By Jim Burns. CNS Senior Staff Writer. CNS News. July 25, 2000
(CNSNews.com) - Despite recent economic overtures, Cuba's Castro government vows that its "struggle" against the United States will continue, and one of the flashpoints is the exodus of Cubans seeking residency in the United States.
The official Cuban communist party newspaper Granma, which speaks for the Castro government, said in a front-page editorial that the "Cuban Adjustment Act' is the latest reason for continued hostility.
Under the Cuban Adjustment Act, Cubans who reach dry land in the United States are allowed to stay, in most cases; those intercepted at sea are sent back.
The Castro government insists that the Cuban Adjustment Act should be completely eliminated. It accuses the United States of allowing Cubans' lives to be placed in danger, as they attempt to reach US shores - a treatment that's not given to immigrants of any other nationality.
The newspaper's editorial challenges Washington "to grant the same treatment to others, including Mexicans, whose country, along with Canada and the United States, forms part of the North American Free Trade Agreement."
The Castro government also condemns the United States for continuing what it calls a "blockade and economic war against Cuba." It cites various treaties, signed years ago by Cuba and the United States, that clearly prohibit any country from denying another nation food and medicine.
Recently, the US House passed legislation that would ease economic sanctions and allow food and medicine sales to Cuba with certain restrictions. The bill is still awaiting action in the Senate, but President Clinton said last weekend he would sign it into law.
The Castro government insists there's no point in easing the economic sanctions unless the United States also offers Cuba the loans and credits it needs to purchase the food and medicine.
The Castro government reportedly plans to hold a march Wednesday morning in Havana marking the 40-year anniversary of the beginning of the Castro takeover. As part of that rally, the government will campaign against what it calls Washington's "lies and hypocrisy."
The paper concluded, "Forty years have demonstrated that efforts to destroy a revolutionary process that has brought so much social justice, education and ethics to the Cuban people have not been and will never be successful."
The United States broke diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1960. Castro took over the country in 1959. |