Castro upbraids Mexico as Cuba reports 1st flu case

HAVANA, (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro  accused Mexico’s government of not revealing an outbreak of  H1N1 flu during a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, which  Mexico denied yesterday after Cuba reported its first  confirmed case of the illness.

The Cuban government said on Monday a Mexican student at a  Cuban medical school was found to have the new flu virus after  returning from a trip home in late April. No further details  about the student’s condition were given.

On April 28, Cuba suspended flights from Mexico, epicenter  of the swine flu outbreak that has spread to at least 30  countries, in a move that upset Mexican President Felipe  Calderon.

Calderon said in a television interview last week that he  might cancel a planned trip to Cuba “as one of the unforeseen  consequences of decisions that have no technical basis.”

In an Internet column published late on Monday, Castro took  offense at Calderon’s threat and said Mexico had not disclosed  the flu outbreak as soon as it knew about it.

“The Mexican authorities did not inform the world of (the  outbreak), awaiting the visit of Obama. Now they threaten us  with suspending Calderon’s trip,” he said. “The only thing that  can be confirmed now is that (the flu) wasn’t brought here by  the CIA. It came from Mexico.”

Obama visited Mexico in mid-April on his way to the Summit  of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. A federal agent who  travelled with Obama was later reported to have come down with a  mild case of swine flu.

“We and dozens of other countries are paying for the broken  dishes (consequences) and on top of that they accuse us of  harmful measures against Mexico,” Castro wrote.

Calderon yesterday denied Castro’s accusations, saying  Mexico had acted responsibly.

“The response of the Mexican health system and the  transparency with which the country has conducted itself  allowed the rest of the countries in the world to take  preventative actions in time to combat this illness,” he said.

“We have never hidden anything,” said Mexican Health  Secretary Jose Angel Cordova.

Calderon’s Mexico trip, for which a date had not been set,  had been seen as part of a rapprochement between Cuba and  Mexico whose relations were strained under Calderon’s  predecessor, President Vicente Fox.

Fidel Castro, who is 82, was replaced as Cuban president  last year by his brother, Raul, but he retains a powerful voice  through columns published in state-run media.

The Mexican embassy in Havana said yesterday it had asked  the Cuban government for information about the infected  student, as well as other Mexican students at the same school,  to offer them help if needed.

Cuba’s health ministry said 14 Mexican students were among  nearly 600 people tested for the flu, but only the one case had  been confirmed.

The World Health Organization said more than 5,000 flu  cases had been confirmed worldwide. So far, 63 people have  died, including 58 in Mexico.