21 Cubans Hole Up in Embassy

Twenty-one Cubans were holed up in the Mexican Embassy on Thursday after plowing through the gates with a stolen bus. Cuba’s government blamed an exile-run U.S. government radio station for repeatedly quoting a Mexican official as saying the embassy’s doors “are open.”

Mexican Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda said Thursday that his words had been taken out of context by “radicals” in Miami who “no doubt wanted to use, to distort, my declarations.”

He said Mexican officials were trying to persuade the Cubans to leave and that the men had not sought asylum. Castaneda also indicated that it was unlikely they would get Mexican visas.

There were 21 Cuban men inside the mission Thursday, other Mexican officials said. They described the situation as “calm” and said the Cubans had received food and medical attention.

The Cuban government statement said the occupation occurred about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

President Fidel Castro’s government called the reports from Radio Marti a “gross provocation” that led listeners to believe that Mexico would grant refuge to any Cuban who showed up. Operated largely by Cuban exiles in Miami, Radio Marti beams anti-Castro news, talk shows and other programs to the island.

“Castro blames us any time anything happens. He has to blame somebody,” said Salvador Lew, director of the Miami-based station.

During a visit to Miami this week, Castaneda was quoted by news media there as saying that “the doors of the embassy of Mexico on the island are open to all Cuban citizens.”

The Cuban government said Radio Marti rebroadcast that statement at least eight times. It accused the station of provoking the embassy invasion with the repeated broadcasts, which it said were interpreted as “an open invitation to occupy the Mexican Embassy in Cuba.”

Castaneda told Radio Red that reports in Miami had confused two separate statements he made there while opening a Mexican Cultural Center.

He said he declared the center’s “doors are open to the entire Latino community in Miami” while also saying that Mexico itself is open to Cuban dissidents.

In Miami, Radio Marti officials denied the allegations Thursday.