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The Miami
Herald, May 20, 2002.
President Bush Sets Tough Conditions for Easing Cuba Embargo
By Tim Johnson. tjohnson@krwashington.com
WASHINGTON - President Bush set tough conditions on Monday for easing a
trade embargo of Cuba, saying his administration will do so only if Cuba's
''tyrant'' moves to hold free and fair elections and adopts market reforms.
''Meaningful reform on Cuba's part will be answered with a meaningful
American response,'' Bush said in a White House speech laying out his views on
Cuba.
But Bush insisted that his administration will not budge on lifting a
four-decade-old embargo unless Cuban leader Fidel Castro allows a political
opposition to emerge, frees political prisoners, improves human rights
conditions and allows outside monitors in to observe 2003 elections.
''All elections in Castro's Cuba have been a fraud,'' Bush said in the
20-minute speech before several hundred prominent Cuban Americans, diplomats and
legislators in the East Room of the White House.
Bush used stronger language in describing the Castro regime than any U.S.
president in more than a decade, receiving vigorous applause.
While Cuba's independence 100 years ago brought visionaries to the fore,
Bush said, "that legacy of courage has been insulted by a tyrant who uses
brutal methods to enforce a bankrupt vision.
"That legacy has been debased by a relic from another era, who turned a
beautiful island into a prison.''
President to reveal new plan to help Cubans
Scholarships, mail, aid money on list
By Tim Johnson. tjohnson@krwashington.com
WASHINGTON - In a major policy statement this morning, President Bush will
announce several steps to ease the hardships faced daily by Cubans and shore up
administration efforts to break Fidel Castro's 40-year hold on the island.
Among the measures:
• Offering scholarships for study in the United States to family
members of political prisoners and to Cuban students and professionals trying to
build independent civil institutions.
• Negotiating for direct mail service between Cuba and the United
States. Mail must now go through a third country.
• Providing direct assistance to Cubans through nongovernmental
organizations, sidestepping the Castro regime's role in assistance.
• Facilitating and permitting humanitarian assistance by American
religious and other nongovernmental groups.
Following his speech at the White House, Bush, accompanied by prominent
Cuban-American political leaders, will fly to Miami to join a celebration at the
James L. Knight Center of the 100th anniversary of Cuba's independence. He will
also attend an exclusive Republican fundraiser for his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush.
In the Washington speech, titled Initiative for a New Cuba, Bush will, as
widely expected, reaffirm the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba and challenge Castro
to move his regime toward ''a fully functioning democratic society,'' a senior
administration official said.
Bush will also uphold a ban on most U.S. citizen travel to Cuba, the
official said, insisting on anonymity. The travel ban was defied by tens of
thousands of Americans last year who risked heavy federal fines.
The president's initiative will challenge Castro to play by the same
democratic rules as every other nation in the Western Hemisphere.
''That means freedom to organize, no political prisoners, access to the
media [for candidates)] and international monitors for elections,'' the official
said.
SPEECH EXCERPTS
Cuba's National Assembly holds elections next year, and Bush will encourage
Havana to ''offer Cuban voters the substance of democracy, not just its hollow,
empty forms,'' according to excerpts from the speech provided by the White House
on Sunday evening.
''Opposition parties should have the freedom to organize, assemble and speak
-- with equal access to the airwaves,'' the excerpt sheet states. Cuba must open
up to "objective, outside observers.''
In a warning to Capitol Hill, where a growing number of legislators want to
loosen the four-decade-old embargo, the president will pledge not to ease the
pressure on the Castro regime unless it moves toward dramatic structural
democratic reform, the official said.
''We will not lift the embargo until such time as the Cuban government holds
free and fair elections,'' the official said.
The speech excerpts state:
"Without major steps by Cuba to open up its political system and its
economic system, trade with Cuba will not help the Cuban people. It will merely
enrich Castro and his cronies and prop up the dictatorship.''
RENEWED DEBATE
Bush's initiative also calls on the Cuban government to allow independent
trade unions and to end discriminatory practices against Cuban workers.
''Full normalization of relations with Cuba -- diplomatic recognition, open
trade and a robust aid program -- will only be possible when Cuba has a new
government that is fully democratic, when the rule of law is respected, and when
the human rights of all Cubans are fully protected,'' the excerpts state.
Jimmy Carter's recent trip to Cuba, growing debate about the island in
Congress and the administration's policy review all have elevated discussion
about Cuba to new levels.
Earlier Sunday, prominent leaders of the pro- and anti-embargo movements
squared off on ABC's This Week news show, offering sharply different views on
how to topple the hemisphere's last strongman.
DOUBLE STANDARD?
The U.S. government employs a double standard by trading with one-party
communist regimes in China and Vietnam, affirming that commerce may open the way
for political freedoms, while shunning Cuba, said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a
leader of a new 40-member congressional bloc seeking an easing of tensions with
Cuba.
''We concede that if we engage in China, North Korea, Vietnam, that we can
bring them closer to democracy and a more rapid transition. Yet in Cuba, we say
the opposite is true,'' Flake said.
Cuba's leader ''is a dictator,'' responded Jorge Mas Santos, head of the
Cuban American National Foundation, a leading exile group fighting to increase
pressure on the Castro regime.
''We cannot appease a dictator, a man who leads a country that's on the
terrorist list,'' he said, referring to a State Department list of seven nations
believed to sponsor global terrorism.
Mas Santos rejected the lifting of a U.S. travel ban to Cuba, which has been
largely off-limits to U.S. citizens for four decades.
HOTEL SITUATION
Cuba's hotels and tourist facilities are segregated, Mas Santos said, "similar
to the apartheid system that was in South Africa.''
Flake, for his part, said the U.S. government is lenient on Cuban Americans
who flout laws restricting them to one trip a year to Cuba or send more than
$100 a month to relatives on the island. He said Cuba is receiving $700 million
a year, much of it in ''excess remittances'' by Cuban Americans.
Bush visit today sign of exiles' influence
Cuba to be theme of president's day
By Carol Rosenberg. crosenberg@herald.com
When George W. Bush steps onto a stage in downtown Miami today to celebrate
100 years of Cuba's independence from Spain, he will be following in the
footsteps of Ronald Reagan's historic pilgrimage to this Cuban exile stronghold
in 1983.
And, to the delight of some here, Bush's message will be nearly identical to
that of Reagan, whose unwavering anti-communism demonized Fidel Castro as a
dictator.
'My message to the Cuban people is, 'Demand freedom, and you've got a
president who stands with you,' '' Bush declared in the Oval Office last week.
Yet, as the trappings of this trip illustrate, much has changed since Reagan
charmed Little Havana with Viva Cuba Libre and Cuba sí, Castro no.
For one thing, some Cuban Americans are now more willing to publicly
question the successes of the U.S. embargo against Cuba and forge ties with
island dissidents, both taboos at the time of Reagan's visit.
Bush will also be accompanied by a number of prominent Cuban-American
politicians who were not on the national stage when Reagan was in office. And
the president will address an exile community that has transformed its
anti-Castro fervor into enhanced political clout in Washington.
Cuban Americans may still represent 18 percent of South Florida's population
-- 701,512 in the 2000 Census, compared with 586,479 in 1980 -- but by economic,
civic and national political measures, the community today is far more
influential, diverse and confident than the one Reagan visited 19 years ago.
Despite dissent within the community, advocates of a tough line toward
Castro have persuaded the Bush administration to also take a tough stance. Bush
arrives fresh from making a strong statement of support for the embargo, days
after Jimmy Carter's trip to Havana.
Cuba will be the theme of the day, starting this morning with the unveiling
of the administration's new anti-Castro policy at an East Room event in the
White House.
Expected to be at Bush's side are some key Cuban-American Republicans:
Housing Secretary Mel Martinez of Orlando, Assistant Secretary of State Otto
Reich, and U.S. Reps. Lincoln Díaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, both
of Miami.
The entourage then boards Air Force One for a star-studded celebration at
the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami, capped by an exclusive Republican
Party fundraiser at the home of real-estate developer Armando Codina.
The price of admission: a $25,000 soft-money donation to the Republican
Party of Florida for dinner with the 10th U.S. president to serve during
Castro's regime.
By contrast, Reagan ate the $3.75 chicken-and-moros lunch special at Little
Havana's La Esquina de Tejas and made a speech at the Dade County Auditorium in
a two-hour, 42-minute visit.
Back in 1983, Cuban Americans saw themselves on the margin of national
politics, still reeling from the 1980 Mariel boat crisis that brought more than
125,000 Cubans to South Florida. So it was Jorge Mas Canosa, founder of the
Cuban American National Foundation, who introduced the president to exiles at
the 2,429-seat Dade County Auditorium on Flagler Street.
GOVERNOR ON HAND
This time, Bush will be introduced by his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in
a campaign-style event at the 4,645-seat Knight Center.
Then, the music was Guantanamera and there were more than a few paramilitary
men in the crowd. No Cuban Americans served in key national roles. Today, Gloria
Estefan and Jon Secada are among those who have been asked to entertain, amid a
behind-the-scenes scramble for tickets from Spanish-language radio stations and
Cuban exile groups.
''In those days, it was all Jorge Mas Canosa,'' recalls former Miami Mayor
Maurice Ferré, a Democrat and Puerto Rican by background who was at the
Reagan visit. "Today it's much more sophisticated, a more Americanized and
much stronger community. You're also talking about dollars -- big-time
fundraising, big bucks.''
The group that Mas Canosa built has in fact splintered since his death in
1997. His son, Jorge Mas Santos, is at the helm, still a popular pundit for the
national press on Cuban policy questions, notably during the recent Carter trip.
But members of the rival Cuban Liberty Council offered first to host the
president, and initially reserved the Miami-Dade County Auditorium for today's
event. Former foundation spokeswoman Ninoska Pérez Castellón and
others created the council, considered more hard-line than the foundation, after
differences arose over whether Miami should welcome the Latin Grammies here,
among other issues.
The Secret Service moved the event downtown after inspecting the hall and
concluding that it could take control of the venue more quickly. In the end, the
White House is hosting the event -- not any specific local group -- although
representatives of various exile movements have been invited to sit on the
stage.
In a sense, the venue and the itinerary reflect the maturation and
institutionalization of Cuba policy and politics.
SINCE THE COLD WAR
''In the 1980s, the Cold War was still on. We were the fair-haired example
of anti-communism. Now we're part of the mix,'' said Joe Garcia, executive
director of the Cuban American National Foundation.
With claims by both Republicans and Democrats that it was the Cuban voting
bloc that made the difference for President Bush in Florida, South Florida's
Cubans now boast that they can make or break a national election.
''The perception of that power now is real,'' Garcia said. "Now Bush
and every presidential candidate is aware of the power that they represent.''
Miami City Commissioner Tomás Regalado added: "Who can dispute
that the Cuban vote elected President Bush?''
The fundraiser itself is not unusual. During his eight-year presidency, Bill
Clinton frequently visited South Florida for big-ticket events at private homes.
And, like the current president, he invested in the anti-Castro institutions
that have become a Miami cottage industry with aid to dissident activities in
Cuba.
A centerpiece is Radio and TV Martí, which beams anti-Castro
broadcasts to Cuba from South Florida. Reagan first raised the idea during his
1983 visit. Successive Republican and Democratic governments have poured tens of
millions of dollars into the venture, which moved to Miami from Washington in
1998, and have also spent millions of dollars to support dissident activities.
''Bush is going to say that he is not going to change the line, he wants to
reach out to the Cuban people. What else can you do?'' said University of Miami
Cuba expert Jaime Suchlicki.
Suchlicki is in charge of one project that benefited from Bush's largess.
His school received a $1 million federal grant recently to study post-Castro
models for transition to democracy.
The post-Castro vision has also changed through the two decades. When Reagan
visited, the focus was on ''the freedom fighters'' and the notion that their
activities could perhaps topple an unfriendly regime.
Today, said Suchlicki, there is no national consensus for covert operations
and Bush policymakers have been left with few ideas beyond keeping a lid on the
embargo and building on Clinton's ideas of people-to-people contacts with the
island.
''What else can you do?'' he said. "You're not going to send troops and
Cubans to invade Cuba.''
And in that regard, Regalado has detected a change of attitude on the
Cuban-American street. ''Spanish radio has not changed its tune'' since the
Reagan days, he said, and still offers a constant stream of anti-Castroism. But
there has been a softening toward the idea of trying to establish ties with an
authentic dissident movement on the island.
LESS SUSPICION
''People have become more open to the opposition in Cuba,'' he said. "Several
years ago, the people were more suspicious of the opposition.''
Another area of softening is a willingness to examine the four-decade
embargo of Cuba, which once served as the mantra and measure of success of Cuban
policy. ''In the 1980s, there were very few voices criticizing the embargo,''
Suchlicki said.
But it is no longer the main thrust of the anti-Castro movement because
Clinton codified it with the Helms-Burton Act.
Senate action sought to back Cuban dissent
By Elinor J. Brecher. ebrecher@herald.com
As a way of providing ''political cover from the world community to some
very courageous people,'' U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson plans to introduce a Senate
resolution Tuesday supporting the Varela Project, a daring petition drive by
Cuban dissidents seeking democratic changes through the communist nation's
constitution.
Cuban President Fidel Castro, ''as a dictator, will do what he wants, but
this is the first time that we've seen [Cubans] step forward and say that things
have got to change,'' Nelson said Sunday following a private luncheon at the
Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.
The nucleus of the Varela Project, named for Padre Felix Varela, a 19th
century Cuban priest and independence crusader, is an 11,000-signature document
seeking a constitutionally sanctioned referendum on civil liberties, freedom of
speech, amnesty for political prisoners, private business development and
electoral reform in Cuba.
Nelson's resolution calls the Varela Project ''a step in moving Cuba toward
achieving international standards for human rights,'' and urges President Bush
to "pursue an action-oriented policy of directly assisting the Cuban people
and independent organizations to strengthen the forces of change and improve
human rights in Cuba.''
'BRAVERY' PRAISED
Nelson figures on broad, bipartisan support for the resolution, which also
praises the ''bravery'' of project organizer Oswaldo Paya and all those who
affixed their names and addresses to the petition.
In contrast to former President Jimmy Carter -- who addressed Castro and
students at the University of Havana last week -- Nelson opposes lifting the
trade embargo against Cuba.
Still, Nelson lauded Carter for alerting most Americans and Cubans to the
little-known Varela Project. He said the extraordinary attention paid to the
former president's visit "will accelerate the process of overturning Cuba's
totalitarian dictatorship.''
Nelson said that he, too, would like to visit Cuba, mainly to meet with
dissidents and visit orphanages.
''But [the Cuban government] may not give me a visa,'' he said.
Nelson, who lunched with a small group of airline-industry and tourism
officials concerned with post-Sept. 11 airport operations, later addressed a
gathering of South Florida black leaders at Hollywood's Diplomat Hotel.
MIAMI EVENT
Nelson and fellow Florida Democrat Sen. Bob Graham, are scheduled to appear
in downtown Miami today with the president to mark a century of Cuba's
independence from Spain.
A member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees,
Nelson also criticized the Bush White House on Sunday for failing to share
pre-Sept. 11 intelligence about terrorist hijacking plots with the American
people. Bush has said the intelligence wasn't specific.
While careful not to blame Bush for the World Trade Center and Pentagon
attacks, Nelson deplored the ''colossal intelligence failure'' that he said
enabled conspirators to carry them out.
He said Congress is ''beginning'' to adequately support ''human
intelligence'' operations underfunded since the Cold War ended.
A century of spirit: Key West festivities mark Cuban independence
BY JENNIFER BABSON. jbabson@herald.com.
KEY WEST - South Florida's celebration of the Cuban centennial began
Saturday afternoon as hundreds of exiles gathered in a tiny Key West cemetery to
watch men on horseback toting U.S. flags, Cuban flags and a torch meant to
illuminate freedom and the persistence of the Cuban spirit.
On Monday, the torch and its bearers -- members of the Caballeria Mambisa --
will take the flame to Miami to light the way for a flurry of celebrations
honoring Monday's 100th anniversary of Cuba's independence.
No, they won't be galloping up U.S. 1 on horseback. The horses, caballeros
and torch will be loaded into trucks and driven north to Miami.
''I don't know exactly how that's going to work out,'' chuckled Ibel
Aguilera, whose husband Carlos and brother-in-law are both in the Mambisa. Their
great-grandfather fought in the war for independence from the back of a horse.
At the center of the free Key West festivities -- which included ballet
dancers, academic symposia, a scheduled telephone session with Cuban dissidents
and a massive musical block party Saturday night -- was the San Carlos
Institute, revered by many as the cradle of Cuban independence.
''The whole celebration here is really a celebration of the Cuban spirit,''
said Rafael Peñalver, president of the institute. "Despite the
difficulties of the past 100 years and the trauma of revolution and betrayal and
separation and exile, the Cuban spirit prevails.''
The Saturday celebration was also a reunion of sorts for members of a Miami
Cuban community whose democratic forebears first laid roots in Cayo Hueso, or
Key West.
At least eight busloads of revelers left Miami in the early-morning hours to
make the 170-mile trek south.
The seeds of José Martí's legacy were first sown here more
than a century before, among cigar makers who transformed Key West into
Florida's first major Cuban community, which elected the state's first
Cuban-American legislator in the late 1800s.
''Key West was like Miami is now,'' said Dr. Alberto S. Bustamante, chairman
of the cultural group Cuban National Heritage.
Next to him was Letty Hidalgo-Gato, whose great-grandfather, Eduardo H.
Gato, turned his love of fragrant tobacco into one of Key West's most successful
cigar manufacturing enterprises -- complete with its own residential enclave
called "Gatoville.''
''It's very emotional,'' she said. "The symbolism. . . .''
At the center of Key West's Cuban community was the San Carlos, founded in
1871.
It was there, in 1892, that Martí spoke from a balcony, rousing the
passions of those who would underwrite the strategies and finances of the
struggle for independence.
The echoes of that struggle weighed on some Saturday -- standing 90 miles
from the island that for some is only a memory. Key West is the closest many
have come geographically to their homeland for decades.
'SO VERY SAD'
''I get chills,'' said Maria Alvarez, 44, of Miami, tears rolling down her
face. "It's so very sad. I came in the 1970s. I don't ever want to go back
until we have a free Cuba.''
The themes of rebirth and rebuilding have shaped the San Carlos since its
original inception as the San Carlos Patriotic and Educational Institute -- or,
as Martí dubbed it: ''La Casa Cuba.'' Children studied Spanish and
arithmetic there during the day; their parents outlined the dream of a Cuban
republic in the evening.
The Great Fire of 1886 destroyed much of Key West and with it the Fleming
Street building where the institute was then housed.
In 1919, the San Carlos was flattened again -- this time by a hurricane. By
1924, it had been rebuilt on Duval Street at its present site from a design by
renowned Cuban architect Francisco Centurion.
Castro attempted a Key West repeat of Martí's historic exhortation to
action.
''He tried in 1956 to raise money and wanted to speak from the balcony and
was told, no way. He ended up going to Stock Island,'' Peñalver said.
The Cuban government underwrote about $80,000 toward the building's
reconstruction in the early 20th century and kept a consulate office in a room
at the San Carlos -- contributing about $200 a month to the building's
maintenance -- until the United States broke relations in 1961, according to Peñalver.
FALLS INTO DISREPAIR
Eleven years later, the San Carlos school closed. Over the next 13 years,
the building fell into disrepair. Squatters camped inside, jagged glass
protruded from windows, and it was ready to be razed. Part of what had been a
grand facade fell upon a passing tourist, who sued for damages.
In 1985, Peñalver and others launched a $3.2 million restoration
effort that has slowly restored the San Carlos to its past grandeur. Concerts,
film screenings, art exhibits and cultural workshops are now held at the Duval
Street building.
''The San Carlos has been like the Phoenix, it always comes back to light
the way for the Cuban people,'' Peñalver said.
"For people who have lost their homeland, a place like the San Carlos
takes on a particular significance. Sometimes they sit in the theater for hours,
and they just look at the flag, and you see tears rolling down their faces. It's
that special connection to home.''
Carter says dissidents reject U.S. financial aid
They differ on U.S. embargo
By Nancy San Martin. nsanmartin@herald.com. Posted on Sat,
May. 18, 2002
Cuba's dissident community overwhelmingly opposes any financial support from
the U.S. government and at least half would like to see a loosening of the
4-decade-old economic embargo, according to a report that former President Jimmy
Carter will submit to the Bush administration today.
''They were unanimous in believing that the restraints on medicine, on food
for humans and feed for livestock should be lifted, that Cuba should be able to
buy all of these materials that they could afford,'' Carter told The Herald
Friday in a telephone interview after arriving in the United States following
his landmark visit to Cuba.
Carter, who met with at least 35 of Cuba's most prominent dissidents during
a five-day trip that ended Friday, said they were split on the embargo: Half
thought it should be lifted and half thought it should be retained as a pressure
tool on the Castro government.
But the dissidents were unanimous, ''and very strong in their belief,'' that
there should be no aid coming to them, directly or indirectly from the U.S.
government, Carter said, adding that it would put a stigma or a condemnation on
them as being ''subservient'' to Washington.
The ''trip report'' will be received by President Bush just as he prepares
to travel to Miami on Monday to promote a toughened policy on Cuba. Bush has
said that Carter's call for lifting the embargo -- and his public contradiction
of a U.S. accusation that Cuba is involved in sharing information with hostile
nations that could be used for biowarfare -- did not complicate his policy
toward Cuba.
Carter said Bush's hardened resolve likely would not shift any time soon,
but was hopeful the increasing number of lawmakers who push for a softening in
U.S.-Cuba relations ultimately would succeed.
'OPEN DOOR'
''The choice of leaders that President Bush has made in the State
Department, and otherwise, don't indicate any flexibility,'' Carter said in an
interview on CNN. "But there is an open door in our country . . . for
change, regardless of the attitude of the White House . . . There is a Congress
that has equal constitutional authority in the United States.''
''My hope is, and my belief is, that both sides [the U.S. and Cuba] are
exploring for ways to open up some space, without abandoning their own deep-felt
philosophies and commitments of the past,'' Carter told The Herald.
EXPECTATIONS
Though no one, including Carter, expected the unprecedented trip to produce
sweeping results, some Cuba watchers described it as ''an important incremental
incident,'' said Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a
liberal Washington-based think tank.
''In the same way the pope's trip [in 1998] left a legacy behind in terms of
more space for the church, this trip produced a certain amount of goodwill,''
Birns said. "It provided a gradual expansion of pluralism within Cuba . . .
and gives [opponents of current U.S. policy] legitimacy.''
Joe García, executive director of the Cuban American National
Foundation, said Carter managed to do "what no Cuban has been able to do in
43 years and that is speak about democracy, human rights and civil liberty.''
''That is an accomplishment that will have repercussions in Cuba,'' García
said.
Carter declined to reveal details of private discussions he had with Castro
and other high-ranking government officials, but said they touched on topics
such as human rights and democracy.
He said Bush would receive "a report on everything that we did, the
essence of the conversations and my analysis and my opinion about how to
approach the U.S.-Cuban relationship.''
Carter, who opposes the embargo, said he was pleased with the trip and
particularly with the ''unrestricted'' access he was given to publicly criticize
the Cuban government and spend time with Castro's political opponents.
''All of our expectations were exceeded,'' Carter said. "The fact that
Granma [the government newspaper] reported every word that I said . . . was a
surprise to me and it was not something that the Cubans had promised in
advance.''
Asked why he thought Castro allowed the unexpected move, Carter said: "That's
still a mystery to me and to all the experts with whom I've discussed this with.
Nobody quite understands why the Castro government decided to publish the entire
transcript.''
Carter who visited Cuba while on vacation in the 1950s said that what upset
him most on this trip "were the stories from the dissident leaders, many of
whom had been incarcerated for expressing their criticisms publicly.''
Carter also said he was doubtful that Castro would loosen his grip on power.
As a sign that things had reverted back, Castro -- who had been wearing
tailored suits and casual guayabera shirts since Carter's arrival May 12 --
opted for his traditional olive-green military fatigues Friday as he waved
goodbye at the Jose Martí airport in Havana to the most prominent
American to visit Cuba since Castro took control in 1959. | 
