Cuba may be helping in Colombia hostage issue

[Judi Lynn]

Cuba may be helping in Colombia hostage issue
Frances Robles



March 16, 2008 3:09 PM

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

The surprise appearance of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a Colombian senator and the mother of high-profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt in Havana last weekend suggests that Cuba may emerge as a player in the efforts to free Colombia's captives.

Cuba has long been a go-between between Colombian rebels and the government they seek to overthrow. But Havana was uncharacteristically silent during last week's diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Ecuador, suggesting to experts that Raul Castro could be trying to win Betancourt's freedom.

When Latin American presidents across the hemisphere took to their microphones last week to rant about Colombia's cross-border raid into Ecuador, Cuba's new head of state was glaringly absent. He didn't summon masses of Cubans to march in front of the Colombian embassy to protest the bombing of a leftist rebel camp in Ecuador, never blasted Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at a public speech, and didn't even hold a press conference.

In fact, other than a private phone call to the president of Ecuador, Castro did not say anything at all - although his ailing and retired brother Fidel wrote a column on the dispute.

''It was very interesting to see how little Cuba had to say,'' said Wayne Smith, a former head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana. ''Raul Castro is just not a fire-eater. Fidel could never have remained silent.''

More:
http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=565263708408119437