Two years after it began, the diplomatic war between Cuba and Mexico is over, according to senior officials in both countries. The unannounced end of hostilities means a return to a century-old relationship considered among the most fraternal in the world.
The resumption of ties characterized by frequent high-level governmental visits, myriad cultural and academic exchanges, and $300 million in annual trade also marks something of a setback for the Bush administration.
Washington has sought to isolate the Fidel Castro government for the last 43 years, so Bush administration officials quietly celebrated when Cuba's staunchest ally in the hemisphere turned into an aggressive critic of the regime's treatment of dissidents. When Cuban officials reacted angrily, the feud was on, and Washington could barely contain its glee.
But the appointment of a new Mexican foreign minister last month brought an almost immediate end to diplomatic frostiness.
"The policy toward Cuba is quite clear," said a senior Mexican official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We are going to repair relations with Cuba, slowly and bit by bit. It is not in our interest to have relations in a constant state of tension."
Already, the change is evident in the way newly arrived Mexican Ambassador Roberta Lajous was received early this year. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque called on her, and then Castro invited her to his residence for a private two-hour chat, Mexican officials said.
In a short statement, the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry announced that high-level visits to the island would resume.
The fireworks of the last two years seemed to be mostly the work of one man, former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda.
Even before the one-time leftist intellectual took office, he had alienated Cuban authorities by writing an unflattering biography of guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a hero to Cubans.
Castaneda's departure eased tensions, Cuban and Mexican officials said. Officials in the government of Mexican President Vicente Fox had for the last several months begun to question the wisdom of the hard-line policy.
"If we want to influence Cuba in the area of human rights or in other areas," wrote Mexico City newspaper columnist Sergio Sarmiento, "we can best do it if we act discreetly. If Mexico wants to play a role in Cuba's transformation, it would do well to adopt the old policy of nonintervention."
Bush administration officials did not respond to requests for comment on the Cuban-Mexican rapprochement. Castaneda has declined to comment on his role in relations with Cuba.
Analysts called the diplomatic repositioning a moderate foreign policy defeat for the White House.
"No question having Mexican policy on Cuba aligned with the U.S. is a plus for the administration," said former Clinton administration foreign policy official Ana Maria Salazar. "But with a war with Iraq looming, Cuba is not on many scopes these days."
"It makes perfect sense for Mexico to return to a more traditional policy," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, director of the Mexico Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"Relations had become a personal feud. The feelings of animosity that Castaneda had for Castro were no secret, and the animosity Castro had for Castaneda were also hardly a secret. So, to a large extent you had personal feelings substituting for national interests.
"With Castaneda's departure, you had a new team evaluate his policies. On Cuba, the decision was to step back from where he had driven relations."
To signal the new course, Mexican Environment Minister Victor Lichtinger visited Cuba last week, the first high-ranking official to travel to the island since April.
That was the same month that Mexico -for the first time ever- voted in favor of a United Nations resolution condemning Cuba for human rights abuses.
The acrimony by most accounts was sparked last March, when Castro abruptly left an international development summit in Monterrey, Mexico.
Fox, in a taped telephone conversation later made public, asked Castro to cut short his participation and to refrain from criticism of the United States.
Fox initially denied having requested that Castro leave early. But Cuban authorities released the tape of their talk, adding fuel to angry public exchanges. Castaneda called Castro "a pariah in Latin America" and a leader who "systematically violates human rights."
From that point on, according to Ricardo Pascoe, Mexico's ambassador to Cuba at the time, Castaneda banned all visits to Cuba by senior Mexican officials.
In Havana, officials seemed unconcerned that the diplomatic furor would cause serious or long-lasting damage. Ricardo Alarcon, leader of the Cuban legislative assembly and among the most powerful men in Cuba, called the deterioration in relations "a problem of the moment."
More recently, a senior Cuban official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that a return to cordial relations was inevitable.
"This was mostly a problem caused by Castaneda," he said. "Fox gave him too much authority, and that is why we ended up in a fight."
Alluding to the long history of close political and cultural ties, he added, "Mexico-Cuba relations are in the blood. They transcend diplomacy."
Mexico and Cuba have enjoyed close cultural ties for more than a century.
Mexican and Cuban artists are widely popular in both countries. This month, the Buena Vista Social Club, an ensemble of legendary Cuban musicians and singers, played to packed theaters in Mexico City.
Intermarriage is fairly common, and an estimated 100,000 Cuban citizens live in Mexico.
Mexico alone among Latin American nations refused to break ties with Cuba after Castro took power. Castro and his small band of guerrillas trained in and around Mexico City to prepare for the armed overthrow of the Fulgencio Batista regime. .
