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CUBA
NEWS
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U.S. Envoy Says No Plan to Attack Cuba
By ANITA SNOW, Associated
Press Writer
HAVANA, 20 - America's chief diplomat in
Havana issued a statement Friday to emphasize
that no U.S. military action is planned
against Cuba.
The statement by James Cason, chief of
the U.S. Interests Section, was distributed
to international journalists in Cuba one
week after President Fidel Castro challenged
President Bush to be clear about how Washington
plans to realize a transition to democracy
on the island.
For nearly a year, Castro and other officials
have publicly expressed concerns that the
U.S. military could attack the communist
nation.
In a public speech, Castro wondered aloud
if Washington was planning to kill him.
Last month, Castro directly accused Bush
of plotting with Cuban exiles in Miami to
assassinate him.
U.S. officials talk about a transition,
"but how would they make this transition?"
Castro asked in his Feb. 15 speech, suggesting
that "the only way is to proceed with
an illegal assassination using the scores
of techniques they have available."
In his statement, Cason said that President
Bush has repeatedly emphasized that Washington
seeks a peaceful transition to democracy
to Cuba brought about by Cubans.
He also quoted Secretary of State Colin
Powell as saying last spring that Washington
did not need to take military action against
Cuba, because Castro's regime was "an
anachronism and would eventually fall of
its own weight."
Cason said the Cuban government was "fabricating
the threat of a U.S. military attack to
engender fear in the Cuban population, to
spend scarce resources to maintain large
military, security and intelligence structures,
and to justify extreme measures in a vain
attempt to crush Cuba's nascent independent
civil society."
US Olympic women's team heads for Cuba
JACKSONVILLE, United States, 19 (AFP) -
The United States Olympic women's basketball
team began training workouts in advance
of next week's trip to political rival Cuba
for three exhibition games starting Tuesday.
The Americans, who have named nine members
of their roster for August's Athens Games,
will play against the 2003 Pan American
Games champions three days in a row and
conduct a final practice session before
returning home.
"I think it's imperative that we go
out and play against international teams
in the spring," US coach Van Chancellor
said. "We have to get our team together,
but we also have to play against those types
of players."
Chancellor, who also guides the Houston
Comets of the Women's National Basketball
Association, said a similar training trip
to Australia two years ago before the World
Championships in China was crucial to that
team's success.
"I thought our trip to Australia before
we played in the World Championship in China
was invaluable," he said. "It
taught us what to do, how we needed to adjust
to the international style of basketball.
"I think this training will allow
us to do that, while at the same time we'll
be bringing players together to help us
complete this team."
The US team includes WNBA players Sue Bird,
Tamika Catchings, Lisa Leslie, Shannon Johnson,
DeLisha Milton-Jones, Katie Smith, Dawn
Staley, Tina Thompson and Sheryl Swoopes.
Coaches will consider hopefuls Swin Cash,
Ruth Riley, Cheryl Ford and Nikki Teasley
for the final three spots during the Cuba
trip.
DeLay: Evil Will Not Stand in Baghdad,
or Havana; Honors Victims of Communism in
Memorial Cubano Address
MIAMI, Feb. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) today
delivered an impassioned speech denouncing
Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s terrorist
regime and honoring thousands of victims
of communist violence and oppression at
el Memorial Cubano in Miami, Fla.
"Humanity has known it by many names
-- Nazism, fascism, Communism, terrorism.
But it is one and the same evil, inhuman
ideology -- no matter what language it speaks,
or what uniform it wears," DeLay said.
"The war on terror is a war against
evil, and it is therefore a war against
Fidel Castro," DeLay said. "Freedom
and terrorism cannot coexist, and evil will
not stand. And if it will not stand in Baghdad,
Kabul, Tehran, or Ramallah, then it will
not stand in Havana."
DeLay joined Florida congressmen Lincoln
Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Mario
Diaz-Balart, along with members of the Cuban
Memorial Project, an assembly of various
organizations, groups, and individuals from
the Cuban exile community, to denounce Fidel
Castro's regime.
"If the war on terror is going to
be won, it must be won in this hemisphere
first, and if it is going to be won in this
hemisphere, then Castro must go," DeLay
said. "As long as George W. Bush is
in the White House and I am the Majority
Leader in the House, the United States will
never lift the embargo while Castro remains
in power."
The weekend gathering of Cuban-Americans
is hosted at the onset of the 109th anniversary
of "Grito de Baire," the call
to arms and declaration of independence
by Jose Marti. It is also the eighth anniversary
of the attack on civilian Brothers to the
Rescue planes and the first anniversary
of Castro's new crackdown, which landed
75 innocent advocates for justice in prison.
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