US embassy cable - 05PANAMA1416

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Identifier:	05PANAMA1416
Wikileaks:	View 05PANAMA1416 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Panama
Created:	2005-07-01 21:31:00
Classification:	CONFIDENTIAL
Tags:	PREL PGOV ETRD PM CU POL CHIEF
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 001416 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN AND WHA/CCA 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/01/2010 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ETRD, PM, CU, POL CHIEF 
SUBJECT: PANAMA AND CUBA SET TO REESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC TIES 
 
REF: 2004 PANAMA 2152 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR LINDA WATT FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). 
 
(C) Panamanian Minister of Foreign Relations Samuel Lewis 
July 1 told POL Counselor that he would soon inform 
Ambassador Watt that Panama and Cuba will reestablish 
diplomatic relations in the near future.  Lewis said the 
Cubans recently indicated a willingness to exchange 
ambassadors and mend fences with Panama.  Bilateral relations 
have been in limbo since late August 2004, in the waning days 
of the Moscoso government, following Moscoso's pardon of Luis 
Posada Carriles and three other anti-Castro Cubans (three of 
them AmCits), who had been incarcerated in Panama following 
their conviction on charges related to an alleged attempt to 
assassinate Castro in November 2000.  (See Reftel, "Panama 
and Cuba in Escalating Diplomatic War over anti-Castro 
Detainees".)  Lewis explained that the exact timing of the 
public announcement was not known, adding, "The Cubans are 
unpredictable." 
 
WATT