Tuesday, 23 January 2001. Briefing #8, 01-01-19.
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QUESTION: Do you have anything on Cuba? Apparently these kids -- I
don't know if they are kids or teenagers -- left Cuba for the United States, and
now Castro is accusing the US system for encouraging this, that they welcome
Cuban exiles with open arms.
MR. BOUCHER: This is the two stowaways that -- well, first of all,
this is a tragedy. These two young men lost their lives attempting to get to the
United Kingdom. How it could somehow be the fault of the United States, frankly,
is not clear to us. Rather than blaming the United States, we think the
Government of Cuba needs to examine its own policies, needs to figure out why
two teenage military cadets would feel compelled to resort to such a desperate
measure to leave the island.
One explanation is that today's demonstration in Havana against US
immigration policies was intended to divert the attention of ordinary Cubans
from the problems that they face in Cuba itself. The most serious problem is
political repression, and today's demonstration fits a pattern of tough and
disturbing measures which highlight the true nature of the Cuban regime.
Recently we've had a number of events like this. We've had the arrest of two
prominent Czechs, including a member of parliament, for meeting with dissidents.
There is an ongoing campaign against foreign journalists, and the threat to
close foreign press bureaus in Cuba. There have been detentions and arrests of
over 200 dissidents in the past two months.
So I think if the Cuban Government wants to find the reason that people
would resort to such desperate steps to leave the island, they should perhaps
look at their own policies and their own repression.
QUESTION: When is the next round of US-Cuba migration talks, do you
know? Is that scheduled yet?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I have a date for that. I can't remember
if it's every three or six months -- six months. And they were recently so it
would be sometime in the first half of this year.
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