Reply #15: If Repubs are defying Bush and the Miami mafia why aren't the Dems? [View All]

[Osolomia]

Castro Signs Baseballs, Talks U.S. Ties

By LISA J. ADAMS
Associated Press Writer
February 9, 2004, 6:14 PM EST

HAVANA -- President Fidel Castro signed baseballs, handed out cigars and flower bouquets and discussed increased ties with the United States in a meeting Monday with two Republican legislators who want to lift a ban on U.S. travel to Cuba.

Sen. Larry Craig and U.S. Rep. Butch Otter, both of Idaho, "are pushing very hard to lift the travel restrictions," said Craig spokesman Mike Tracy, who attended the encounter with Castro at the Palace of the Revolution. The 22 other members of the trade and cultural delegation were also present, Tracy said.

Their meeting with Castro took place as the Bush administration announced it would freeze the bank accounts of companies controlled by the Cuban government or Cuban nationals that sell Americans illegal travel packages to the communist island.

Craig told reporters Saturday he thought the travel ban would be lifted by next year. He spoke after Idaho delegation members signed trade and cultural agreements with the Cuban government in front of Ernest Hemingway's former estate outside Havana.

... Idaho officials plan to return to the island to take part in a trade exhibition in April and said they hoped to invite Cuban officials to the state to participate in educational and cultural exchanges.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-castros-guests,0,2543838.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines