DIPLOMATIC THAW

Cuba: Open to Discussion Except Asylum

Has a legitimate right.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry’s Josefina Vidal said Monday that the island nation welcomes discussion with the U.S. on all topics ranging from anti-drug efforts to economic deals, but refuses to negotiate the right to grant asylum for fugitives. “Every nation has sovereign and legitimate rights to grant political asylum to people it considers to have been persecuted,” Vidal said, adding that there is no extradition treaty between the two countries. The comment signals Cuba’s position on extraditing America’s most-wanted woman, Joanne Chesimard, who was granted asylum by Fidel Castro after escaping from prison, where she was serving time for killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie criticized Cuba for not returning Chesimard, who has changed her name to Assata Shakur, calling it “unacceptable.”