UNITED STATES: U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON BRUSHES ASIDE ANY POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE TO HIS HANDSHAKE WITH CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO AT U.N. MILLENNIUM SUMMIT

Record ID: 338262

  • Title: UNITED STATES: U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON BRUSHES ASIDE ANY POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE TO HIS HANDSHAKE WITH CUBAN PRESIDENT FIDEL CASTRO AT U.N. MILLENNIUM SUMMIT
  • Date: 8th September 2000
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 8, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. MV: U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND CHINESE PRESIDENT JIANG ZEMIN SITTING DOWN, PUSH INTO JIANG SMILING 0.24 2. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLINTON SAYING "We're going to discuss human rights issues as we always do but I feel very strongly that PNTR should be passed and I think over the long run it's good for the development of democracy and human rights in China and I know it's good for the American and Chinese relationshp in the long run." 0.44 3. SV: U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER SANDY BERGER AND SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT SITTING 0.55 4. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLINTON SAYING "First of all, I think it was a very good idea by President Jiang to have the "P-5" meeting. I was amazed that they had never met before - or hadn't met in a long time. And I think it was a very good idea and we actually made a specific decision to - as a group - help the Secretary General implement his report on peacekeeping and to continue to explore what else we could do together. I think it might be a forum in the future that would provide an opportunity for Chinese cooperation with the other members of the "P-5" in a way that could be very helpful to the rest of the world as well." 1.46 5. PULL OUT: BERGER AND ALBRIGHT SITTING 1.56 6. SV: SOUNDBITE (English) ASKED ABOUT HIS HANDSHAKE WITH CUBAN LEADER FIDEL CASTRO, CLINTON REPLYING: "It just happened. There were a whole lot of people in the room. I was talking to them and I turned around and he was standing there. He had apparently come up and waited...The encounter lasted just a few seconds. That's all that happened." 2.31 7. SV: JIANG SMILING 2.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 23rd September 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVABS5V2Z1JV0SB38TA4YRB2I5BV
  • Story Text: United States President Bill Clinton said on Friday
    that his handshake with Cuban President Fidel Castro "just
    happened" when Castro approached him, brushing aside any
    political significance in the gesture.



    Clinton's encounter with Castro on Wednesday at the
    U.N. Millennium Summit marked the first time the two men had
    spoken and was apparently the first handshake between the
    communist leader and a U.S. president since the 1959 Cuban
    revolution.

    During a picture-taking session with Chinese President
    Jiang Zemin as they began a meeting, Clinton described the
    incident.

    "It just happened," he said. "There were a whole lot of
    people in the room. I was talking to them and I turned around
    and he was standing there. He had apparently come up and
    waited...The encounter lasted just a few seconds. That's all
    that happened."
    Castro and Clinton, whose nations are separated by 40
    years of acrimony, had attended a lunch for some 150 world
    leaders attending the summit and were making their way to a
    conference room for a group photograph when the encounter took
    place.

    Cuba's state media, which has given blanket coverage to
    Castro's activities at the summit, has so far studiously
    avoided any mention of the encounter with Clinton.


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