Cuba Foreign Relations Panama

The government of Panama asked Cuba's ambassador to leave the country within five days and said relations between the two countries are "on the verge of a diplomatic break." Foreign Minister Julio Linares said the move was in response to Cuba's refusal to recognize the Panamanian government.

President Mireya Moscoso said Thursday that Panama is considering trying four Cuban exiles, rather than extraditing them immediately, on charges that they plotted to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro. Panama is holding the men, including the group's alleged leader, Luis Posada Carriles, in jail for 60 days pending completion of an extradition request from Cuba but has not yet filed charges against them in Panama.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, in an interview to be broadcast today, emphatically denied any links to alleged drug trafficking by Panama's military strongman Manuel A. Noriega. "It's absurd, it's a complete lie," he told NBC News in an interview taped last week. Castro was responding to charges made at a U.S. Senate hearing earlier this month by former Noriega aide Jose I. Blandon.

Eleven of 15 Cuban diplomats accredited in Panama face a Friday deadline to leave the country, expelled because of Havana's refusal to recognize the government of President Guillermo Endara, installed during the U.S. invasion that toppled Gen. Manuel A. Noriega last Dec. 20. The expulsions underline what analysts describe as the growing isolation in the region of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who supported Noriega.

Eleven of 15 Cuban diplomats accredited in Panama face a Friday deadline to leave the country, expelled because of Havana's refusal to recognize the government of President Guillermo Endara, installed during the U.S. invasion that toppled Gen. Manuel A. Noriega last Dec. 20. The expulsions underline what analysts describe as the growing isolation in the region of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who supported Noriega.

President Mireya Moscoso said Thursday that Panama is considering trying four Cuban exiles, rather than extraditing them immediately, on charges that they plotted to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro. Panama is holding the men, including the group's alleged leader, Luis Posada Carriles, in jail for 60 days pending completion of an extradition request from Cuba but has not yet filed charges against them in Panama.

Attorneys for Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega met in March with Cuban President Fidel Castro, who provided documents that will help defend Noriega against drug smuggling charges, a defense attorney said Friday. Steve Kollin, a Miami attorney who represents Noriega, confirmed a Friday report in the Miami Herald that defense attorneys had met with Castro in Havana. "Fidel Castro met with some of Gen. Noriega's lawyers and discussed certain sensitive issues with us," Kollin said.

Manuel Antonio Noriega, ousted as Panama's dictator five days ago by a U.S. invasion force, surrendered Sunday to the Vatican's embassy here and asked for sanctuary from his American pursuers. The development sparked a spontaneous demonstration of pot-banging and horn-honking elation as the news spread quickly through the city. Noriega's surrender came near the end of a day that for the first time since the U.S. invasion began was unmarred by reports of serious violence. Archbishop Marcos G.

Attorneys for Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega met in March with Cuban President Fidel Castro, who provided documents that will help defend Noriega against drug smuggling charges, a defense attorney said Friday. Steve Kollin, a Miami attorney who represents Noriega, confirmed a Friday report in the Miami Herald that defense attorneys had met with Castro in Havana. "Fidel Castro met with some of Gen. Noriega's lawyers and discussed certain sensitive issues with us," Kollin said.

The government of Panama asked Cuba's ambassador to leave the country within five days and said relations between the two countries are "on the verge of a diplomatic break." Foreign Minister Julio Linares said the move was in response to Cuba's refusal to recognize the Panamanian government.

Manuel Antonio Noriega, ousted as Panama's dictator five days ago by a U.S. invasion force, surrendered Sunday to the Vatican's embassy here and asked for sanctuary from his American pursuers. The development sparked a spontaneous demonstration of pot-banging and horn-honking elation as the news spread quickly through the city. Noriega's surrender came near the end of a day that for the first time since the U.S. invasion began was unmarred by reports of serious violence. Archbishop Marcos G.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, in an interview to be broadcast today, emphatically denied any links to alleged drug trafficking by Panama's military strongman Manuel A. Noriega. "It's absurd, it's a complete lie," he told NBC News in an interview taped last week. Castro was responding to charges made at a U.S. Senate hearing earlier this month by former Noriega aide Jose I. Blandon.