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NEWS
Posted on Tue, Oct. 14, 2003
Unite in push for Cuba's freedom
OUR OPINION: PRESIDENT'S POLICY IS
A START; NOW FOR THE FOLLOW UP
The Miami Herald
We welcome President Bush's restatement last week of U.S. policy toward
Cuba. Included were old and new measures designed to help Cubans on the
island, and that prepare the United States for Cuba's inevitable
transition to democracy. U.S. policy also would be strengthened with a
diplomatic push to involve more Latin American leaders in freeing Cubans
from tyranny, an approach that Assistant Secretary of State Roger
Noriega recently described as a ''personal mission.'' Now what is needed
is the follow through.
Mr. Bush announced an increase in the number of Cubans allowed to
legally come to the United States each year, which will encourage safe,
controlled legal immigration. Not only is that better for U.S. national
security, but it also should cut down on the number of desperate Cubans
taking risky sea voyages -- sometimes in the hands of unscrupulous
smugglers who have little consideration for passengers' well-being. The
State Department already has helped dampen desperation by speeding up
the process by which 20,000 U.S. visas are issued yearly in Havana.
A new Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba, headed by cabinet
members Mel Martínez and Colin Powell, will search for ways to encourage
Cuba's transition to a free society. Such clout, if applied, could help
unite the international community in promoting change. After the Cuban
regime's crackdown on dissidents and summary executions of three men who
attempted to flee the island, the world realizes that Cuba's problem is
its brutal dictator -- not U.S. policy. The OAS, in particular, should
do a lot more. We salute Mr. Noriega's commitment, in his words, ``to
encourage greater involvement by Latin American governments in the quest
for democracy and development in Cuba.''
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