Cuba, Mexico could normalize relations

Diplomatic relations between Cuba and Mexico could soon be normalized according to several officials. Though relations had frozen in 2002 under previous leaders in both countries, there seems to be a thaw after Mexico's top diplomat visited Havana this week:

"Relations between Mexico and Cuba are completely normal and a new chapter of cooperation has been opened," Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said after meeting with Mexico's Foreign Affairs Secretary Patricia Espinosa.

Perez Roque said he would travel to Mexico in September "bearing an invitation for President Calderon to make an official visit to our country," from President Castro.

Espinosa told reporters that her visit marked "the start of a new period in the relations ... between Cuba and Mexico," after six testy years under Mexican ex-president Vicente Fox.

Among the pressing issues between both countries are Cuba's $400 million debt to Mexico and “organized crime rings” which are supposedly behind the smuggling of Cuban migrants.

Sources- Reuters, AFP, Xinhua, Chicago Tribune

Image- Associated Press (“Mexico's Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa is seen during a meeting with Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, not seen, in Havana, Thursday March 13, 2008.”)