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June 6, 2002.
Senators Question Bush's Cuba Policy
By Janelle Carter, Associated Press Writer. Wed Jun 5, 6:34
PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senators accused the Bush administration of giving
conflicting statements on its Cuba policy even as a State Department official
Wednesday sought to clarify U.S. views.
Lawmakers have been concerned since Undersecretary of State John Bolton said
in a speech last month that he believes Cuba is trying to develop biological
weapons and is transferring its technical expertise to countries hostile to the
United States.
Senators complained that in the days following the speech, Secretary of
State Colin Powell (news - web sites) appeared to play down Bolton's comments by
saying the administration believes Cuba has the capabilities but not necessarily
the weapons.
President Fidel Castro (news - web sites) denied the charges on state
television and challenged U.S. officials to offer evidence.
Bolton was invited to explain his comments before a Senate Foreign Relations
subcommittee Wednesday but Powell sent another official, Assistant Secretary of
State Carl Ford.
Powell believed that Ford was an appropriate witness because he was able in
his role as head of the State Department intelligence and research bureau to
discuss the administration's evidence concerning Cuban activities, an official
said.
"We have never suggested we had proof positive they had a program,"
Ford told senators. "We feel very confident saying they are working on an
effort that would give them limited capability."
The comments left some lawmakers irritated. "The issue of biological
weapons is a serious matter and we in the Congress should refrain from the
temptation to play politics with it. So, too, should the Bush administration,"
said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.
Added Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), R-R.I.: "The
State Department has a responsibility to have a unified position and make sure
everyone is not saying one thing to one group that they're not saying to
another."
Administration sources said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, now
traveling in Europe, was to reiterate U.S. views concerning Cuba and biological
weapons during a Thursday speech before NATO (news - web sites) allies.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rumseld planned to
raise the matter partly to erase the notion that Bolton was not speaking for the
administration when he addressed the issue last month.
Ford told the committee that the administration believes Cuba has "at
least a limited, developmental, offensive biological warfare research and
development effort."
"That assessment and our concerns have not changed in the intervening
two and a half months," Ford said, before speaking with lawmakers in a
closed and classified session.
When senators tried to question Ford about Bolton's comments, the official
would only say, "What Secretary Bolton intended or meant would be best
asked to Secretary Bolton."
On the Net:
Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
http://foreign.senate.gov/
CANASI 6: New Success for PEBERCAN in Cuba
Press Release. Source: Pebercan Inc. Thursday June 6, 12:21
pm Eastern Time
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--PEBERCAN is pleased to announce that the drilling of
CANASI #6 in the Republic of Cuba resulted in a new success.
This well began on March 20th, 2002 and was completed on May 15th, 2002. The
total length of CANASI #6 is 3,745 meters, 1,572 meters of which penetrated
three successive hydrocarbon pools.
Production tests carried out right after completion of the drilling are
still under way. Average production of this well, depending on choke size,
ranges between 3,500 and 4,500 barrels per day during this first test phase.
Thanks to this new well, Block 7 gross production currently amounts to an
average of 15,000 barrels per day or a net production of approximately 7,200
barrels per day for PEBERCAN.
With this new success PEBERCAN pursues the development of this field. In
fact, development well CANASI #7 was started on June 6th, 2002. | 
