Published Thursday, June 15, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Exiles plan ad blitz on Cuba's vices
The ad campaign targets a growing campaign on Capitol Hill to ease sanctions on Cuba. Another aim is to polish the reputation of the Cuban-American community.
By Ana Radelat. Special to The Herald
WASHINGTON -- In an effort to combat a movement on Capitol Hill to ease sanctions on Cuba, the Cuban American National Foundation unveiled plans Wednesday to strike back with a television commercial that focuses on Cuba's human rights record.
Jose Cardenas, director of CANF's Washington office, said the new initiative is needed because public opinion polls that show a majority of Americans at odds with the foundation's position on Elián González have boosted a campaign to ease sanctions on Cuba.
``We don't want them to gain momentum from the polling numbers of the Elián situation,'' Cardenas said.
Cardenas also said the ad campaign is aimed at burnishing the reputation of the Cuban-American community, which the foundation fears has been tarnished by exile passions over Elián.
``There has been an assessment that, in the past few weeks, there has been damage to the image of Cuban Americans,'' Cardenas said. ``We believe that when the American people get to see ads like these, there is going to be more of an understanding of our positions.''
CANF's television ad accuses Fidel Castro's government of condoning child prostitution and of supporting international terrorism. It shows images of a man's wrist bound with rope, of prisoners thrown in jail cells and of a recent State Department report critical of Cuba's human rights record,
interspersed with shots of Castro.
``The embargo is right because the abuses are wrong,'' the advertisement concludes.
Cardenas declined to say how much the television ad campaign -- the first by the exile group -- will cost the Jorge Mas Canosa Freedom Foundation, which funds the organization's operations and programs. ``Whatever it takes'' was his only response.
The 30-second spot will not be seen in Miami. Instead, it will air this Sunday in Washington, D.C., Little Rock, Ark., and Spokane, Wash., to influence Capitol Hill policymakers and the constituents of two lawmakers who have had a high profile in a growing debate over the Cuba embargo: Rep.
George Nethercutt, R-Wash., and Sen. Blanche Lambert-Lincoln, D-Ark.
Nethercutt is the House sponsor of legislation that would ease sanctions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba and other nations on the State Department's terrorist list. The anti-sanctions measure is backed by U.S. farmers and business groups.
Full House consideration of the farm bill had been planned for this week, but was delayed again because of a continuing standoff between supporters of the measures and GOP House leaders who oppose any opening of trade to Cuba.
Nethercutt called CANF's ads ``misleading.''
``If sanctions on food and medicine were so effective in forcing change in Cuba, surely we would have seen some results after 40 years,'' the lawmaker said.
Lambert-Lincoln led a 16-member delegation of Arkansas farmers and rice growers to Cuba at the end of May to investigate the possibility of future sales to the island. ``I returned from Cuba more confident than ever that the U.S. embargo on Cuba must be lifted,'' Lambert-Lincoln said.
Jennifer Greeson, spokeswoman for Lambert-Lincoln, shrugged off CANF's advertisement campaign. ``We welcome their investment in our state's economy,'' she said.
At a CANF press conference to announce the new campaign, Otto Reich, a Cuban American who once served as U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, cast doubts on claims that Castro's government will be able to afford American farm goods. He also disputed the notion that free trade brings democracy.
``I can't point to a single example of a totalitarian regime that has been changed through commercial engagement,'' he said.
Jose Sorzano, a Cuban American who was once an official with the White House's National Security Council, defended the use of sanctions as a foreign policy tool. Without sanctions, he said, U.S. foreign policy options are ``the Marines or nothing.''
Cardenas said the advertisement is only ``the first salvo'' in a Cuban-American campaign to counter an increased scrutiny of the Cuba embargo on Capitol Hill.
CANF and other Cuban-American groups and individuals plan to run other television spots in other cities, Cardenas said. But stopping the shift in public and political opinions on Cuba will be a challenge.
On the same day CANF kicked off its campaign, Sens. John Warner, D-Va., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., were trying to add an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would require the president to create a commission to review U.S.-Cuba policy. In addition, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., hoped to
include another amendment that would ease restrictions on the sale of food and medicine to Cuba in the same bill.
Doctors may go to new country
Two Cubans remain in jail for the 11th day
By Chris Gaither And Sandra Marquez Garcia. smarquez@herald.com
Two Cuban doctors who have been granted refugee status by the United States could resettle in an African country as a result of a compromise to break the deadlock over their release by Zimbabwe.
Leonel Córdova Rodríguez, 31, and Noris Peña Martínez, 25, remained jailed for the 11th day Wednesday at a prison outside of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital. U.S. officials monitoring the situation said they are now more concerned about the doctors' security than their
immediate arrival in the United States.
``Since they have received asylum from the United States, they are entitled to come here,'' said Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart, R-Miami. ``But what is most urgent is that they be taken out of the grasp of [Zimbabwean President Robert] Mugabe.''
A congressional staff member closely following the case said news reports that the United States was set to usher the pair out of Zimbabwe provoked the ire of Cuban President Fidel Castro. On Saturday, Castro urged his longtime ally, Mugabe, to send the doctors to a Cuba-friendly nation.
``The more Castro thinks that these guys are coming here, the less the chance that Mugabe will release them,'' the staff member said.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the African nations of Kenya, Mozambique and Gabon are among the third countries seriously being considered for the doctors' resettlement.
``My guess is that they already have a government lined up and they are just trying to finesse this,'' the staffer said.
For the past two days, speculation that Castro might try to spirit the two doctors back to Cuba has abounded following reports that a Cubana de Aviación jet has been stationed in Gabon. According to Cubana's Web site, the airline does not have regularly scheduled flights there.
On Wednesday, Díaz-Balart mentioned the Cuban airliner in a statement citing his deep concern ``for the safety and security of the physicians.''
But Dominik Bartsch, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lusaka, Zambia, was unable to confirm the airliner's presence.
``We have not come across anything that would substantiate that story,'' Bartsch said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Wednesday called on Zimbabwe to fulfill its international obligations and free the prisoners.
``The ongoing detention does appear to be against international law,'' Boucher said.
Sign Chabvonga, a spokesman for the Zimbabwean Embassy in Washington, said Zimbabwe would not prevent the doctors from leaving.
``Zimbabwe is not going to interfere and stop them from going to any other country,'' Chabvonga said. ``I don't see how discussions between Zimbabwe and Cuba could delay the process.''
Florida relatives file appeal in Elián case
From Herald Staff And Wire Reports.
The request for a rehearing before all 12 judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta was to be filed later today, attorneys for the family said at a rambling news briefing that started shortly after 6 a.m.
In the request, the attorneys are asking the entire panel to examine recent rulings by the Supreme Court that defines a constitutional right for aliens to seek asylum.
``Based on direction of other courts in this country, we think there's a very compelling case of the entire 11th Circuit to reconsider its past views,'' said attorney Kendall Coffey.
Coffey also said the family was concerned about Immigration and Naturalization Service documents recently released by the agency that depict ``gross irregularity'' in INS procedure.
The documents show the federal government was ``just simply trying to appease to Fidel Castro and the Cuban government'' in its handling of the Elián case, attorney Jose Garcia-Pedrosa said.
A three-judge panel ruled against the Miami relatives June 1, saying INS acted within reason when it decided that only Elián's father -- not the Miami relatives -- could apply for asylum on his behalf.
The unanimous ruling blocked Elian from leaving the country immediately and gave his Miami relatives two weeks to appeal -- either to the full appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Miami relatives will ask the appeals court to consider ``whether aliens like Elián have a constitutional right to seek asylum,'' according to the statement from family spokesman Armando Gutierrez.
``The issue of constitutional protection for asylum seekers is especially critical for the thousands of refugee children who reach our shores each year,'' the statement said.
In its decision, the appeals panel said no federal law addresses whether a child as young as Elián can seek asylum against the wishes of his parents. Because of that, the court said, INS was required to come up with a policy dealing with ``the extraordinary circumstances'' of the case.
If the relatives' strategy fails, it is unclear how soon Elián could return to Cuba. A court order requiring Elián to stay in the United States could be extended if the court decides to rehear the appeal.
Elián's father, Juan Miguel González, wants to take his son back to Cuba and end the seven-month saga that began Thanksgiving Day.
Elián was rescued off the Florida coast after his mother and 10 other Cubans drowned when their boat sank in an attempt to reach the United States.
The father arrived in the United States with Elián's stepmother and half-brother on April 6 in hopes of soon taking Elián home. Miami relatives refused to relinquish the boy, so federal agents seized him April 22 and reunited him with his dad in the Washington area.
Judicial Watch, a conservative organization that filed suit against the government on behalf of Donato Dalrymple, one of the men who rescued Elián and who tried to hide in a closet with the boy the day of the raid, today announced it would file briefs with the 11th Circuit Court in
support of the family's efforts to overturn the court's decision.
Monroe dreams of Cuba gateway
Officials readying for direct flights
By Jennifer Babson. jbabson@herald.com
KEY WEST -- Anticipating future demand for direct airline flights between the Keys and Havana -- a 30-minute hop in a twin-engine turboprop plane -- Monroe County Commissioners on Wednesday instructed the county's director of airports to seek federal approval for Key West and Marathon to offer
service to and from Cuba.
The idea: Be prepared if and when the four-decades-old U.S. embargo against Cuba is lifted.
``It's something we have to be way ahead of the game on,'' said Commissioner Nora Williams.
The sentiment is shared by many business owners throughout the Keys, who are preparing for what many believe is an inevitability. They are drawing up contingency plans, trying to anticipate tourist demands, and are even visiting the forbidden island 90 miles away on the other side of the Florida
Straits.
Peter Horton, Monroe County's airport director, says he will prepare applications to three agencies -- U.S. Customs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Department of Agriculture -- seeking to have Keys airports designated official ``ports of entry'' to Cuba.
``To be a port of entry, all three of those government agencies have to agree to staff the facilities either on a part- or full-time basis,'' Horton said.
A federal inspection station next to Key West's airport is already in limited use.
Though Key West International airport rarely offers international commercial flights, a shrimp-laden cargo flight lands three times a week from Honduras and some small planes that are en route to the Bahamas fly into the airport.
Horton says he's expecting significant interest in service from the Keys to Cuba.
``Those two airports are a perfect jumping off point and return point for a twin-engine or single-engine plane flying over the water,'' he said.
And as for flying time, Horton estimates it would take ``anywhere from a low of a half an hour to a high of an hour,'' for a plane departing from Key West to touch down at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport.
The approval process could take a few years, however.
Even if Monroe County officials obtain federal approval, Cuban and U.S. officials -- and airlines wishing to offer flights -- would have to settle on landing rights.
Only a few airports in the United States offer direct flights to Cuba -- including Miami International Airport and others in New York and Los Angeles.
Under the embargo, airports and airlines seeking to offer flights to Cuba must obtain approval from a variety of federal agencies, including the U.S. Treasury Department.
IAPA: Cuba, other Latin nations face free press woes
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- (AP) -- The press is seriously restricted in Cuba but it faces problems in Colombia, Venezuela and Peru as well, the president of the Inter American Press Association said Wednesday.
Cuba has had a long history of harassing, intimidating and restricting the press, Tony Pederson told a gathering of 1,400 editors and journalists. But he said the problems have increased since the government began taking a tougher line against independent journalists last year.
In Venezuela, Peru and Colombia, threats to independent press, though much less serious, are still troubling, he told the IAPA members from across the Americas.
``We have long passed the days of governments closing newspapers and jailing editors for no reason. But what we are seeing now are pressures much more subtle,'' Pederson said citing repressive and restrictive press laws, lawsuits and even economic harassment and manipulation of government
advertising.
In Venezuela, measures passed by President Hugo Chavez's government have had negative consequences for the press, he said.
In Peru, Pederson said ``the government of Alberto Fujimori has continued to show lack of regard for press freedom.''
Pederson cited the case of Israeli-born Baruch Ivcher, who lost his Peruvian citizenship and consequentially his TV station after his reporters broadcast reports implicating the government in torture.
Murder also remains a popular means of silencing journalists across much of Latin America, with some 200 killed over the last decade.
More than half of those killings occurred in Colombia, making it the most dangerous country in the world for the press, he said.
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