CNS News
Cuba Denounces America's 'Unilateral War' at UN
By Jim Burns. CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer. November 14,
2001
(CNSNews.com) - Cuba's foreign minister is demanding that the United States "stop
its unilateral war against Afghanistan."
Radio Havana reported Tuesday that Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque
told the United Nations General Assembly that the United States "must
acknowledge that it has made a mistake and must halt its ineffective,
unjustifiable bombing campaign against that people."
Perez Roque also accused the United States of targeting children, civilians
and the International Red Cross hospitals and facilities as enemies. He said the
present war against terrorism will never be justified from the point of view of
ethics and international law.
"No honest voice could defend an endless slaughter, with the most
sophisticated weaponry, of a dispossessed, starving, helpless people," said
Perez Roque.
He added that no one has the right to continue murdering children,
aggravating the humanitarian crisis, and visiting impoverishment and death on
millions of refugees.
However, Perez Roque emphasized that the Castro government's position is not
based on "ill feelings" toward the United States, which he noted has
been Cuba's adversary for more than 40 years.
He also questioned that the United States is really leading an international
war against terrorism. "What international coalition are we talking about?
What is its legitimacy based on, if it has started by stridently disregarding
the General Assembly of the United Nations?"
Perez Roque said Cuba condemns terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations. He also said Cuba will never allow its territory to be used for
"terrorist actions against the people of the United States or of any other
country."
However, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, at a Tuesday news briefing,
warned countries not to provide safe harbor to terrorists fleeing Afghanistan.
He said some al Qaeda members might flee to neighboring Iran and Pakistan or to
countries where they have operated before, specifically Somalia and Sudan.
Rumsfeld also listed Cuba, Iraq, Syria, Libya and North Korea as "states
that in the past have housed terrorists."
A Defense Department official later said Rumsfeld's comments were intended
to lay down a marker for those countries and show them that the United States is
watching their behavior.
Sell Food and Medicine to Cuba, American Group Says
By Jim Burns. CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer. November 15,
2001
(CNSNews.com) - A group that advocates humanitarian trade with Cuba sent a
letter to President Bush on Wednesday, urging him to allow food and medicine
sales to the communist nation as it tries to recover from the devastating
Hurricane Michelle.
The group "Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba" includes
David Rockefeller, former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, former Federal
Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, and other Americans with political
connections.
In their letter, they told President Bush that the hurricane aftermath
provides an opportunity for the administration to show "its true
humanitarian spirit" by responding to Cuba's request to buy food and
medicine.
"The Congress, the American public and the vast majority of Cuban
Americans in Miami and elsewhere support normal humanitarian sales to Cuba even
without a disaster of this magnitude," said Craig Fuller, the co-chair of
Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba. Fuller is a former chief of staff to
President George H.W. Bush.
Under a law passed by Congress last year, Cuba may pay cash for food and
medicine sold by U.S. companies, as long as those companies have the
government's permission to sell the goods. But the same law forbids the U.S.
government and U.S. banks from lending Cuba the cash it needs to buy the
supplies.
Former Congressman Sam Gibbons, another co-chair of the humanitarian aid
group, said, "In the name of common humanity, we should put politics aside
and let the Cubans buy things that they need and let them ship it back there in
the most efficient way possible."
"They are the ones who know what is needed now and how to get it where
it is needed most," said Gibbons, who served 34 years in the House,
representing the Tampa, Fla., area.
Another AHTC member, the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, formerly of the National
Council of Churches, said, "The Cuban government has an excellent
reputation and track record as the fastest and best distributor of aid to the
Cuban people."
The National Council of Churches has close ties to the Castro government and
was instrumental in reuniting Elian Gonzalez with his father in Cuba last year
after a lengthy legal battle.
The Cuban-American National Foundation says Americans for Humanitarian Aid
to Cuba is part of the "let's do business with Cuba" lobby.
CANF spokesperson Mariela Ferretti told CNSNews.com, "This is just par
for the course... It's not surprising that they would take up a situation such
as this in order to further their goals. It's the usual cast of characters.
The White House had no comment on the letter.
Last week, the Castro government announced it had "respectfully
declined" a United States offer of humanitarian aid in the wake of
Hurricane Michelle.
Then the Castro government, appearing to contradict itself, "challenged"
the U.S. to sell Cuba food and medicine on its terms as a way of helping out.
At a press conference last week, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said
any U.S. aid to Cuba must not benefit the Castro regime. The comment apparently
angered the Castro government, because Radio Havana called it "gibberish."
The State Department said that the United States would not accept the Castro
government's terms for accepting food and medicine. | 
