By Laurie Goering. Tribune Foreign Correspondent. Chicago
Tribune. January 30, 2001
HAVANA -- Two prominent Czechs jailed in Cuba on subversion charges after
meeting with dissidents had no idea they were breaking Cuban law, their families
said Monday in Havana.
Cuba's government, however, stepping up its diplomatic feud with the former
communist republic, now charges that the two were among a succession of Czechs
to promote "internal subversion" in Cuba over the last decade on
behalf of government-funded, pro-democracy organizations in the United States.
Czech diplomats and citizens have often met with dissidents to hand out tape
recorders, cash and literature provided by U.S. pro-democracy organizations,
according to Cuba's state newspaper, Granma. It called such activities "illegal
acts, definitely subversive and counterrevolutionary."
European diplomats, the U.S. State Department and human-rights organizations
have denounced the subversion charges as groundless.
"Clearly they didn't know that by meeting with dissidents they were
breaking Cuban law," said Lucie Pilipova, wife of one of the detainees.
Ivan Pilip, a Czech legislator and former finance and education minister,
and Jan Bubenik, a pro-democracy student leader in the 1989 Velvet Revolution
that overthrew the Czech Communist Party, have been jailed for "acts
against the security of the state" since meeting with two dissidents in
Ciego de Avila province on Jan. 12.
Cuban authorities charge that the Czechs handed over a portable computer,
diskettes and other materials provided by Washington-based Freedom House, a
non-profit, pro-democracy organization partially funded by the U.S. government
through the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Czech officials, while not denying the contact, say charges that the two
were fomenting revolution are groundless. They also rejected a Cuban diplomatic
overture suggesting the two might be released if the Czech government admits
their contact with dissidents had been wrong.
Pilipova said Monday that her husband and Bubenik have been moved to larger,
semiprivate cells following 10 days of being held separately in 6-by-9 foot
cells with other Cuban detainees, using a hole in the floor as a toilet.
While diplomats work behind the scenes to free the men, Pilipova said the
families are preparing for the scenario of a trial, and are in the process of
hiring a Cuban defense lawyer.
The family members, who arrived in Cuba on Jan. 20, expect to soon be joined
by a delegation from the Czech parliament, including Petr Pithart, president of
the Czech Senate. Pithart arrived in Havana on Monday, and he is expected to
meet with Cuban leader Fidel Castro in an attempt to resolve the diplomatic
standoff.
Relations between the two Soviet-era allies have been strained since last
year, when the Czech Republic co-sponsored a Geneva resolution condemning Cuba
for human-rights violations. The Cuban government frequently suggests that the
Czechs have become "anti-imperialist" puppets for the United States.
In weekend editions, Granma charged that Czech diplomats since 1993 have
used their position in Havana to support political dissidents.
It also said Czech diplomats have maintained close contact with U.S.
pro-democracy organizations, including Washington-based Freedom House, and with
anti-Castro groups such as the Miami-based Cuban-American National Foundation.
The Freedom House, in a press release on the arrests, would not confirm
whether its officials met with the arrested Czechs prior to their trip, as Cuban
officials have charged. However, Michael Goldfarb, a spokesman, said that while
the organization does run a Cuba program and supports "the sharing of
experiences of people who have gone through political transition," its
programs are "certainly not designed to foment rebellion." | 