President Arias Admits
Asking His Friend Dalai Lama To
Postpone Visit
Costa Rican president,
Oscar Arias, admitted
yesterday that he wrote
a letter to the Dalai
Lama asking him to
cancel his visit to
Costa Rica on September
10.
The prez, however,
denied that his decision
was realted to the
planned visit for
October of China's
president, as alleged by
the Asociación Cultural
Tibetano-Costarricence,
organizers of the Dalai
Lama visit.
Arias said that he will
be on a tour to the
United States and Europe
and lamented he would
not be in the country
greet him.
"I will be on tour in
the United States and
Europe and regret that I
will not be in the
country to greet you. I
would be very
disappointed to miss
your visit, and I hope
that by hosting the
meeting in 2009 with
several Nobel laureates,
I am writing to beg to
to postpone your trip",
wrote Arias to the Dalai
Lama in a letter dated
August 5.
A copy of the letter was
distributed to the press
by Casa Presidencial.
Arias is expected to
leave on September 1 for
a trip to Spain, France
and the United Kingdom,
according to a
preliminary report on
the president's tour
outside of Costa Rica.
However, the Asociación
Cultural
Tibetano-Costarricence
maintains firm in their
allegation that the
postponement request is
related to the Chinese
president visit in
October.
Maritza Pacheco,
president of the
Asociación, said that
the explanation is not
rational. The visit by
the Dalai Lama was not
an official visit nor an
official invitation and
that it would have been
nice for the president
to greet the Dalai
Lama's arrival, but not
necessary.
Pacheco added that the
Dalai Lama has visited
many European and Asian
countries and without
having been greeted by
the presidents of those
countries. "This trip
has nothing to do with
the government", said
Pacheco.
Pacheco also refuted the
explanation of asking
the Dalai Lama to
postpone his trip until
next to coincide with
the meeting of the Nobel
laureates in Latin
America, saying that "it
is difficult to
understand what one
thing has to do with the
other as this is a
private visit of a
spiritual and cultutal
nature."
Arias has rejected all
arguments contrary to
his own, saying that he
has a close friendship
with the spiritual and
political leader of the
Tibetan people.
Chinese leaders have
blamed the Dalai Lama of
stirring religious
conflict in Tibet.
The Dalai Lamas
continued to rule Tibet
until the People's
Republic of China
invaded the region in
1949 and then took full
control in 1959. The
14th Dalai Lama then
fled to India and has
since ceded temporal
power to an elected
government-in-exile.
The current 14th Dalai
Lama seeks greater
autonomy for Tibet.
Costa Rica's opposition
legislators have also
criticized the Arias
decision.
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