|
Posted on Wed, Mar. 19, 2003 in The Miami Herald.
Cuba announces new restrictions on diplomats
By Nancy San Martin. nsanmartin@herald.com
Cuba's communist-run government announced Tuesday night it had rounded up
several dozen opponents and slapped new restrictions on the movements of
American diplomats here as already bad relations between the two countries
further deteriorated.
An official statement read on state television's evening news program said
that Cuba's actions were the result of "the shameful and repeated attitude
by the chief of Washington's diplomatic mission in Havana, James Cason, to
foment the internal counterrevolution.''
Veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said by telephone late
Tuesday he had confirmed the detentions of at least 10 dissidents and was
working to confirm reports of another 20 or so picked up by state security
agents.
The announcement of restrictions on American diplomats here was the Cuban
government's first confirmation of the move, reported last week by U.S. State
Department officials in Washington.
DIPLOMAT RIPPED
''No nation, no matter how powerful, has the right to organize, finance and
serve as a central barracks for subverting the constitutional order and
violating the law by conspiring, threatening security and destroying the
independence of another country,'' said the Cuban government statement.
Cuban officials have reacted strongly to what they consider unprecedented
actions by Cason, the chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, and have
threatened to close the agency.
In an unusual move, the acrimonious relationship was brought into Cuban
homes this week via television programs. Cuba dedicated an entire show Monday
night to Cason calling his contacts with government opponents ''provocative''
and "offensive.''
The issue was discussed again Tuesday night on Cubavision.
'RUDE BEHAVIOR'
Cason, who took the post six months ago, has drawn criticism from Cuban
officials in recent months over his public relationship with dissidents on the
island.
''He has traveled the island, meeting with dissidents and repeatedly showing
rude behavior,'' government intelligence analyst Manuel Hevia said of the U.S.
diplomat on Monday. "His actions are provocative . . . and his language
offensive.''
Hevia and other analysts on the nightly talk show Mesa Redonda (Round Table)
said Cason's actions appeared to be part of a campaign to strengthen Castro's
opponents. They accused Cason of meeting with ''paid agents'' and ''Cuban
traitors'' before meeting with government officials and speculated it was part
of a U.S. plan to derail any chance of normalized relations.
The government-sponsored talk show also aired clips from Cason interviews,
including one in Miami where he urged dissident unity and one in Havana last
month where Cason told the international media that "The Cuban government
is afraid, afraid of freedom of conscience, afraid of freedom of expression,
afraid of human rights.''
The comment was made at the home of Martha Beatriz Roque, where a meeting
with other dissidents was taking place.
Cason has said he is merely trying to promote democracy and human rights in
the Caribbean nation.
Castro responded to Cason's comments during a speech March 6 before Cuba's
parliament by hinting that the interests section might be shut down and adding:
"Actually, Cuba is so afraid that it will calmly take all the time needed
to decide on its course of action regarding this bizarre official.''
Although Castro has threatened to close the interests section before, there
have been a number of other recent developments.
A string of diplomatic notes have been exchanged and both governments have
issued formal protests that vary from U.S. dismay over the inability to import
textbooks for distribution to Cuba's contempt over the treatment of five Cuban
nationals convicted as spies.
CASON DEFENDED
The Cuban government asserts the five ''heroes'' have deliberately been
subjected to cruel treatment by U.S. authorities.
Both governments also have imposed travel restrictions against diplomats in
Havana and Washington.
While Cuba characterizes Cason's bold actions as infringements on
sovereignty, the United States says Cason is being a good diplomat, and it will
react if Cuba takes any action against him or the diplomatic mission.
''Cason is a convenient scapegoat. The charges against him are baseless,''
said Daniel Fisk, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Western
Hemisphere Affairs. "Unprecedented [activities] doesn't mean they're
outside the bounds of diplomatic activities.''
Material from Herald wire services was used in this report.
Carter 'disappointed' by Cuba's handling of Varela Project petition
By Andres Oppenheimer. aoppenheimer@herald.com
ATLANTA - Former President Jimmy Carter, who 10 months ago made headlines by
endorsing a pro-democracy petition in a nationally televised speech during a
visit to Cuba, said Tuesday that he is ''disappointed'' by the Cuban regime's
lack of response to the request.
In an interview with The Herald, Carter called on Cuba's National Assembly
to vote on the Varela Project, the petition signed by 11,020 Cubans on the
island that asks for a referendum under the current Cuban laws on whether the
island should enact legislative changes guaranteeing freedom of speech, and free
elections.
Carter, who was chairing three-day conference on ''Financing Democracy in
the Americas'' organized by the Carter Center, said that "we have to be
constantly critical of any violation in Cuba of their own Constitution, which
guarantees freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly, which in my opinion
authorizes the Varela Project.''
''I've been disappointed that the National Assembly did not accept the
Varela petition and act on that petition, one way or another,'' Carter added.
On the other hand, Carter reiterated his opposition to current U.S. policy
on Cuba, stating that maintaining the current travel ban and the U.S. trade
embargo on the island are "one of the worst things the United States can
do.''
He added: "The best way to have slow, evolutionary political change is
to have unimpeded access to the Cuban people and to the thousands of people in
the Cuban government through free visitation.''
During his highly publicized trip to Cuba last May -- the first visit by a
sitting or former U.S. president to the island since 1928 -- Carter had used the
occasion of a nationally televised speech at the University of Havana to talk
about the Varela petition, and to ask that it be allowed to be published in the
Cuban media. Because of the Cuban regime's stringent censorship, the referendum
request has not been published in Cuba's mass media until now.
Referring to the Cuban government's claims that it could not consider the
referendum request because it allegedly demanded constitutional changes, which
would require a different procedure under Cuban laws, Carter said, "I read
the Varela petition very carefully, and I read the Cuban Constitution. In my
opinion, the Varela petition does not call for constitutional changes. It calls
for changes in statutory laws.''
Asked whether he is supporting the nomination of Varela Project leader
Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas to win a Nobel peace prize, Carter -- who
won the award last year -- smiled and said, "I don't want to single out one
person, but it would please me if anyone who works for freedom or for democracy
was honored.''
Carter refused to say whether he has supported any particular nomination.
''That's a private thing for me,'' he said. | 
