By Jim Burns. CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer. July 16,
2001. CNS News
(CNSNews.com) - President Bush said Monday he will suspend for six months
the right of United States firms and Cuban-Americans to sue foreign firms in
United States courts for using properties taken from them after the Cuban
revolution in 1959 that brought Fidel Castro to power.
This is known as "Title III" of legislation co-authored by Sen.
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), also known as the
Helms-Burton law.
Bush told reporters at the White House that he planned to suspend Title
Three. Insiders say the president's action is a victory for the European Union,
which wanted a suspension as a way to protect the investment of EU companies on
the communist island.
While still supporting all the parts of the Helms-Burton law, Rep. Lincoln
Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a Cuban exile and one of Castro's fiercest critics in the
House, appeared to have taken Bush's action in stride.
"During the first six months of his presidency, President Bush has
intervened decisively to derail anti-Cuban embargo efforts in Congress. I
support the implementation of all titles of Helms-Burton," Diaz-Balart said
in a statement.
"Despite that, President Bush reached the conclusion that a trade war
with Europe at the WTO over a single title of Helms-Burton at this time would
dangerously strengthen the coalition of those seeking to eliminate the entire
embargo," he added.
Fellow Republican, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said, "It's a
shame we have a waiver again. But though President Bush's decision is
regrettable, we must also take note of the positive work he's done in a few
months in support of programs which will help bring freedom to the Cuban people."
However, an anti-Castro Democrat, Rep. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a member of
the House International Relations Committee accused Bush of breaking a campaign
promise to the Cuban-American community.
"It is shameful to have the president waive Title Three only days after
promising to fully endorse U.S. law vis-a-vis Cuba. As expected, last week's
hollow rhetoric was exactly that, hollow rhetoric. His bait and switch is
insulting to Cuban-Americans and will continue to hurt Cuban suffering under the
Castro dictatorship," said Menendez in a statement.
He concluded, "On his first opportunity to show his true colors, the
president was dishonest and weak, and has failed the Cuban people seeking
political, social and economic freedom.
"The United States should not be complicit with the Castro regime
either in depriving the Cuban people of basic economic prerogatives or in
depriving American citizens of property that is rightfully theirs,"
Menendez said.
The Helms-Burton measure was signed into law by former President Bill
Clinton in 1996 after Cuban jets shot down two small planes in the Florida
Straits that were flown by the Miami-based "Brothers to the Rescue,"
an anti-Castro Cuban exile group.
John Cardarelli, a spokesman for Rep. Dan Burton said, "Certainly, we
are disappointed in President Bush's decision. However, he has announced a
number of policy initiatives which are positive steps toward tightening the
(economic) embargo on Cuba and promoting democracy in that nation. While we
would have preferred a different outcome, all isn't lost either."
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