Panama City---Some 100 Cuban government supporters jeered dissidents as they arrived at a Latin American civil society forum in Panama on Wednesday ahead of a historic Summit of the Americas.
The communist regime's sympathizers shouted "sell outs" and "imperialists" as the government opponents neared a hotel in the Panamanian capital, getting louder when prominent dissident Manuel Cuesta Morua arrived.
The government supporters left the forum in disgust.
"There are criminals and terrorists at this forum who want to speak in the name of Cuban civil society," said Luis Morlote Rivas, vice president of the Cuban Writers and Artists Union.
Abel Prieto, a top aide to Cuban President Raul Castro, was present during the heated moment.
"Those who organized this, who are not the Panamanian government but a network of organization in Panama ... really made a strange selection over who can or can't attend this forum," Prieto said.
Morua and other dissidents had announced in Havana that they would bring to the forum a plan for political reforms.
The tense moment came ahead of the 35-nation summit on Friday and Saturday that will bring together US President Barack Obama and Castro for a historic encounter in their effort to restore diplomatic ties.
AFP
