Pubdate: Tue, 19 Mar 2002
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2002 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82

HAVANA SEEKS CRIME PACT

Items Compiled From Tribune News Services

HAVANA, CUBA -- Cuba announced Monday that it was holding an alleged 
Colombian drug trafficker sought in his homeland and the United States and 
challenged the U.S. to sign an agreement allowing the two countries to 
cooperate in the fight against narcotics smuggling.

The Cuban government did not say whether it would hand over Rafael Miguel 
Bustamante Bolanos if such an agreement was signed. But it suggested it 
would be more cooperative if accords existed.

For several years, President Fidel Castro and Cuban officials have been 
trying to persuade Washington to sign such an agreement. They argue that 
this impoverished island has limited law-enforcement resources and needs 
the technological resources and expertise of the United States in its fight 
against narcotics smuggling.

So far, the U.S. has expressed no interest in such an agreement with a 
country it has not had diplomatic relations with for four decades.
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