Raul Castro Meets with Colombian Foreign Minister

HAVANA TIMES, Feb 9 — Cuban President Raul Castro spoke yesterday in Havana with Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin, who is on an official visit to the island, reported the dpa news agency.

According to the report, the two discussed “issues of regional and international interest,” though there was no mention of the possible participation of the island in the upcoming Summit of the Americas, to be held April 14 and 15 in Cartagena, Colombia.

Prior to her trip, the Colombian diplomat had stated in Bogota that she would act as a mediator during this visit.

Colombia is receiving pressure from member countries of the ALBA bloc, which are conditioning their participation in the continental summit on the attendance of Cuba. Meanwhile the United States is rejecting that proposal.

Due to its being kicked out of the Organization of American States in 1962, Cuba has been notably absent from continental summits in recent decades.