CNS News
News, March 30, 2001.
Legislation would aid Cuban dissidents
By Jim Burns. CNS Senior Staff Writer. March 30, 2001
(CNSNews.com) - Cuban dissidents fighting for democracy may receive "democracy
assistance" from the United States if a bill introduced in the House
Thursday becomes law. The legislation calls for the United States to provide "democracy
assistance" to the Cuban internal opposition.
Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), himself a Cuban exile, is the
prime author of the "Cuban Internal Opposition Assistance Act of 2001."
It has almost 100 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.
"A central focus of American policy toward Cuba must be to assist the
brave internal opposition struggling for democracy inside the enslaved island,"
Diaz-Balart said in a statement on Capitol Hill. He said the bill would give
Cuba's internal opposition support similar to that extended to Poland's internal
opposition during the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was president.
Rep. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said he supports the bill
because the efforts of human rights activists in Cuba need to be "nurtured"
and "strengthened."
"The Cuban people want change, but they need help from [outside] the
island to struggle against the smothering repression on the island. This bill
says we stand with those brave men and women who risk their lives and their
liberty in search of freedom," said Menendez on Capitol Hill.
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), herself a Cuban exile,
declared, "The oppressed men and women of Cuba, who long for freedom and
democracy and have the courage to speak out against Castro's totalitarian
regime, deserve that Congress do everything we can to support their struggle for
liberty. My colleagues should extend a helping hand to the opposition on the
island and help them break the shackles of tyranny."
"Democracy assistance" translates into humanitarian assistance --
food, medicine, and communications equipment such as telephones and fax
machines.
Dissidents speak out
As Congress considers the effort to bolster Cuban dissidents, those
dissidents continue to speak out against the Castro government.
According to news reports from Havana, the dissidents include Martha Beatriz
Roque, the head of the Cuban Institute of Independent Economists, who wrote a
report accusing the Castro government of maintaining a system of "economic
apartheid" and "economic repression" that favors foreigners and
denies Cubans basic opportunities.
"The economy is linked to human rights," Roque argued. "Here
in Cuba, people don't choose their job, rather the state selects the person, who
is fabricated according to its manner from the moment he leaves the mother's
womb." Roque said there are "scarce" opportunities for people to
work in Cuba's tiny and tightly restricted private sector, and she noted the
state strictly controls those who work with foreign companies in the communist
nation.
"Between two workers opting for the same post, the one most committed
to the regime will be chosen, even though he's not the most capable," she
wrote.
She also criticized workers' lack of opportunity to form independent labor
unions, as well as limited opportunity for Cubans to buy or sell cars or houses.
"There exists an economic apartheid, where no Cuban can invest in his
own country," Roque wrote. "We cannot hope for development, social
progress or an improvement in the standard of living while the economic
repression weighs on the people of our country," she said.
Roque was freed last year from jail after serving a three-year sentence for
sedition.
Another dissident economist, Jorge Fernandez Colom, denounced the Castro
government's handling of the Internet.
"The Internet is totally controlled by the government, its accesses are
limited to selected state organs and lately dependent state media,"
according to Colom.
Castro and South African Leader Visit Elian Gonzalez
By Jim Burns. CNS Senior Staff Writer. March 29, 2001
(CNSNews.com) - Cuban Leader Fidel Castro and South African President Thabo
Mbeki paid a surprise visit to Elian Gonzalez at his school in Cardenas,
according to Thursday's edition of the Cuban Communist party newspaper Granma.
The event was closed to the foreign news media.
The newspaper said, "Stung by curiosity, the South African leader Thabo
Mbeki did not want to miss the miracle of personally meeting Elian Gonzalez."
The newspaper also said Mbeki and Castro first met Elian's relatives, then
showed a "rather paternal tenderness" during the school visit where
the newspaper said both leaders watched Elian "dancing happily" in an
activity with other students.
Other than Castro, Mbeki was believed to be the highest-level world leader
to have met Elian, now 7 years old and at one time the center of a custody
dispute between his Miami and Cuban relatives for several months. Elian returned
to Cuba with his father last June after lengthy court battles in the United
States.
"We've said all along that Castro would show him off. Castro is a crazy
man who will do anything to get publicity," according to Armando Gutierrez,
a spokesman for Elian's Miami relatives in a telephone interview with
CNSNews.com.
Meanwhile, Radio Havana reported Wednesday night that Mbeki was awarded the "Jose
Marti Order," the highest distinction the Castro government gives to
foreign dignitaries.
Castro presented the award to Mkebi during a Havana ceremony, "in
recognition of his long and courageous revolutionary life."
Castro pointed out that Mbeki joined the youth wing of the African National
Congress at the age of 11 and was an active participant in the struggle against
apartheid. Castro also noted, according to the communist radio station
broadcast, that Mbeki took part in negotiations that led to the end of the
apartheid regime.
After ANC leader Nelson Mandela was released from prison and elections were
held in 1994, Thabo Mbeki served as Mandela's vice president. Castro emphasized
that the ensuing struggle against poverty and unemployment for a new South
Africa has perhaps been the hardest phase of the struggle.
Castro also said that Cuba had the honor and privilege of participating in
the final stages of the struggle, alongside "South African and Angolan
patriots."
Cuba had troops in Angola during the 1970s.
Mbeki said in accepting the award that the distinction was a challenge for
his people, who will never betray Cuba and the noble revolutionary principles
for which it stands. He added that Cuba has always been an inspiration for
African liberation fighters and thanked his hosts for the hospitality shown to
him and his delegation during his visit so far.
Following his speech, Mbeki and Castro embraced. | 