By Jim Burns. CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer. May 17, 2001
(CNSNews.com) - While Cuba tries to silence dissident groups, the United States is taking steps to encourage them. A bill introduced in the Senate Wednesday would send financial support to critics of the Castro regime in Cuba.
The legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) would provide $100 million over four years to pro-democracy and human rights activists in Cuba.
The money would be used 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.
Sen. Helms described the bipartisan Cuban Solidarity Act of 2001 as "a blueprint for a more vigorous U.S. policy to liberate the enslaved island of Cuba." In a statement, he said the legislation will supplement the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, which seeks to isolate the Castro
regime.
The Cuban Solidarity Act has the strong support of the Cuban American National Foundation, the largest of the U.S. Cuban exile groups, which believes that such "humanitarian aid" will help bring down the Castro regime.
"We now will actively support the brave individuals, the men and women who dare to speak out, that seek to promote democracy and human rights on the island (Cuba)," said Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation.
"This bill gives the president a mandate and the authority to increase all forms of U.S. support for pro-democracy and human rights activists as well as nascent independent groups in Cuba," he told a Capitol Hill news conference.
Mas said the legislation would benefit human rights activists in Cuba, as well as political prisoners and their families; independent libraries; independent agricultural cooperatives; independent journalists; economists; environmentalists; and "those who speak out in favor of democracy and
freedom for the enslaved people of Cuba." He noted that the bill also authorizes humanitarian aid to Cubans who find themselves stifled by the denial of work and basic necessities.
The bill also instructs the United States to seek resolutions in the United Nations condemning Cuba for human rights violations, even though the United States was just voted off the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission. It also instructs the Bush administration to strengthen Radio Marti and TV Marti,
two United States Information Service stations that broadcast into Cuba. Those stations were launched during the Reagan administration.
"For too long, the debate over U.S.-Cuba policy has centered around an embargo. It's important for us to empower those on the island to speak about freedom and about a better future. It's important that we stand next to the men and women that battle for their freedom and that's what this
bill does," said Mas.
The bill does for Cuba what the U.S. did for Poland's Solidarity movement during the 1980s. Thanks to U.S. support, Poland's pro-democracy movement eventually triumphed over communism. Sen. Helms noted that "the investment we made in the liberation of Eastern Europe has yielded immeasurable
benefits," and he expressed hope that the same thing can be accomplished in Cuba.
Cuban President Fidel Castro is touring Asia and the Middle East and has not commented on the effort to undermine his Communist government.
But he is known to be very tough on dissidents who attempt to organize their opposition - particularly if those dissidents are believed to receive outside funding. Some say well-meaning legislation like the Cuban Solidarity Act could backfire by causing Castro to crack down even harder on his
opponents.
But the CANF's Mas said Wednesday, "that should not be a reason for us not to do the right thing.\rdblquote
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