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CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Castro-Bush feud turns personal
In his speech at Cuba's
Revolution Day celebration, the Cuban president
brought up President Bush's past drinking
habits.
By Vanessa Arrington, Associated
Press. Posted on Tue, Jul. 27, 2004.
SANTA CLARA, Cuba - Fidel Castro on Monday
vigorously denied recent charges by President
Bush that he encourages sex-tourism in Cuba
to attract U.S. dollars to the impoverished
island.
The Cuban president also became personal
with Bush, bringing up old reports about
his American nemesis' alleged past drinking
habits.
Speaking at the island's annual Revolution
Day celebration in the central city of Santa
Clara, Castro said the sex tourism allegations
show that what the White House considers
to be true about Cuba is ``that which the
president makes up in his head, whether
it corresponds to reality or not.''
''There are many in the world who know
very little about the Cuban Revolution,
and could fall prey to the lies diffused
by the United States,'' Castro said.
During a speech in Tampa earlier this month,
Bush accused Castro of turning Cuba into
a major destination for sex tourism, which
is ``a vital source of hard currency to
keep his corrupt government afloat.''
''The regime in Havana, already one of
the worst violators of human rights in the
world, is adding to its crimes. Castro welcomes
sex tourism,'' Bush said at the July 16
conference on ''human trafficking'' -- forced
labor, sex and military service.
LESS VISIBLE ON STREETS
Although prostitution does exist on the
island, it is unorganized and has been far
less visible since Castro launched a massive
crackdown on street crime in early 1999.
Castro said someone should have told Bush
that before Cuba's 1959 revolution about
100,000 women were involved in prostitution
because of poverty, discrimination or unemployment.
The were educated and given other jobs,
he said.
Castro went on to lash out at Bush in a
more personal manner, summarizing arguments
made in Justin A. Frank's book Bush on the
Couch: Inside the Mind of the President,
and saying that Bush apparently had replaced
his drinking with religious fundamentalism.
''He depends on religion as a defense mechanism,
substituting thought,'' said Castro, paraphrasing
from the book by the Washington, D.C.-based
psychoanalyst and professor of psychiatry.
``In some ways, he doesn't even have to
think.''
In an autobiography written when he was
Texas governor, Bush wrote about swearing
off alcohol in 1986, when he was 40. Bush
said a spiritual awakening prompted him
to quit.
Earlier Monday, Communist Party faithful
gathered for Castro's 1 ½-hour speech
in this provincial capital, where Cuban
flags hung from the sides of buildings in
observance of Revolution Day.
The day marks the failed July 26, 1953,
attack on a military barracks that launched
the Cuban Revolution.
''With the heroism of always,'' declared
a banner hanging over a street in this city
about 125 miles east of Havana.
The top leaders of Cuba's ruling Communist
Party were among about 1,000 people attending
the event. The proceedings were also broadcast
live on Cuba's state-run television and
radio.
FEARS OVER INVASION
Castro ended his comments to Bush saying
he hoped God does not ''instruct'' the U.S.
president to invade the island, a fear the
Cuban leader often repeats.
''He had better check on any divine belligerent
order by consulting the pope and other prestigious
dignitaries . . . asking them for their
opinion,'' he said.
Kerry to court Cubans unhappy with president
By Lesley Clark. lclark@herald.com.
Posted on Wed, Jul. 28, 2004
BOSTON - John Kerry's campaign pledged
Wednesday an all-out effort to woo Cuban-American
voters to its side, hoping to exploit an
emerging division in the once reliably Republican
voting bloc.
The outreach effort includes making South
Florida one of the first post-convention
stops for vice presidential candidate John
Edwards, who is scheduled to meet with Cuban-American
leaders Monday at a private reception in
Miami, according to sources close to the
campaign.
Campaign officials would not confirm the
Edwards visit, but said they have hired
a Miami field organizer and plan advertising
and other means of courting Cuban Americans
-- some of whom have assailed President
Bush's recent crackdown on Fidel Castro
as harmful to Cuban families.
''They gave us an unbelievable opportunity
and we have a policy that gives us an opportunity
to take advantage of that,'' said Tom Shea,
Kerry's Florida campaign manager.
Several polls have suggested some softening
of support for Bush, mostly among younger
Cuban Americans, presumably those with family
still on the island.
''We plan on going after that vote aggressively,''
Shea said. "They've left themselves
very vulnerable.''
OLDER SUPPORTERS
Polls show Bush still overwhelmingly popular
among the largest and perhaps most politically
active group of Cuban-American voters --
those who arrived in the United States before
1980. It was that group that warned Bush
last summer that he risked losing community
support if he didn't get tougher on Castro.
Sensing vulnerability, Bush began shoring
up support earlier this year, rolling out
plans to harden the economic sanctions against
the Cuban government, including restricting
cash assistance and limiting visits to Cuba
to once every three years.
The hard-line approach has endeared the
president to some exile groups, but has
triggered a backlash from some moderate
Cuban Americans, who support the U.S. trade
embargo but want to be able to travel and
support relatives in Cuba. Several groups
have vowed to launch voter registration
drives to register younger Cuban Americans.
Last week in Tampa, Bush sought to defend
the policy, accusing Castro of taking advantage
of loosened travel restrictions to let child
prostitution flourish. Castro has angrily
denied the accusation.
Kerry has sought to benefit from the divide,
suggesting Bush's policy will only hurt
ordinary Cubans and declaring that he would
encourage more travel to Cuba, lift the
cap on remittances and pursue greater international
condemnation of Castro.
At least eight in 10 of Florida's nearly
half-million Cuban-American voters backed
Bush in 2000, but Democrats note that candidate
Al Gore was hobbled by the decision to return
Elián González to Cuba. Democratic
strategists suggest that if they can take
away even a sliver of the Cuban-American
electorate, their nominee could win the
state that decided the presidency in 2000
by 537 votes.
Shea said that the campaign has also identified
swing voters in the swath of Florida between
Tampa and Daytona Beach, along with voters
in North Florida, as potential pickup areas.
The campaign plans to open offices in Jacksonville,
Tallahassee and Pensacola, stressing Kerry's
status as a Vietnam veteran.
''We have to have a level that is at the
2000 level or better, and I have every reason
to believe it will be better, given the
level of energy that we've seen on the ground,''
Shea said.
NOT CONCERNED
Bush campaign officials rejected the suggestion
that Kerry, who has had a voting record
generally sympathetic to increasing contact
with the island, will pick up many votes.
''The president has been consistent in
cracking down on Castro while supporting
the people of Cuba,'' spokesman Reed Dickens
said. "John Kerry comes to Florida
just to hold his finger in the air, just
to see which way the wind is blowing.''
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