Both sides raised long-standing disagreements in the talks held in New York, but said they had laid the groundwork for future discussions.

“Engaging in these talks underscores our interest in pursuing constructive discussions with the government of Cuba to advance U.S. interests on issues of mutual concern,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a statement.

THE Brazilian wife of murdered boxer Arturo Gatti has asked to be released from jail, where she is being held accused of his killing.

A lawyer for Amanda Rodrigues has petitioned a court in the Brazilian town of Recife to release her while the investigation continues.

Rodrigues has been accused of strangling the former world champion with her purse strap as he slept after a heavy drinking session.

She told police she awoke about 6am on Saturday to find her husband’s body in the apartment they rented in Porto de Galinhas, a seaside resort in Pernambuco state.

She then called police, which Avelino said indicates her willingness to help authorities.

But police said she was the only suspect and they are certain she killed Gatti in their apartment where they and their 10-month-old son arrived for a second honeymoon last week. The boy was unhurt and was in the care of Rodrigues’s family.

In an interview Monday with Quebec’s LCN news channel, Anna-Maria Gatti said it was Rodrigues herself who phoned her to tell her the news.

“She phoned me saying, ‘Something serious happened. Your brother is dead.’ She seemed very cold when she told me that. I thought it was a joke.”

Arturo Gatti and his wife were staying in Brazil and were expected to join Anna-Maria in Florida for her wedding. But the weekend celebration quickly turned to tragedy after the family learned of Arturo’s death.

After being questioned by local authorities, Rodrigues, who is a Brazilian citizen and the primary suspect in the case, will face charges of murder. The preliminary investigation is working on the theory that she strangled the boxer with her purse strap while he slept.

Although it was no secret the couple’s relationship was strained to the breaking point, and that Rodrigues had accused Gatti of domestic violence, Gatti’s sister said Rodrigues was purely exploiting her husband.

“She only talked about money. She used my brother for money,” Anna-Maria Gatti repeated in the interview. She had a hard time explaining how her brother’s relationship had survived despite the couple’s serious difficulties. “When you don’t get along, you leave one another,” she said.

An emotional Anna-Maria Gatti explained that she and her family still have a hard time believing their champion is gone. “We cry a lot, but there’s nothing we can do.”

In a shock result in Alligator (population 220), Tommie “Tomaso” Brown, 38, defeated Robert Fava, the mayor since 1979, owner of the general store and once his opponent’s boss, by 37 votes to 27.

Mr Brown’s surprise victory was a milestone for Alligator, which is named after the curving lake nearby rather than the alligators that once occupied it. Although the only three businesses in the shrinking, tumble-down town are run by whites, three-quarters of the population is now black.

“They wanted a black mayor,” said a philosophical Mr Fava, 71. “Another Obama – I think that’s what brought it on. I ran on ’30 years of dedicated service’ and he ran on ’Change’. He promised a swimming pool and a recreation centre, which he can’t do.

“He beat me by 10 votes because he had enough family folks to put him in. But we get along good. He used to work here at the store and there ain’t no problems between us. They were ready for a change and I was too – it’s a weight off my mind.”

Gatti’s wife strangled him with her purse strap, say cops

Brazilian cops say there’s no way anyone but Arturo Gatti’s wife could have entered the luxurious apartment where the boxer was killed – but the sexy ex-stripper insists she’s innocent.

“It was technically impossible for a third person to have been in the flat,” lead investigator Moises Teixeira said Monday.

“The investigation isn’t finished, but we continue to think she did this alone.”

Teixeira said there were no signs of forced entry and electronic locks indicated nobody else had entered the rented room Friday, aside from Gatti and his 23-year-old wife, Amanda Carine Barbosa Rodrigues.
Cops released a photo of what they believe to be the murder weapons – a bloody purse strap used to strangle the boxing great and a knife used to stab him in the back of the head.

But police spokeswoman Milena Saraiva says Monday nothing is being ruled out in the investigation, including the possibility another person may have been involved. Gatti was found dead early Saturday in a seaside tourist resort.

Saraiva says police in the northeastern state of Pernambuco are focusing on Gatti’s 23-year-old Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues. She is in custody and has been accused by police of killing Gatti. Rodrigues has yet to be charged and has denied any involvement in the death.

Also read The Jersey Journal’s article Amanda Rodrigues too ‘fragile’ to have killed Arturo Gatti: lawyer.