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CUBA
NEWS
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Cuban Dissident Welcomes Bush's Support
By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated
Press Writer
HAVANA - One of Cuba's best-known former political
prisoners welcomed President Bush's support for
the island's opposition Friday, but didn't see
much new in the initiatives.
Vladimiro Roca is a former military pilot who
broke with the government more than a decade ago
and began calling for a Western-style democracy.
He spoke after President Bush directed administration
officials to recommend ways to achieve a transition
to democracy in Cuba after 44 years under Fidel
Castro.
"Bush's words are moral support for us,"
Roca said. Still, he said, Bush's message contained
"very little new."
Roca and three other activists were arrested
in July 1997 for publishing a document that criticized
Cuba's Communist Party and Castro's government.
Roca was released from prison in May 2002 just
two months early of his five-year sentence.
Bush also said the United States would step up
enforcement of existing restrictions against the
communist regime, such as a ban on tourism by
Americans, and crack down on the trafficking of
women and children in Cuba. The United States
also will launch a public outreach campaign to
identify "the many routes to safe and legal
entry" for Cubans who try to flee their homeland,
he said.
Roca said he agreed with Bush's plan to crack
down, saying "American tourism won't bring
democracy to Cuba." U.S. Treasury Department
regulations effectively bar most Americans from
traveling here by making it illegal to spend money
on the island.
But Roca said Bush's formation of a commission
to develop a post-Castro transition plan for Cuba
"won't work very well." What will happen
in Cuba after Castro leaves is impossible to know
or plan for, said Roca. Castro, now 77, has been
in power for 44 years.
Friday was a holiday in Cuba and there was no
immediate reaction from the government or the
news media it controls. Bush's message was not
carried on local radio and television and most
Cubans do not have access to foreign news.
Gisela Delgado, wife of jailed dissident Hector
Palacios, said she was unable to listen to the
message.
Palacios was among 75 dissidents arrested in
March on charges of working the U.S. diplomats
to undermine Castro's government - accusations
they denied. Palacios got 25 years when sentenced
in April.
Klayman calls 'wet-foot, dry-foot' policy
unconstitutional
By Associated Press
MIAMI, 10 - Republican Senate candidate Larry
Klayman called the "wet-foot, dry-foot"
Cuban policy unconstitutional Thursday, vowing
to challenge the Clinton-era doctrine returning
home Cubans who are caught at sea but allowing
those who reach U.S. soil to stay.
Klayman, the founder of the watchdog group Judicial
Watch and one of several Republicans seeking the
party's nomination, said the guidelines are unfair
and arbitrary and would serve as one of the cornerstones
of his campaign for the seat held by Democratic
Sen. Bob Graham.
"If you are caught running drugs in a speedboat
150 miles offshore of the United States, you are
brought here and tried criminally under our laws.
But if you are caught in a rowboat seeking freedom
150 feet from the beach, you are returned to your
country of origin," Klayman said.
"'Wet Foot/Dry Foot' is not only unfair,
it is unconstitutional," Klayman said, speaking
at a news conference at Versailles restaurant
in the heart of the city's Little Havana neighborhood.
Klayman, who called himself in an interview "the
lawyer of the Cuban-American community,"
said he has tried since last year to meet with
Graham on the issue but has been constantly rebuffed.
He criticized Graham, saying he has failed to
address the issue to South Florida's large Cuban-American
community.
"I want him to explain why he's abandoned
the Cuban community," Klayman said.
Paul Anderson, a Graham spokesman, noted that
"wet-foot, dry foot" is an administration
policy and interpretation of statute, not something
that has been written into statute.
Anderson also cited Graham's concerns this summer
with the Bush administration's decision to return
12 alleged Cuban hijackers, some of whom faced
trial at home. The alleged hijackers were returned
after the United States received assurances from
Castro's government that the Cubans would not
be executed and sentenced to no more than 10 years
in prison.
"Perhaps Mr. Klayman should first have a
discussion with members of his party, including
the current occupant of the White House, before
he criticizes Senator Graham," Anderson said.
Graham, who ended his Democratic presidential
campaign earlier this week, has not yet announced
whether he will seek a fourth term.
The Cuban American National Foundation, a prominent
lobbying organization, and others have criticized
the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy as unfair.
Several Florida Republicans have called for a
review of the Bush administration's Cuba policy
and questioned the administration's commitment
to helping the Cuban people and opponents of Fidel
Castro's communist government.
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