CNN. February 18, 2001.
Web posted at: 12:58 PM EST (1758 GMT)
HAVANA, Cuba (AP) -- Leaders of the Council on Foreign Relations met for 5
1/2 hours with President Fidel Castro during a visit that studied the
possibilities of easing U.S. sanctions against Cuba.
Cuban authorities repeated complaints that a recent report by a council
panel didn't go far enough in recommending charges to U.S. policy, leaders of
the U.S.-based council told reporters Sunday.
Still, council members characterized their discussions as productive.
"Are we discouraged? No," said William D. Rogers, former assistant
secretary of state for Latin America during the Ford administration. Rogers
declined to offer specifics, citing council policy on quoting foreign officials.
More than anything, the trip in general and especially Saturday's meeting
with Castro deepened the council's understanding of Cuba's communist society,
group members said.
Castro has "almost a computer-like knowledge of the various facts that
relate to the domestic situation" in Cuba," said Peter G. Peterson,
the council's chairman.
"I have traveled throughout Latin America over the past half-century
and it was important for me to gain a firsthand understanding of the Cuban
revolution," added David Rockefeller, a former council chairman and now
honorary chairman. Rockefeller surprised reporters and some of his colleagues by
delivering several remarks in Spanish.
A recent panel report said that easing the U.S. embargo would help
facilitate a transition in Cuba and reduce the possibility of turmoil in a
post-Castro era. That, in turn, would lessen pressure for U.S. military
intervention, the report said.
The report called on the United States to eliminate travel restrictions to
Cuba, allow regular commercial flights and permit U.S. companies whose
businesses were nationalized by Cuba to resolve their claims by entering into
joint ventures on the island.
It also suggested increased U.S.-Cuban cooperation in fighting drugs,
helping resolve Colombia's civil war and developing military-to-military
contacts.
The report made no recommendation on whether the United States should lift
its 38-year-old embargo, which is designed to foster democratic reforms in Cuba.
Council leaders expressed hope that Mexico and its new president, Vicente
Fox, would play the role of mediator between the United States and Cuba.
Council leaders were traveling on to Mexico later Sunday. | 