuban leader comes to town for the meeting of the World Trade Organization next week.
"I respectfully request that you take all necessary actions so that Fidel Castro may be charged forthwith so that he an be arrested in the United States to stand trial for the murders of Armando Alejandre, Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pena and Pablo Morales," Diaz-Balart wrote to Gregoire, referring to the three U.S. citizens and one U.S. resident who died in 1996 when the Cuban military shot down two U.S. civil aircraft in international airspace.
Diaz-Balart cited as precedent the treatment of former Chilean leader Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who is in custody in Britain fighting extradition to Spain on torture charges, and former Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega, who was convicted in the United States of cocaine trafficking, racketeering and money laundering.
Gregoire's spokeswoman, Liz Menidzabal, said Castro's behavior is not an issue for state authorities, but rather a question for the federal government. Castro last traveled to the United States in 1995, when he was in New York for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
Castro has not said whether he will come to Seattle, but several organizations are preparing to welcome him. His attendance at the WTO meeting has been encouraged by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., who has offered to play host to a session at which Castro could talk with members of Congress.
Castro could be the only world leader, besides Clinton, to come to Seattle. A White House spokeswoman said yesterday that Clinton has quickly abandoned the notion of rounding up a group of leaders from industrial nation to go to Seattle.
Yesterday, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia had reported that he was one of as many of 30 world leaders the White House was hoping to bring to Seattle during the WTO to discuss global trade. The White House said its goals were more modest, and by yesterday it seemed to have given up.
"This was an idea that we explored with the WTO, but given the late nature of it, it wasn't practical," the spokeswoman said.
Castro is not on Clinton's invitation list, but is still considering a visit to Seattle.
"If Castro comes, he'll be welcomed in Seattle," said McDermott's spokesman, David Schaefer.
"Regardless of what you think about how the Cuban regime operates, it seems clear people in Seattle want to engage with Cuba and establish some kind of relationship with that country," Schaefer said. "I don't think Diaz-Balart represents the mainstream of American thought. He represents a small constituency in Miami that has their own concerns and they've got a right to express them, but my boss's view is that it's time to end the trade embargo and move on."