Following a press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort yesterday, Ambassador Sears spoke to the media on the topic of the two doctors who have been at the centre of controversy for the past several months.
Dr David Gonzalez-Mejias and Dr Marialys Darias-Mesa were released from the Carmichael Detention Centre last week after being held in Nassau for 11 months.
The two dentists first travelled to Jamaica, and then on to Fort Lauderdale where they were reunited with their friends and family.
Ambassador Sears said he is certain that Cuba was happy with this solution. “I’m sure they were, absolutely,” he said.
However, Ambassador Seats did not wish to further comment on the nature or length of the consultation process between the Bahamas and Cuba on this matter.
The ambassador also indicated that the Bahamas did not ask Cuba for permission to send the two dentists to Jamaica.
In terms of how the situation was handled, Ambassador Sears,conceded that steps “could have been taken to prevent the matter from attracting the kind of international criticism that it did.”
By KARIN HERIG Tribune Staff Reporter
