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Posted on Thu, Feb. 06, 2003 in
The Miami Herald
Cuban dissident honored
By Tim Johnson. Tjohnson@herald.com.
WASHINGTON - Dr. Oscar Elías Biscet, a physician and civic activist
in Cuba, received a democracy award Wednesday for his ''brave and courageous
struggle'' for human rights in Cuba.
Biscet, jailed in Cuba, was not present for the ceremony.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, chairman of the International Republican
Institute, called Biscet ''a truly courageous man'' and vowed that supporters of
democracy in Cuba "will continue to fight for his freedom.''
Biscet, 41, was arrested in 1999 for organizing a news conference, at which
he turned a Cuban flag upside down and protested human rights abuses on the
island.
Amnesty International took up Biscet's cause, declaring him a prisoner of
conscience. Supporters have described the Afro-Cuban democracy activist, who
espouses nonviolence and civil disobedience, as "Cuba's Martin Luther
King.''
The award marked the second time in recent months that U.S. legislators have
honored a Cuban democracy activist. In September, the National Democratic
Institute, gave its highest award to Oswaldo Payá, who spearheads a
citizens' campaignto bring political and economic openness to Cuba.
In a brief ceremony in McCain's office, a representative of Biscet, Laida
Carro, read passages from his letters from prison. In one, Biscet wrote: "I
will never be able to forget or abandon my ideas.''
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, hailed Biscet as "a
leader who is not swayed. He knows where Cuba has to go.''
Before his 1999 arrest, Biscet lost his government job in Cuba for refusing
to perform forced abortions, the institute said. Biscet served three years in
jail, at one point leading a 40-day hunger strike, only drinking liquids. During
his imprisonment, he suffered gum disease but refused medical treatment because
he distrusted the medical staff, Carro said.
Biscet and his wife, Elsa Morejón, founded the Lawton Foundation for
Human Rights, which opposes the death penalty and seeks an end to Cuba's
one-party political system.
Congress is warned on Cuba embargo
By Tim Johnson. Tjohnson@herald.com.
WASHINGTON - In a new salvo in the struggle over U.S. policy toward Cuba,
the White House has warned Congress that it may veto a massive $390 billion
spending bill if it includes language that weakens the embargo of the island.
President Bush considers it ''vitally important'' to maintain the
4-decade-old embargo of Cuba, Office of Management and Budget chief Mitchell E.
Daniels told four key legislators in a letter delivered Tuesday.
The letter is the latest sign that the White House is preparing for major
clashes with legislators seeking to open up trade with the island. The Bush
administration, keeping a watchful eye on Cuban-American voters in Florida
instrumental to its 2004 reelection, has vowed to maintain the embargo against a
surge of legislative proposals to allow greater trade.
This time, the stakes are particularly high. The so-called omnibus spending
bill that is before a House-Senate conference committee contains much of the
money needed to keep the government afloat through Oct. 1, 2003, which is the
beginning of the next fiscal year.
The warning on Cuba came in a six-page letter from Daniels delivered to Rep.
C.W. Bill Young, a Florida Republican who is chairman of the House
Appropriations Committee, and three other legislators. The letter, a copy of
which was obtained by The Herald, evaluates provisions in the huge spending
bill.
At the end, Daniels notes that the White House finds ''objectionable''
certain language in a working version of the bill, particularly provisions that
"would weaken current sanctions against the Cuban government.''
''Lifting the sanctions now would provide a helping hand to a desperate and
repressive regime, whereas the president's policy calls for reaching out to help
the Cuban people,'' the Daniels letter said. "As noted in the July 11,
2002, letter from Secretaries [Colin] Powell and [Paul] O'Neill, the president's
senior advisors would recommend that he veto a bill that contained such
changes.''
Daniels also demanded that a final spending bill contain language
prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion.
Daniels did not specify how the House language in the proposed spending bill
would weaken the embargo.
However, growing numbers of legislators are challenging the embargo, saying
it has failed to dislodge Cuba's longtime dictator, Fidel Castro, after four
decades.
Lst week, two senators -- Democrat Max Baucus of Montana and Republican
Chuck Hagel of Nebraska -- circulated a proposal to lift the trade embargo
entirely.
''Trading with and traveling to Cuba does not represent an endorsement of
the Castro regime,'' the senators said in a letter seeking support from
colleagues. "To the contrary, it helps ensure that children in Cuba will be
afforded more opportunity than their parents to have lives that are more full,
free and just by opening Cuban society to democratic ideals.'' | 
