BBC News Online.
Thursday, 25 January, 2001, 23:12 GMT
Vaclav Havel has rejected a Cuban offer to free two prominent Czech citizens
if he will admit that they were plotting against Cuba's Communist regime and
apologise for their actions.
The Czech president said neither he nor his country had any reason to
apologise.
Former Finance Minister Ivan Pilip and former student leader Jan Bubenik
were arrested on 12 January after meeting Cuban dissidents.
Havana was originally expected to expel the two men, but later announced
that it would try them as subversives acting on behalf of the United States.
A Cuban statement accused Mr Pilip and Mr Bubenik of being
counter-revolutionary agents working for Freedom House, a New York-based
pro-democracy organization partly funded by the US government.
The statement said the men had received money and a portable computer to
deliver to Cuban dissidents.
'Not US agents'
Freedom House refused to confirm or deny that allegation, but said: "They
are not US agents who were sent in to support rebellion".
Press officer Michael Goldfarb also said he thought Cuba's offer to free the
men if President Havel would apologise was "disingenuous".
He told BBC News Online that he believed "the offer was made knowing it
would not be accepted".
Havana and Prague, once socialist allies, have had tense relations since the
latter sponsored a United Nations condemnation of Cuba's human-rights record
last year.
Mr Goldfarb said he thought the arrest of Mr Pilip and Mr Bubenik was "a
form of payback" for that condemnation.
Appeal for help
The Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Kavan, has appealed for help from Mexico,
Chile, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe.
Diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Czech Republic have broken down
since the arrest.
Mr Pilip's wife and Mr Bubenik's brother have travelled to Havana in the
hope of meeting the two detainees, after Cuba granted them visas.
In two cases last year - one involving a meeting between two Swedish
journalists and dissident Cuban reporters, and another where a retired US
academic met opposition figures - the government chose to deport the foreigners
rather than bring charges. | 