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May 14, 2002.
Carter Debates Democracy With Castro
Tue May 14, 9:08 Am Et . By John Rice, Associated Press
Writer
HAVANA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter found himself in a debate on
human rights and democracy with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, after he sparked
controversy at home by saying U.S. officials told him they had no evidence Cuba
was involved in developing weapons of mass destruction.
Visiting a school for social workers, Carter said he would discuss "the
differences in our approach to the form of governments we have" during a
major speech Tuesday night, which Castro promised would be broadcast live
throughout the communist island.
"In the United States, we believe that it is very important to have
absolute freedom of expression and freedom of assembly," Carter told the
students Monday, citing two liberties that nearly all human rights groups find
lacking in Cuba.
On Monday night, Castro played host to Carter at the Latin American School
of Medicine, where the Cuban leader argued that the concept of democracy was
born in ancient Athens, with fewer than 20,000 citizens ruling some 50,000
non-citizens and 80,000 slaves.
Noting the vast poverty of most of the world's people, Castro compared
Western-style democracies to an Athens in which a minority unjustly dominates
the majority and said Cuba was striving for "a society with justice"
and equal opportunity. He said his country was seeking "that dream of
justice, of true liberty, of true democracy, of true human rights."
Castro used the occasion at the school — where the impoverished country
gives free six-year medical educations to 6,000 poor students, most from Latin
America — to begin drawing the outlines of a longer response that is sure
to come. The response is to be a statement of principles that may serve for his
revolutionary movement's 50th anniversary next year.
Critics say Cuba's government harasses organized opposition groups, accusing
them of being hirelings of foreign governments, and has allowed no opposition
parties during Castro's 43 years in power. Cuban exile groups had urged Carter —
who has campaigned for democracy in other nations — to raise the issue
during his visit to Cuba. (Reports
on Cuba)
"We take pride in our freedom to criticize our own government and to
change our government when we don't like it by voting in elections that are
contested," said Carter, who began Monday by meeting two human rights
activists who have spent time in Cuban prisons.
Early Tuesday, Carter — the first former or current American president
to visit Castro's Cuba — was to visit Cuba's AIDS sanatarium and a farm
cooperative, both on the outskirts of Havana. After his Tuesday night speech,
Carter was scheduled to attend a baseball game of all-star teams from eastern
and western Cuba. Castro also was expected to attend.
Carter also suggested Monday that the detailed briefings the Bush
administration gave him before his visit to Cuba contrasted sharply with its
public statements a few days later.
Last week, Undersecretary of State John Bolton said he believes Cuba has at
least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort.
"Cuba has provided dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states,"
Bolton said. "We are concerned that such technology could support BW
programs in those states."
But Carter — a former president and Navy nuclear scientist who
presumably has a security clearance far higher than the general public —
said officials at the State Department, White House and intelligence agencies
had not mentioned or raised questions about the issue when they briefed him not
long before his trip.
"I asked them specifically, on more than one occasion, 'Is there any
evidence that Cuba has been involved in sharing any information to any other
country on earth that could be used for terrorist purposes?'" Carter said
during a visit to a major Cuban biotechnology laboratory.
"The answer from our experts on intelligence was 'no.' "
Carter said anybody with such evidence should accept Castro's offer to tour
the Cuban biotechnology centers for themselves.
He also urged Cuba to "intensively concentrate" on enforcing its
existing contracts, which ban other countries from converting Cuban medical
technology to other uses.
But the former president praised Cuba's "generosity" in spreading
treatments against or detection of hepatitis, meningitis, Alzheimer's, cancer
and AIDS to some of the world's poorest nations. Cuba claims its vaccines have
saved the lives of thousands of children.
"It may be that Cuba is unique in having emphasized health needs as a
driving force and not just to make a profit," Carter said.
Bush administration officials said they were standing by their assertions
that Cuba has at least a limited biological warfare program and has shared such
biotechnology with rogue states.
Carter did not directly contradict Bolton's allegations. But he said they "were
made, maybe not coincidentally, just before our visit to Cuba."
Otto Reich, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere,
said similar information had been given at a Congressional hearing in March by
Carl Ford, the assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research.
Secretary of State Colin Powell told ABC on Monday that "we do believe
that Cuba has a biological offensive research capability."
"We didn't say it actually had such weapons, but it has the capacity
and capability to conduct such research and this is not a new statement, I think
it's a statement that has been made previously," Powell said. "So
Undersecretary Bolton's speech, which got attention on this issue again, it
wasn't breaking new ground as far as the United States' position on the subject."
President Bush plans to deliver a speech on Cuba next Monday before
visiting the Cuban exile community in Florida. The speech appears to have been
prompted, in part, by Carter's visit to Cuba.
A Peanut Farmer at Castro's Court
Tue May 14, 4:33 AM ET
Poor Jimmy Carter - forever truckling to foreign tyrants like Serbia's
Milosevic, North Korea's Kim and now Cuba's Castro.
Is he hungry for a Nobel Prize, sainthood - or is it just attention he
needs, decades after his buffoonish presidency?
Now, it's true that without the backing of the Soviet Union, Castroism is no
longer the malignant threat it once was, either to Latin American stability or
the security of the United States.
And there may indeed be good reasons to reconsider America's embargo.
However, it must not be forgotten that Castro's Cuba is still one of the
planet's few remaining Stalinist regimes.
It's still a totalitarian island jail where dissidents are imprisoned,
tortured and murdered - a place from which thousands of ordinary people risk
their lives trying to escape.
That's why any change in America's relationship with Cuba cannot be
unilateral: The old dictator must make some serious concessions before the
United States even thinks of softening its stance.
It isn't at all apparent that Carter understands this.
On the contrary, so far he seems all too happy to allow himself to be used
by Castro in his PR efforts to make Cuba look like a nice, normal society
unjustly bullied by the United States.
Unless the former president can overcome his has-been's susceptibility to
flattery and work up the courage to challenge Castro on behalf of the Cuban
people, then his trip will only encouraging the bearded old brute - to the
continuing despair of the political prisoners who rot in his dungeons.
But Carter will keep his peace - like the sad old man he has become.
Carter and Powell Cast Doubt on Bioarms in Cuba
Tue May 14, 8:55 Am Et . By David Gonzalez The New York
Times
HAVANA, May 13 - Former President Jimmy Carter said today that Bush
administration officials who briefed him before his trip to Cuba never mentioned
any concerns about Cuban involvement in developing biological weapons.
His comments came as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell cast some doubt on
assertions last week by a senior State Department official that Cuba was making
such weapons.
Mr. Carter described the briefings, with White House and intelligence
officials, as "intense.'' They finished just days before the senior
official, John R. Bolton, charged that Cuba had developed "at least a
limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort'' and also
"provided dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states.''
Mr. Carter, speaking at a Cuban biological research center before an
audience that included President Fidel Castro , said: "There were
absolutely no such allegations made or questions raised. I asked them myself on
more than one occasion if there was any evidence that Cuba has been involved in
sharing any information with any country on earth that could be used for
terrorist purposes. And the answer from our experts on intelligence was no.''
He hinted that the State Department announcement was an attempt to undercut
his visit. He is the most prominent American political figure to visit Cuba
since Mr. Castro came to power in a 1959 revolution. "With some degree of
reluctance, I would like to comment on the allegations of bioterrorism,'' Mr.
Carter said. "I do this because the allegations were made, perhaps not
coincidentally, just before our visit to Cuba.''
He spoke at the start of a tour of the Center for Genetic Engineering and
Biotechnology in Havana, after a long presentation on Cuba's biomedical and
genetic research. Cuban officials made no direct comments today about Mr.
Bolton's charges.
Mr. Carter said he did not believe that Cuba was collaborating with Libya in
biological research, adding that its scientific relations with Iran conform to
international standards.
Secretary Powell, speaking to reporters while traveling to a NATO meeting
in Iceland, said that while the administration believes that Cuba has the
ability to produce biological weapons, it stops short of claiming that it has
actually done so.
"As Undersecretary Bolton said recently, we do believe Cuba has a
biological offensive research capability,'' Mr. Powell said. "We didn't say
it actually had some weapons, but it has the capacity and capability to conduct
such research.''
But Condoleezza Rice , the national security advisor, said during an
interview on the PBS program "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer,'': "You
can't show someone a biotech lab and be assured they're not creating weapons of
mass destruction. That's not how biotech wweaons work. And they're actually very
easy to conceal and you need multiple measures to make certain biotech weapons
aren't being developed and transferred.''
The center Mr. Carter visited has attracted thousands of foreign scientists,
including 400 Americans last year. Doctors involved in the research said the
American allegations misconstrued their efforts to make vaccines and other
products that have helped many third world residents. "Those accusations
offend us as scientists,'' said Dr. Ricardo Bringas, a biologist who analyzes
genetic patterns. "The last thing we are thinking of is to hurt someone.''
Exiles: Carter Can't Change Cuba
Mon May 13, 1:52 Pm Et . By Alex Veiga, Associated Press
Writer
MIAMI (AP) - Former President Carter's historic visit to Cuba will probably
yield only token human rights gestures while giving Fidel Castro (news - web
sites) a chance to push for an end to U.S. economic sanctions, Cuban exile
leaders said Monday.
Some acknowledged that plans by Carter to meet with dissidents and
opposition leaders on the communist island would at least help draw
international attention to their cause.
"It's very nice to go down and talk about human rights, but what is the
bottom line?" said Ninoska Perez Castellon, a founder of the Cuban Liberty
Council.
"Are you asking Castro to change? Are you trying to promote changes in
Cuba or within (the United States) so Americans can invest in Cuba and Castro's
dictatorship can get richer from tourism from the United States?"
Carter, 77, arrived in Havana early Sunday for a five-day stay at the
invitation the 75-year-old Castro. The trip, which Carter billed as a private
visit, marks the first time a U.S. president in or out of office has visited
Cuba since Castro took power in 1959.
Many anti-Castro exiles hoped that the visit would lead to the release of
political prisoners or pressure Castro to recognize Cuban citizens' request for
political change. But they say they are not optimistic.
"This could be one of those defining moments for Jimmy Carter and
perhaps for the history of Cuba," said Joe Garcia, executive director of
the Cuban American National Foundation. "Or, it could be a show and
everybody acts their part and nothing great is accomplished."
Jose Basulto, head of Brothers to the Rescue, said he trusted Carter would
address human rights, but added: "I don't expect much from Carter's visit."
Exile groups want Carter to speak with Castro about the Varela Project, a
campaign by Cuban activists to force a referendum asking voters if they want
liberties such as freedom of speech and the right to start their own businesses.
Some exile leaders fear Castro will use Carter's visit to push for an end to
the four-decade U.S. economic embargo. And Castellon said she believes Carter's
main goal is to advance the agenda of U.S. business interests who want to trade
with Cuba.
"He's basically saying Castro can keep on doing what he's doing, we
know he's not going to change, but we're willing to keep him doing it as long as
we can do business with Cuba," she said.
Carter, who has long said he opposes the embargo, is scheduled to make a
live televised address to the Cuban people Tuesday. He also planned to meet with
dissident groups.
"Regardless of how much Castro might try to use President Carter's
visit, it is nevertheless an important event," said Ramon Saul Sanchez,
head of Democracy Movement.
"A lot of people look at the plight of the Cuban people with
indifference, and perhaps this will allow them to realize that what Cuban people
have been clamoring for many years is true," he said.
Carter Questions Cuba Terror Claims
Tue May 14, 8:22 Am Et . By John Rice, Associated Press
Writer
HAVANA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter found himself in a debate on
democracy with Cuban leader Fidel Castro , after he ignited an uproar at home by
saying U.S. officials told him they had no evidence Cuba was involved in
developing weapons of mass destruction.
Carter's statement, made Monday during a tour of Cuba's premier
biotechnology lab, seemed to contradict assertions made last week by a top State
Department official who said Cuba has conducted research on biological weapons
and shared it with other countries.
"I asked them specifically, on more than on occasion, 'Is there any
evidence that Cuba has been involved in sharing any information to any other
country on Earth that could be used for terrorist purposes?'" Carter said. "The
answer from our experts on intelligence was 'no.'"
Bush administration officials stood by Undersecretary of State John Bolton's
earlier remarks that he believed Cuba had "provided dual-use biotechnology
to other rogue states." Secretary of State Colin Powell noted that it was
not a new statement by the Bush administration.
After touring Havana's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology with
Castro and speaking with scientists there, Carter visited a school for social
workers. He told students that in the United States, "it is very important
to have absolute freedom of expression and freedom of assembly," — two
liberties nearly all human rights groups find lacking in Cuba.
Cuba's government harasses organized opposition groups, accusing them of
working for foreign governments, and has allowed no opposition parties during
Castro's 43 years in power. Cuban exile groups had urged Carter, who has
campaigned for democracy in other nations since his 1977-1981 presidency, to
raise the issue during his visit to Cuba.
On Monday night, Castro took Carter to the Latin American School of
Medicine, where his impoverished country offers full six-year scholarships to
thousands of poor students, most from Latin America.
Castro, known for lengthy speeches, used the occasion to begin drawing the
outlines of a longer response that is sure to come — a statement of
principles that may serve for his revolutionary movement's 50th anniversary next
year.
As sunset fell on the Caribbean shore just beyond hundreds of white-coated
medical students, Castro said the concept of democracy was born in ancient
Athens, where fewer than 20,000 citizens ruled some 50,000 non-citizens and
80,000 slaves.
Noting the deep poverty around the world and the gap between rich and poor,
Castro compared Western-style democracies to an Athens in which a minority
unjustly dominates the majority. He said Cuba was striving for "a society
with justice" and equal opportunity.
He said his country was seeking "that dream of justice, of true
liberty, of true democracy, of true human rights."
Carter, who also met Monday with two human rights activists who spent time
in Cuban prisons, said he would discuss "the differences in our approach to
the form of governments we have" during a speech Tuesday night. Castro has
promised the address would be broadcast live across the communist island.
Carter's visit comes a week after Bolton accused Cuba of conducting weapons
research as part of its biotechnology program. In remarks to the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative research group, Bolton said he believes Cuba has at
least a limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort.
"Cuba has provided dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states,"
Bolton said. "We are concerned that such technology could support BW
programs in those states. ... We call on Cuba to cease all BW-applicable
cooperation with rogue states and to fully comply with all of its obligations
under the Biological Weapons Convention."
Carter — the first former or current American leader to visit Castro's
Cuba — did not directly contradict Bolton's allegations. But he said
officials at the State Department, White House and intelligence agencies had not
mentioned the issue when they briefed him before his trip.
He also noted the timing of the remarks, saying they "were made, maybe
not coincidentally, just before our visit to Cuba."
Carter urged Cuba to "intensively concentrate" on enforcing
contracts that ban other countries from converting Cuban medical technology to
other uses. Dr. Luis Herrera, director of the lab Carter visited, told Carter
that Cuba monitors the use of technology transferred to other countries to
ensure it is not used for terrorism.
Carter said Cuban scientists deny they have any technology transfer program
with Libya and say a new program with Iran has not started yet.
The Bush administration firmly stood by Bolton's statement Monday. Powell,
in Iceland for a NATO summit, repeated Bolton's assertions, adding that they
were not new.
"I don't know what briefings President Carter received," Powell
said.
Otto Reich, the assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere,
said similar information had been given at a Congressional hearing in March by
Carl Ford, the assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research.
President Bush plans to deliver a speech on Cuba next Monday before
visiting the Cuban exile community in Florida. The speech appears to have been
prompted, in part, by Carter's visit to Cuba.
The Bush administration has said it will not to ease the trade sanctions on
Cuba until it has free elections and releases political prisoners. Carter has
long opposed the embargo.
Little Havana is unimpressed
Tue May 14, 9:09 Am Et . Deborah Sharp USA Today.
MIAMI -- Jimmy Carter is making history as the first sitting or former
president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. But Carter's trip is most
noteworthy here for what's missing in Miami:
Street protests. Angry callers to talk radio. Round-the-clock media
coverage.
Reaction to Carter's trip has been uncharacteristically muted in this city
dominated by more than 650,000 residents of Cuban heritage. In Miami, where even
the whisper of a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba can rally protesters and
garner weeks of headlines, Carter's trip has so far failed to stir passions.
Even so, the former president's dealings with Cuban leader Fidel Castro are
being watched closely. And interest will be high tonight, when portions of
Carter's speech to the Cuban people are broadcast live on Miami's
Spanish-language news shows.
As a Democrat who was perceived as soft on Castro when in office from 1977
to 1981, Carter is not popular among the hard-liners who still dominate politics
in Cuban Miami.
''I don't like Jimmy Carter. Not now, not ever,'' said Francisco Mata, 68,
stopping for a cup of Cuban coffee along Calle Ocho, or Eighth Street, in Little
Havana.
Staunchly Republican, Miami's Cuban exile majority has not voted for a
Democrat for president since John F. Kennedy held the office. The community's
distaste for Democrats dates to the Bay of Pigs debacle in 1961, when Kennedy
failed to militarily back Cuban exiles attempting a U.S.-planned invasion.
There is a Cuban Memorial Boulevard and a Ronald Reagan Avenue along Little
Havana's main drag, but no streets named after Democrats.
''Part of the reason things have been so muted is the community does not
take this seriously. If there was a Democrat in the White House, things would be
different,'' says Dario Moreno, a professor of political science at Florida
International University.
''They know that President Bush is not going to make a radical change in
U.S.-Cuba policy, especially with his brother up for office in a few months.''
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of the president, easily carried the
Cuban vote in 1998. His likely opponent this November, Democrat Janet Reno , is
vilified by many Miami Cubans for her decision as attorney general to return
young refugee Elian Gonzalez to his father in communist Cuba.
The White House made clear that there is no thaw contemplated. In fact, Bush
is expected to announce a tougher stance toward Cuba when he visits Miami next
Monday, despite calls from U.S. business and agricultural interests to ease a
40-year-old trade embargo. Carter also favors lifting the trade ban, a move that
would be vehemently opposed by hard-liners in Miami.
Some of the disinterest in Carter's trip may be traced to Miami's changing
demographics. Older Cubans, traditionally the most fervently anti-Castro and the
most passionate about politics, have been dying off during Castro's 43-year
reign.
And while Cuban-Americans are still the most dominant group in heavily
Hispanic Miami, other immigrants have made inroads. More than 105,000
Nicaraguans have settled here, nearly changing the face of Little Havana. These
other groups are far less interested in Cuba's fate.
Calle Ocho waitress Norma Balmacedaz, who is from Nicaragua, shrugs off
Carter's visit: ''I don't know too much about it,'' she says.
But the old Cuban men who play board games and dominoes at Maximo Gomez Park
are following political developments as closely as their chess strategies. And
Teresa Medina, who fled Cuba in her mother's arms on a ''Freedom Flight'' in
1967, is keenly interested. She hopes the former president will press Castro on
freedom and human rights abuses.
Medina, 36 and a mother of two, was a year old when she left the island on
one of the refugee flights, which the U.S. government arranged from 1965 to
1971. Her father's politics kept him in a Cuban prison for the next 10 years.
Respecting her parents' wishes, she has never been back, though she longs to
return.
''I only want peace and democracy, so one day I can visit my country,'' said
Medina, surrounded by Cuban flags and souvenirs in a Calle Ocho shop.
Russia may export oil to Cuba to pay debts for closing spy base
Tue May 14, 4:23 AM ET
MOSCOW - Russia may export crude oil to Cuba to settle debts to Havana for a
Soviet-built spy base that Moscow is closing this year, the Vedomosti daily
newspaper reported Tuesday.
The state-owned Russian oil companies Rosneft and Zarubezhneft are expected
to receive additional crude oil export quotas of up to 12,000 barrels a day in
the third quarter to ship to Cuba, the report said.
The government assigns quarterly export quotas to Russian oil producers in
line with individual companies' output. The oil exporters eagerly seek
additional export quotas to boost their revenues.
Amid improving relations with the United States, Moscow announced last
October that it would close the Lourdes listening base in Cuba in an effort to
cut defense costs. The base has eavesdropped on U.S. communications since it was
built in 1964, shortly after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
Russia has paid Cuba dlrs 200 million a year in rent for the base, and
Vedomosti said the payments are long overdue, but didn't give a total amount of
the debt. The report also did not say how much the oil deliveries would be
worth.
Cuba also has large debts to Russia — estimated at dlrs 11-20 billion —
left over from the Soviet era, when Moscow pumped billions into the communist
island.
Soviet-era agreements trading Russian oil for Cuban sugar largely fizzled
after the 1991 collapse of the USSR.
(dj/adc)
Carter meets with Cuban activists on human rights, elections
Tue May 14,12:14 Am Et . By Anita Snow, Associated Press
Writer
HAVANA - Veteran Cuban activist Elizardo Sanchez got the phone call from
Jimmy Carter's staff early Monday morning: Could he brief the former U.S.
president a few hours later on Cuba's human rights situation?
Less than 24 hours after arriving at Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s
invitation, Carter sat down with Sanchez and fellow activist Oswaldo Paya to
discuss their petition drive posing an unprecedented challenge to Castro's
43-year-old government.
Carter, an advocate for human rights and democracy around the world, spent
more than an hour discussing Project Varela with Sanchez and Paya.
"I was impressed with the detailed manner in which he understood
Project Varela, and what it seeks to do," Sanchez told reporters outside
Carter's hotel in Old Havana.
Last Friday, Paya delivered 11,200 signatures to the National Assembly
requesting a referendum asking voters if they favor individual rights such as
freedom of expression and assembly; amnesty for political prisoners; the right
to start their own businesses; and electoral reform.
Through Project Varela, "Cubans are demanding rights for all Cubans,
including (officials) of the government," Paya said.
Cuba's constitution says the National Assembly should schedule a national
referendum if it receives verified signatures from 10,000 legal voters.
Cuban officials claim the project is "imported" from the United
States and have not given hope for its success.
After his morning meeting, Carter told young Cubans that Americans "feel
that it is very important to have absolute freedom of expression, and freedom of
assembly.
"We take great pride in our freedom to criticize our own government and
to change our government when you don't like it, by voting in elections that are
contested," Carter told a gathering of social worker students.
The activists also said they discussed with Carter the approximately 240
human rights and political prisoners in Cuba.
Statement by Carter in Cuba
Mon May 13, 6:25 Pm Et . By The Associated Press
The following statement was made by former President Carter on Monday while
visiting the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana, as
provided by The Carter Center:
I think I can represent The Carter Center in saying that we have been
overwhelmed with the dedication of the Cuban people and the government, and
their research and humanitarian sharing of knowledge about better health care
with the rest of the world.
It may be that Cuba is unique in having emphasized the health need as a
driving force and not just how to make a profit on specific medicines developed.
We have also been impressed with the range of cooperation that has been
developed between Cuba and other countries on Earth. The results of preventive
health care, including vaccinations of children in Cuba, is indeed impressive.
My hope is that in the future there could be close cooperation between the
scientific and medical community in Cuba and that of my own country, the United
States. My personal thanks and that of tens of millions of people around the
world who have benefited from this research in Cuba I would like personally to
emphasize.
With some degree of reluctance I would also like to comment on the
allegation of bioterrorism. I do this because these allegations were made maybe
not coincidentally just before our visit to Cuba. In preparation for this
unprecedented visit, I requested, and we all received, intense briefings from
the State Department, the intelligence agencies of my country, and high
officials in the White House. One purpose of this briefing was for them to share
with us any concerns that my government had about possible terrorist activities
that were supported by Cuba. There were absolutely no such allegations made or
questions raised. I asked them specifically on more than one occasion is there
any evidence that Cuba has been involved in sharing any information to any other
country on Earth that could be used for terrorist purposes. And the answer from
our experts on intelligence was "no."
I think it's very significant though that this allegation was made, and I'm
grateful for a chance to come here at the center of this effort on behalf of
Cuba. In the welcoming address at the airport when we arrived, your president
publicly offered that any person who wanted to come and investigate any
allegations concerning this bioterrorism issue would be free and welcome to come
without restraint. My presumption and hope is that anyone who does have evidence
of this kind would take advantage of this offer.
One of the allegations was that Cuba was providing potentially terrorist
information to Libya and to Iran. The understanding I have this morning is that
there is no relationship at all between Cuba and Libya in this field, and that
there is a standard contract prescribed by the international community that any
technology shared would be restrained from any illicit use. The relationship
between Cuba and Iran in this respect is just in the initial stages and has not
reached the point of technological development. And my hope and my presumption
is that Cuba will be very intensely concentrated upon enforcing that provision
that would prevent any illicit or improper use of the technology which they
share. In closing, let me thank everyone for these wonderful presentations that
we have received this morning.
Lawyers for man accused of plotting to kill Cuba's Castro blasts
Panama's judicial system
Mon May 13, 6:17 PM ET
PANAMA CITY, Panama - Lawyers for a man accused of masterminding a plot to
kill Cuban President Fidel Castro (news - web sites) said Monday that their
client's case has remained "in limbo" because of delays in Panama's
judicial system.
Panamanian authorities arrested Luis Posada Carriles and three other Cuban
exiles last year on charges of plotting to assassinate Castro during an
Ibero-American summit in Panama City.
Panama later denied a Cuban request for Posada Carriles' extradition, saying
the terror suspect must first serve a Panamanian prison sentence for possession
of explosives, falsification of documents and conspiracy to commit a crime.
In December, Venezuela asked Panama to extradite Posada Carriles to stand
trail for his role in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana de Aviacion airliner that
killed 73 people. The plane took off from Venezuela before exploding over
Barbados.
On Monday, Posada Carriles lawyer Rogelio Cruz called a news conference to
complain that Panamanian authorities have yet to respond to the Venezuelan
request.
Cruz also said that Panamanian prosecutors announced in March that they were
ready to move forward with conspiracy and possession of explosives charges
against Posada Carriles and the other suspects, but that a trial has yet to
begin.
"Right now no judicial system is in control of the case," Cruz
said. "My client has had his human rights violated by waiting more than 17
months to see a judge."
Cruz said that Posada Carriles has suffered from various prolonged illnesses
while in prison and that he is anxious to have his day in court before his
health deteriorates further.
A spokesman for Panamanian authorities refused to comment on Posada
Carriles' case late Monday.
U.S.: Cuba Has Bioweapon Program
Mon May 13, 4:56 Pm Et . By Barry Schweid, Ap Diplomatic
Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department held Monday to an assertion that Cuba
has at least a limited biological warfare program and has provided such
biotechnology to other nations.
"We stand by every word of (Undersecretary of State) John Bolton's
speech," Otto Reich, the assistant secretary of state for the Western
Hemisphere, told The Associated Press.
Besides, Reich said, Carl Ford, the assistant secretary of state for
intelligence and research, had given some of the same information to Congress at
a March hearing.
Visiting Cuba, former President Carter said Monday that U.S. officials who
briefed him for the trip had said they had no evidence the communist country was
transferring technology that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction.
Reich said the briefing took place before Bolton's speech.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Cuban leader Fidel
Castro should give his own people the same freedom to travel and speak to
dissidents that he has given Carter on his rare visit there, which began Sunday.
"Why have one standard for a visitor and have a far worse, much more
repressive standard for his own people?" Fleischer said.
Castro has said Carter can go where he pleases and meet with dissidents.
"The Cuban people should be free to travel wherever they want,"
Fleischer said. "The Cuban people should be free to speak however they
want, to worship however they want. ... That's what Fidel Castro should focus
on."
President Bush (news - web sites) plans to deliver a speech on Cuba next
Monday before he goes to Florida to meet with the Cuban community about freedom
and democracy. The speech appears to have been prompted, in part, by Carter's
visit to Cuba.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, asked about Carter's comments while
traveling to a NATO meeting in Iceland, repeated what Bolton had said and added
that this was not a new statement on the part of the Bush administration.
"Cuba has provided dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states,"
Bolton said last week. "We are concerned that such technology could support
BW (biological warfare) programs in those states. ... We call on Cuba to cease
all BW-applicable cooperation with rogue states and to fully comply with all of
its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention."
Carter, the first U.S. head of state in or out of office to visit Cuba since
the Castro-led revolution against a right-wing authoritarian government in 1959,
also met at his hotel with two leading Cuban dissidents for a briefing on human
rights. The opposition leaders called on Carter to promote dialogue between the
two countries.
Carter told Castro and leading Cuban scientists that he had asked White
House, State Department and intelligence officials specifically if Cuba was
transferring technology or other information that could be used in terrorist
activities.
"The purpose of this briefing was for them to share with us any concern
that my government had about possible terrorist activities that were supported
by Cuba," he said. "There were absolutely no allegations made or
questions raised. I asked them specifically on more than one occasion if there
was any evidence that Cuba has been involved in sharing any information to any
other country on Earth that could be used for terrorist purposes.
"The answer from our experts on intelligence was 'no,'" Carter
told a gathering at Cuba's top biotechnology lab.
"These allegations were made, maybe not coincidentally, just before our
visit to Cuba," Carter said of concerns Bolton raised during a May 6
meeting of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group in Washington.
As for countries the U.S. government has described as rogue states, Carter
said Cuban scientists deny they have any technology transfer program with Libya
and that a new program with Iran is not functioning yet. Dr. Luis Herrera,
director of the Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology that Carter
visited, said his country had no program with Iraq, either.
Carter: Cuba Terror Claims False
Mon May 13, 2:51 Pm Et . By John Rice, Associated Press
Writer
HAVANA (AP) - Jimmy Carter said Monday that American officials briefing him
for his trip to Cuba said they had no evidence the communist country was
transferring abroad technology that could be used to make weapons of mass
destruction.
Carter, the first U.S. head of state in or out of office to visit Cuba since
Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s 1959 revolution, also met at his hotel with
two leading Cuban dissidents for a briefing on human rights. The opposition
leaders called on Carter to promote dialogue between the two countries.
Carter, who arrived in Cuba on Sunday, told Castro and this country's top
scientists that he had asked White House, State Department and intelligence
officials specifically if Cuba was transferring technology or other information
that could be used in terrorist activities.
"The purpose of this briefing was for them to share with us any concern
that my government had about possible terrorist activities that were supported
by Cuba," he said. "There were absolutely no allegations made or
questions raised. I asked them specifically on more than one occasion if there
was any evidence that Cuba has been involved in sharing any information to any
other country on Earth that could be used for terrorist purposes.
"The answer from our experts on intelligence was 'no'," Carter
told a gathering at Cuba's top biotechnology lab.
"These allegations were made, maybe not coincidentally, just before our
visit to Cuba," Carter said of concerns Undersecretary of State John Bolton
raised last week during a meeting of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative
research group in Washington.
As for countries the U.S. government has described as rogue states, Carter
said Cuban scientists deny they have any technology transfer program with Libya
and that a new program with Iran is not functioning yet. Dr. Luis Herrera,
director of the Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology that Carter
visited, said his country had no program with Iraq, either.
In his remarks at the time, Bolton said he believes Cuba has at least a
limited offensive biological warfare research and development effort.
"Cuba has provided dual-use biotechnology to other rogue states,"
Bolton said. "We are concerned that such technology could support BW
programs in those states. ... We call on Cuba to cease all BW-applicable
cooperation with rogue states and to fully comply with all of its obligations
under the Biological Weapons Convention."
Havana has denounced Bolton's allegation as a lie and promised Carter "complete
access" to any Cuban biotechnology laboratory.
As Castro sat next to the former American president in an auditorium at the
lab, Cuban scientists told Carter that their transfer contracts with other
countries forbid the use of Cuban technology for anything other than the
vaccines and other lifesaving technology purposes they were designed for.
Answering a question from Carter, Herrera insisted that Cuba monitors the
use of technology transferred to other countries to ensure it is not used for
terrorism.
"I just want to assure myself," Carter said.
Traveling with his wife and a small group of executives and staff from his
Carter Center, the former American president had no biotechnology experts in his
delegation for the visit to the Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
on the outskirts of Havana. Carter has a science background, but in nuclear
technology.
Elizardo Sanchez and Oswaldo Paya, the dissidents who met with Carter, are
both coordinators of Project Varela, a proposed referendum asking voters if they
want guarantees of individual freedoms, an amnesty for political prisoners, the
right to own their business and electoral reforms.
Paya said the men explained the need for dialogue. "Carter understands
the concept very well because he is a man of dialogue."
In Washington, a White House spokesman said Monday that Castro should give
his own people the same freedom to travel and speak to dissidents that he has
given Carter.
"Why have one standard for a visitor and have a far worse, much more
repressive standard for his own people?" Ari Fleischer (news - web sites)
said.
Carter, who did more than any other president to ease tensions with Cuba,
arrived Sunday to the strains of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Castro
turned to his visitor and said, "It's been a long time since that happened."
Sunday night, a dark-suited Castro threw a dinner for Carter and his
delegation at the Palace of the Revolution. The visit gave the Cuban leader a
chance to reach out to Americans, and he used it by symbolically throwing open
the doors of the island to Carter.
Castro said a Carter speech on Tuesday would be broadcast live. "You
can express yourself freely whether or not we agree with part of what you say or
with everything you say," Castro said. "You will have free access to
every place you want to go."
"We shall not take offense at any contact you may wish to make,"
he added, an obvious reference to the dissidents and human rights activists
Carter plans to meet.
Cuban officials have been irritated with some other foreign leaders who have
held similar meetings, but Castro said Carter had proved his sincerity in the
past.
"A man who, in the middle of the Cold War and from the depth of an
ocean of prejudice, misinformation and distrust ... dared to try to improve
relations between both countries deserves respect."
Speaking in Spanish, Carter said he hoped "to discuss ideals that
Rosalynn and I hold dear ... peace, human rights, democracy and the alleviation
of suffering." | 
