Virtual New York.
Wednesday, 7 February 2001 10:25 (ET)
PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Czech Republic President Vaclav
Havel used the release of two prominent Czechs after weeks in a Cuban jail as an
opportunity to gently chide his communist adversary, Cuban President Fidel
Castro.
"I'm not a person Fidel Castro favors, even though we personally know
each other," Havel said Wednesday after speaking with the men who were
released Monday.
Indeed, Havel said because of the friction he decided against asking Casto
personally to consider freeing the men -- parliament leader and former Cabinet
minister Ivan Pilip, 37, and 1989 Velvet Revolution activist Jan Bubenik, 32.
Instead, the Czech president said he wrote letters asking for help from the
pope, leaders of South American countries and European Commission President
Romano Prodi. He also spoke with French President Jacques Chirac about the
affair.
An international agency called the Inter-Parliamentary Union also played a
role in efforts to free Pilip and Bubenik. The U.S. government, European
governments and the European Union blasted the arrests and Cuba for violating
their human rights.
The diplomatic flurry, combined with talks last week in Havana between
Castro and Czech Senate Chairman Petr Pithart, finally led to their release.
Pilip and Bubenik were arrested Jan. 12 during a trip to central Cuba, where
they delivered moral support to two Cuban dissidents along with a computer,
medicine and writing pens. The government charged the Czechs with breaking Cuban
law by promoting subversive activity, and could have faced several years in
jail.
The trip was backed by Freedom House, a New York-based institution that
promotes democracy. Castro, in publicly condemning the arrested Czechs, claimed
Freedom House was a tool of the U.S. government, and the Czech men spies.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday with Havel, Pilip said the arrests might
hurt efforts to recruit volunteers in Cuba willing to work for democracy. But he
also said the incident -- which he called a "harsh crackdown" -- drew
so much negative attention that it could backfire for the Cuban government by
further tarnishing its international image.
At the same time, however, the Czech government has been embarrassed over
the affair, since as a condition of their freedom Pilip and Bubenik were forced
to admit that they violated Cuban laws. In addition, Castro made the Czech
Senate leader Pithart wait in Havana several days before sitting down for six
hours of negotiations.
Nevertheless, Havel and Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan have refused to
apologize in behalf of the Czech government.
The Czechs and Cubans were allies before the fall of the Iron Curtain. But
in the past year, relations have decayed. One reason was that a Czech delegation
to the United Nations last year condemned Cuba's human rights record, a move
that led to huge anti-Czech demonstrations in Havana, backed by the Castro
regime.
In a statement lauding the release, Freedom House said the Czech men "are
among hundreds of people each year who seek to reach out to the Cuban people for
the purpose of informing them about events outside their country." "When
people travel, they have a fundamental right to talk with whomever they wish,"
said Freedom House President Adrian Karatnycky. He also said his organization "rejects
the Castro regime's attempts to criminalize person-to-person contacts, which are
a clear violation of international human rights standards."
Copyright 2001 by United Press International. | 