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CUBA
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Bush under attack from Cuban Americans who
helped elect him
MIAMI, 6 (AFP) - President George W. Bush is
coming under increasing attack from Cuban-American
leaders who helped get him elected in 2000 but
now accuse him of failing to get tough with communist-run
Cuba.
"The Cubans are finally rebelling. But it's
not the Cubans in Havana who are up in arms,"
said political analyst Paul Crespo.
"Simmering doubts in the Cuban-American
community about President Bush's unexpectedly
anemic Cuba policy have erupted into open discontent,"
the conservative analyst said in the Miami Herald
Wednesday.
His comments coincided with the publication of
an open letter to the president from Cuban-American
leaders who claimed Bush failed to make good on
promises to adopt tough measures to force change
in the Caribbean island.
The letter follows weeks of intense pressure
on the administration from leaders of the 1.2-million
strong Cuban-American community, and even from
the president's own brother, Florida Governor
Jeb Bush.
Cuban exiles expressed outrage when the administration
last month sent back a group of people who hijacked
a boat in a bid to leave the island, even though
three men who tried a similar escape were executed
in Cuba in April.
And the repatriation this week of 12 Cubans,
among a group of dissidents who tried to sail
to the United States, again fueled sharp criticism
of the US administration, notably from the three
Cuban-Americans in the US Congress.
In their open letter, published in the Miami's
Nuevo Herald daily, the leaders of the influential
Cuban American National Foundation said disappointment
was particularly strong since Bush has enjoyed
strong support from the Cuban community in the
United States.
Florida's 700,000-strong Cuban-Americans have
traditionally supported the Republican party.
They played a key role in getting Bush elected
in 2000 by helping him win a narrow but decisive
majority in the southeastern state.
Bush's appointment of Cuban-Americans to prominent
posts, among them Roger Noriega who recently became
the top US diplomat for the Americas, had boosted
hopes the administration would aggressively promote
democratic change in Cuba.
But, says Crespo, "a lack of follow-up has
squandered that initial goodwill."
In their open letter, the Cuban-American leaders
recalled that during his electoral campaign, Bush
awakened "great expectations that the Cuba
policy would soon lead to a free and Democratic
Cuba."
"Today we are no nearer to a free Cuba,"
the full-page advert said, claiming current US
policies toward Cuba were virtually the same as
those adopted by Bush's predecessor, Democrat
Bill Clinton.
It called for more financial aid for dissidents
in Cuba and criticized legislation under which
Cubans interdicted at sea as they flee the island
are sent back home.
The letter also urged US authorities to indict
Cuban President Fidel Castro (news - web sites)
in the 1996 death of four Cuban exiles killed
when the Cuban air force shot down two "Brothers
to the Rescue" planes.
Havana launches web site to "fight media
terrorism"
HAVANA, 5 (AFP) - Cuban authorities launched
a web site denouncing a "campaign of lies"
against the communist island, Cuban National Assembly
president Ricardo Alarcon said.
During a press conference presenting the Internet
endeavor, Alarcon said that the site "signs
up to the battle of ideas" launched by President
Fidel Castro, its goal "to make our truth
known in view of the calumnies and lies being
spoken against Cuba."
The site, located at www.cubadebate.cu
providing general information on Cuba, editorials
and interviews with celebrities, was set up by
60 Cuban journalists known as The Circle of Journalists
Against Terrorism.
It will serve to fight "media terrorism
led by the big multinationals and to fight against
the manipulation of information," Alarcon
added.
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