Miami-based Cuban exiles are condemning the eviction of 21 young men who had holed up at Mexico's embassy in Havana after crashing a bus through its gates.
Cuban special forces entered the embassy shortly before dawn Friday, and forcibly removed the Cuban youths who broke into the compound on Wednesday. Mexican authorities say they asked for the men to be evicted after failing to persuade them to leave voluntarily. It is not clear what will happen to the men. Mexico says they were not seeking political asylum, but wanted jobs.
The Cuban Liberty Council, a Miami-based exile group, says it believes the young men were asylum-seekers and that Mexico should have considered their petitions on a case-by-case basis. The group also says Mexico's actions are ironic, since Mexico has been lobbying the United States for better treatment of migrant workers.
Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda says the trouble started when a U.S. government-funded radio station, Radio Marti, took out of context some comments he made recently at the opening of a Mexican cultural center in Miami.
The foreign minister was quoted as saying the doors of Mexico's Havana embassy are open to Cubans. Foreign Minister Castaneda says he declared the doors of the Miami cultural center open to all.
Cuba accuses Radio Marti of distorting Mr. Castaneda's comments. Radio Marti says it did nothing more than transmit the declarations of the foreign minister in his own voice.