Reminds me of an apocrophyl(sic.) story about Reagan and Felipe Gonzalez, the former Socialist P.M. in Spain. Reagan wanted one of those rum and cola drinks at the bar, and the entire bar shouted, "Cuba Libre!"
Michael Pugliese
Clinton Said Not Amused by Schroeder Cigar Offer (Reuters) - President Clinton was apparently not amused when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder offered him a box of Cuban cigars during an otherwise jovial late-night dinner late Thursday.
Witnesses in a restaurant in east Berlin said the president stopped laughing when Schroeder offered him cigars that Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul had brought back from a trip to Cuba last week.
``The cigars that I am holding in my hand come from Wieczorek-Zeul and from Cuba,'' Schroeder said, according to eavesdropping diners in the restaurant.
``And thus I am holding one of Fidel's cigars in my hand that I would like to give to you.''
Washington, unlike Germany, still maintains an embargo on trade -- including cigars -- with communist Cuba.
The witnesses said Clinton, perhaps remembering both protocol and the reports of cigars put to curious uses in the Monica Lewinsky affair, ``looked irritated'' and then ``smiled politely.''
A German official confirmed Schroeder had offered the gift but did not say whether Clinton had accepted it.