MEXICO has become Cuba’s principal tourism partner in Latin
                   America, after levels of visitors reached a record 1.8 million during the
                   year 2000, reported Pedro Doña Santana, the consul in Mérida in
                   Mexico’s southeastern state of Yucatán.

                   The diplomat announced the figure during a ceremony held in that city
                   to mark the 148th anniversary of the birth of José Martí, reported
                   Notimex.

                   Santana said that further increases were expected in tourism and other
                   economic areas during the current year.

                   "Commercial and cultural relations with Mexico have a long history. José
                   Martí was in Mexico and Yucatán and that was where he formed many
                   of the ideas that give us our national identity today," he recalled.

                   Ceremonies marking the anniversary of Martí’s birth were also held in
                   other cities across Mexico.