The Miami Herald
Jan. 16, 2004

Leader changes plans, won't travel to Cuba

  BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's President Néstor Kirchner will not travel to Cuba in February as originally planned, yet the Argentine foreign ministry said
  Thursday that the president's decision has nothing to do with Kirchner's recent meeting with President Bush.

  Asked whether the change of plans was a goodwill gesture toward the United States, the foreign ministry's chief of staff, Eduardo Valdés, told Radio
  America, ``I do not think we should read it that way. We think there still has to be some change, a little more maturity surrounding the issue of the
  president's presence in Cuba.''

  Kirchner also told a local cable network Wednesday night he was not planning a trip to Cuba in the near future.

  The comments came one day after meeting with Bush at the Americas Summit in Mexico, and amid a war of words with U.S. Assisant Secretary of State
  Roger Noriega, who publicly questioned Argentina's relationship with Cuba.