CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

June 8, 2001



Study: Anti-Cuba Law Strengthens Castro Regime

By Jim Burns. CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer. June 08, 2001

(CNSNews.com) - The Cato Institute has released a study calling the Helms-Burton Act, an anti-Castro measure, a failure.

The law has "antagonized our allies, further isolated ordinary Cubans from the influence of American ideas," and strengthened the Cuban government - the same government it was supposed to undermine, the report said.

The Helms-Burton Act, passed in 1996, seeks to prevent other countries from trading with Cuba. Specifically, the law was intended to discourage foreign investment in Cuba by punishing foreign companies and individuals who "traffic" in Cuban property that was owned by U.S. citizens before the revolution.

It allows U.S. nationals to file suit against foreign firms that traffic in those confiscated properties.

The measure was intended to encourage democratic reform in Cuba, but the Cato study said the plan has backfired.

The entire Act should be scuttled, said Mark Groombridge, a Cato research fellow. His study, called "Missing the Target: The Failure of the Helms-Burton Act," is particularly critical of the law's Title Three provision, the one that punishes foreign-owned companies that engage in the "wrongful trafficking of property confiscated by the Castro regime."

A decision is expected soon from President Bush on whether to waive that provision.

Critics claim law has backfired

The Cato study argues that the Helms-Burton Act has had a number of adverse effects.

First of all, because the United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Cuba, it remains the one country with which Cuba has not settled claims, something that will become more and more difficult, as the number and amount of those claims continue to rise.

The study also says Helms-Burton has soured U.S. trading relations with European and other countries that resent U.S. for imposing its agenda on them.

"Helms-Burton has failed to promote democracy in Cuba and has strengthened the hand of the Castro regime by providing a scapegoat for its own failed economic system," the study said.

Groombridge urges President Bush to "remove a painful thorn from the side of U.S.- Canadian and U.S.-European bilateral relations" by urging Congress to repeal the Helms-Burton Act. At a minimum, Groombridge said, Bush should continue to waive implementation and enforcement of the most egregious provisions stipulated in Title Three of the Act.

Neither Helms nor Burton had any comment on the study.

Radio Havana blasts Helms-Burton

Radio Havana, the voice of Cuba's communist government, also considers the Helms-Burton Act a "foreign policy blunder" by North Carolina Republican Senator Jesse Helms, who relinquished the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week, as Democrats took control of the Senate.

According to Radio Havana, "With control of this key Senate committee out of Republican hands, some positive adjustments may be made in US foreign policy, which has been riding roughshod over international relations."

Radio Havana denounced the Helms-Burton Act as "interventionist" and "extraterritorial," because it tries to force other nations to stop trading with Cuba. "Because of its illegality under U.S. and international law, the legislation has never been completely implemented," the editorial said.

The editorial noted that President Bill Clinton, who signed Helms-Burton into law, was forced to suspend the Title Three provisions, and it said President Bush "will be obliged to maintain the suspension if he wishes to avoid aggravating differences with Europe."

The Radio Havana editorial concluded, "If the application of Title Three of the Helms-Burton law is implemented, sparks are sure fly between Washington and its European trading partners, which have important interests in Cuba."

Last month, Helms along with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) introduced in the Senate the "Cuban Solidarity Act." The legislation would provide $100 million over four years to pro-democracy and human rights activists in Cuba.

The money would be use to provide cash, fax machines, telephones, books as well as food and medicine to critics of the Castro government. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) has introduced similar legislation in the House.

Helms described the Solidarity Act as "a blueprint for a more vigorous U.S. policy to liberate the enslaved island of Cuba."

All original CNSNews.com material, copyright 1998-2001 Cybercast News Service.

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