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Posted on Wed, Jun. 25, 2003 in
The Miami Herald.
European panel: Cuba's recent actions 'harmful'
BRUSSELS - (EFE) -- The European Commission considers Cuba's ratification of
the lengthy sentences imposed on dissidents a sign that Cuban leaders do not
understand the damage that suppression of free speech does to the island's
international image.
At this point, Cuba's Supreme Court has upheld the first 50 of 75 sentences
the lower courts imposed on as many dissidents three months ago.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the European Commission said the court action
constitutes "a confirmation that the Cuban regime has still not understood
that [its behavior] is very harmful to its international image and its relations
with the European Union.''
Governments and international organizations have condemned Fidel Castro's
crackdown earlier this year on the 75 opposition members sentenced to prison
terms ranging from six to 28 years.
Meanwhile, in Havana, Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque
unveiled a new book on Tuesday about the island's dissidents, saying its
compilation of documents and interviews with state security agents proved the
Cuban opposition was fabricated by the U.S. government.
Titled The Dissidents, the book is Cuba's latest defense of its crackdown.
The book ''comes to illuminate, it clarifies how the so-called dissidents
came to be,'' Pérez Roque told several hundred government leaders
gathered on the Plaza of the Revolution. "They did not emerge as a natural
process within Cuban society.''
Two Cuban U.S. residents accused of espionage and held in Cuba
By Oscar Corral. Ocorral@herald.com.
A family torn apart by Cuba's cryptic accusations of espionage is appealing
to the media and the American government for help in freeing their imprisoned
relatives on the island.
Three months ago, Maria Cardoso and her husband Arcel took their two
daughters, Lizandra Fernandez, 15, and Ashley Cardoso, 7, on a two-week trip to
Camaguey to visit relatives. By the end of their vacation, Maria and Arcel were
in Cuban custody and their daughters were in house arrest in Camaguey.
The two girls were eventually sent back to Miami, where they are living with
an uncle.
Cuba has accused their parents of espionage, a charge linked to an
anti-Castro letter that security agents found on Maria as she tried to board her
flight back to Miami in April.
''We just want them home,'' Lizandra told The Herald Wednesday. "Ashley
is having a very hard time. She is very emotional.''
Miami relatives say the accusations are unfounded and a complete
fabrication. They say Cuba's government has refused to let them send a lawyer or
get any information on the charges. | 
