By Laurie Goering. Tribune Foreign Correspondent.
Chicago Tribune. February 23,
2001.
HAVANA Saying that U.S. sanctions against Cuba make no sense, retired U.S.
Sen. Paul Simon on Thursday advocated lifting the U.S. embargo against the
island, capping a five-day visit to Havana.
"We're pandering to the passions of a few in the Miami area instead of
responding to the national interest," the former Illinois senator said
Thursday morning, before flying back to Illinois. Sanctions "do not make
any sense," he said, and "what we end up doing is harming Cuba and the
United States" by denying Americans opportunities for trade.
Simon met with longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday for nearly
six hours to discuss changing political opinions in the United States on Cuba,
the new Bush administration and the difficulties of lifting the U.S. embargo,
among other topics, Simon said.
Castro "is a pretty good talker," Simon, in his trademark bowtie,
joked after the marathon meeting, which also included a visiting delegation from
Southern Illinois University. "He's a guy who's really on top of details.
That's one thing that is very clear."
SIU President James Walker and Simon, who four years ago created a Public
Policy Institute at SIU, said the delegation visited Cuba to discuss
establishing student and faculty exchanges between Carbondale and Cuba,
particularly involving health care, education, agriculture, aquaculture and
social issues.
They called the visit a continuation of the work toward developing
Cuba-Illinois ties begun by Gov. George Ryan during a 1999 visit to the island,
and said it had been put in motion after a trip by the head of the Cuban
Interests Section in Washington to SIU in October 1999.
During his 22 years in the U.S. House and Senate, Simon repeatedly advocated
lifting U.S. sanctions on Cuba and sponsored failed legislation to lift the
travel ban to the island.
Simon noted Thursday morning that sanctions against Cuba are tougher than
those against nations such as China and North Korea, which he said have worse
records on human rights and are a greater military threat to the United States
than Cuba.
"We are catering to and trading and exchanging with China and North
Korea ... and not Cuba," he said, something that "makes no sense at
all."
Simon, who advocated trade sanctions against South Africa during its
apartheid era, said "boycotts work when a community of nations join."
In this case, however, "we're all by ourselves and nobody even sympathizes
with us," he said.
Still, Simon said he told Castro that with President Bush in office after a
narrow victory in Florida and with Bush's brother Jeb set to seek re-election as
governor there, any change in U.S. policy is "likely to be incremental."
Simon said that during his visit to the island he had been impressed by the
health-care services and education provided to Cubans and the relative lack of
corruption compared to other developing countries.
He said he'd also heard Cubans openly tell him that "socialism isn't
working" and was impressed that they felt comfortable enough to make such
statements.
In comparing the U.S. and Cuban systems during his talk with Castro, Simon
said he had told the Cuban leader that "I wouldn't vote to have yours and
you wouldn't vote to have mine," but that he could appreciate some of the
differences.
Walker, SIU's new president, promised Thursday that this trip to Cuba would
not be the university's last to the island.
About 15 faculty members planned to remain in Santiago for five days, he
said, exploring exchange possibilities. | 