CUBA NEWS
January 7, 2003

State Department Briefing about Cuba

STATE DEPARTMENT REGULAR BRIEFING
BRIEFER: RICHARD BOUCHER, DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN
12:20 P.M. EST, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2004

Q Cuba says the U.S. has suspended migration talks. Can you tell us why?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, that's not exactly the way it is.

Q Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: We have told Cuba that we're ready to go to talks when they're ready to discuss the serious issues that need to be discussed. Unfortunately, the Cubans have continued to refuse to discuss the issues that we've identified.

We think the talks need to provide a forum to discuss a productive agenda, including a commitment to substantive discussion of five Cuban impediments to safe, legal and orderly migration. Cuba has long refused to engage on these matters:

Specifically, Cuba's obligation, under the accords, to issue exit permits to all qualified migrants. It's a matter of basic fairness.

The need for Cuba to meet its commitment to cooperate in holding a new registration for the lottery from which two-thirds of all legal migrants are selected.

The need for deeper Cuban port for repatriations by the Coast Guard, to ensure the safety of life at sea.

Cuba's responsibility under the accords to again permit U.S. interest section personnel to travel to monitor returned migrants, reversing a policy that was put into place pending the - place during the regime's March 2003 crackdown on civil society.

And fifth, Cuba's obligation, under international law, to accept the return of Cuban nationals determined to be excludable from the United States.

We have raised each of these issues in at least the last six sessions of the talks, and Cuba's refused to discuss them substantively. In some cases, including as recently as October 24th, 2003, Cuba has subsequently informed us by diplomatic note that it rejected any discussion of such issues in the talks.

Consequently, when the Cuban government proposed January 8th for the next round of migration talks, we determined that given the Cuban government's expressed unwillingness to engage on these five most important issues, that another round of talks at this point did not serve our interest.

Although there's nothing in the accord that requires a regular schedule of meetings, the United States is willing to reconsider the scheduling of the next round of migration talks when Cuba informs us that the -- informs us that it agrees to a productive agenda, including a commitment to the discuss these five issues.

Q I'm sorry. I don't -- you know, I'm not familiar with the background of this. Is this -- is the U.S. position the culmination of Cuba's -- what should I say? -- Cuba's stance in previous rounds, or is this something new? And also, although I wouldn't be surprised at your answer --

MR. BOUCHER: These are --

Q -- the Cubans say this is politics; it's the election season, and it's a time to get tough on Cuba.

MR. BOUCHER: It's a time to have safe, legal migration from Cuba. That's not an election issue, that's an issue of humanitarian concern. That's an issue of concern for the people who want to come here. That's a matter of concern for the people who lose their lives at sea. It's time for Cuba to reverse steps it took last March to make it harder for us to make sure that -- to visit people who might have been repatriated for Cuba. It's time for Cuba to agree to safe repatriations to a deeper-water port. It's time for Cuba to open up the system that is established, that's supposed to be working fairly for everybody, to make sure it does work fairly for all Cubans who might want to come here.

These are issues -- in response to the first half of your question -- we've raised before, that we've raised before in these talks with the Cubans, which the Cubans have either refused to discuss during the meeting and then at times reiterated after the meeting they refused to discuss them. So the point is not just to have a meeting; the point is to deal with the serious issues involved to try to make sure that people who do want to come here can come here in a safe and orderly way.

Q Is the right word "suspension," "postponement"; but certainly not "cancellation," right?

MR. BOUCHER: The discussions are not scheduled at this point because the Cubans refuse to discuss the issues that need to be discussed for this to be a safe and orderly system.

Q Richard, (when was ?) the last round?

MR. BOUCHER: (Refers to briefing materials.) I, of course, don't have that with me. But I'll check for you.

Q It was going to be every six months. (Off mike.)

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know exactly when --

Q And are you aware if your side or the Cuban side has ever turned down a proposed -- have you guys ever done this before, basically said thanks for the offer, but --

MR. BOUCHER: I think at times we've had, you know, differences over scheduling, difference over timing.

Q Yeah, but have these five issues ever forced the -- whatever you're going to -- postponement or cancellation, whatever the term is, has this ever happened before for these meetings, for these reasons?

MR. BOUCHER: Whether talks have been put off before because issues --

Q For these reasons.

MR. BOUCHER: -- these issues were not going to be discussed? Again, I don't know. I have to check. I'm sorry.

Q Do you know when they sent you the note that you referred to?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, the note that I cited was October 24th.

That was an example where they came back to us even after a round of talks and said it rejected any discussion of such issues in these talks. In the present instance, when they proposed January 8th, we told them that we were willing to have the meeting if they were willing to discuss these five important issues, and they then refused, and that's why the talks aren't being scheduled at this time.

Q So -- and do you know when they did that?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll have to check on that too.

Q Well, when did they propose the January 8th date?

MR. BOUCHER: Okay, I'll answer all the when questions too. I'm sorry, we did the policy without the who, what, when, where and how, as is our wont.

Q On Cuba? Recently, Secretary Powell has been alluding in interviews, and even the president came out on the record saying that the U.S. would be trying to do more to work towards a free Cuba. Can you talk about some of the efforts that the U.S. has been taking in the last few months above and beyond what you've done traditionally to forge a free Cuba?

MR. BOUCHER: I think you have to look at the president's announcement last fall, when he indicated that we were going to move forward on the commission to study how the United States could relate to a free Cuba, relate to a post-Castro Cuba, and what we might do to encourage that prospect. The other Cabinet member involved was Secretary Martinez. He has, of course, left the government at this point, but that commission will continue its work and will produce a report by mid-year. So that is being looked at.

But at the same time, the president also announced a number of steps to tighten up on some of the loopholes that we felt benefited the Cuban government in terms of cashflow and other arrangements and to make sure that the rules that we did have regarding travel and trade with Cuba were being respected. So it was a series of steps that the president announced last fall that really embody the initiative that we've taken.

The president also announced earlier in a basic
policy framework an initiative with Cuba, which is when Cuba's ready to change, we're ready to change our policy. If they have elections, like other countries have done, and allow -- respond to the will of the people who've signed petitions and otherwise looked for more democracy and a right to decide their own government, then of course we would adjust our policy as well.

Okay, yeah?

Q The Argentinean government --

Q Still on Cuba, if I could.

MR. BOUCHER: Okay.

Q The -- do we know the number of exit permits that haven't been issued for those who have been approved to travel to the United States?

And secondly, wouldn't you say that over the course of the 10 years or so of the migration agreement that the -- it has, by and large, been a very positive thing that has in some ways avoided unchecked immigration?

MR. BOUCHER: I certainly would agree with that. That's why we wanted this, that's why we want to make it work and we want to make it work well. This is an agreement that helps people come here without risking their lives at sea, that has probably saved many lives over the course of the years. And that's why it's important for us to see it work properly, for it to be open fairly to other Cubans, for it to be implemented in a way that doesn't risk people's lives when they're returned; implemented in a way that lets us check on people. And some of these steps that Cuba has taken, one I cited is part of the crackdown in March of last year, have made it more difficult to operate this system properly.

As far as the actual number of permits issued and people they haven't allowed to leave, again, it's something I'll have to check on.

Q And when you say the crackdown in March, you're not talking about the crackdown on dissidents --

MR. BOUCHER: Well, as part of the crackdown on dissidents, they also restricted the ability of our Interest Section to go out and meet people and talk to people and check on people, which has always been part of the program in the past.

Okay, ma'am? Argentina.

Q Yes. Argentinian government has reacted very harshly to the -- Roger Noriega's comments yesterday in the Council of the Americas about their policy towards Cuba. Do you have any reactions about
that?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't think we're going to get into reacting to reactions to reactions. I'll just -- I think Mr. Noriega probably expressed himself very well. I'll leave it at that.



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