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US GOVERNMENTS REPORTS |
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16 April 2003
Text: U.S. to
Continue Working Toward Peaceful Change in Cuba, Says Official
(State Dept.'s Struble testifies on crackdown against
Cuban citizens)
(1480)
The Bush Administration's work with "truly independent Cuban civil society"
is helping the United States move toward the goal of encouraging rapid,
peaceful transition to democracy in the island nation, says Curtis Struble,
the State Department's acting assistant secretary of state for Western
Hemisphere affairs.
In April 16 congressional testimony, Struble said the Cuban regime's most
recent repressive actions against its citizens will not change the U.S.
focus or diminish U.S. energy in moving toward a free Cuba.
Struble reiterated that if the reforms outlined in President Bush's
"Initiative for a New Cuba" are enacted, the administration will work to
change the U.S. travel restrictions and embargo that have been in place
against Cuba.
However, Struble said that the Cuban regime, with its "harsh" actions
against Cuban citizens seeking democratic change on the island, is
committing "the most serious act of political repression in the hemisphere
in decades."
Despite the Cuban government's crackdown on dissidents, the Cuban people
"have lost their fear of the repressive apparatus that is the Cuba regime,"
Struble told the House International Relations Committee. Cubans "are not
afraid, and they will continue their work" to bring about reforms in Cuba,
he added.
The United States, Struble pledged, "will stand with them, working toward a
common goal: a rapid, peaceful transition to a democratic and free Cuba."
Following is the text of Struble's prepared remarks:
(begin text)
Committee on International Relations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515-0128
STATEMENT BY ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE
AFFAIRS
J. CURTIS STRUBLE
BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS, HOUSE INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS COMMITTEE
April 16, 2003
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this Subcommittee today to discuss
the Cuban government's harsh crackdown against Cuban citizens seeking a
peaceful transition to democracy on the island. We are witnessing the most
serious act of political repression in the hemisphere in decades. We greatly
appreciate the House of Representatives' overwhelming bipartisan support for
the freedom-loving Cuban people, as exemplified most recently in passage of
House Resolution 179. I'm sure that if the Cuban people could speak freely
they would extend to you and your colleagues their thanks for this symbol of
support for their aspirations to regain their human rights.
Since March 19, the Cuban government has carried out its most significant
act of political repression in decades, arresting over 100 opposition and
independent civil society members. Dissidents were imprisoned for writing
"counter-revolutionary articles," running independent libraries, and
belonging to "illegal" groups of independent journalists. Poet and
journalist Raul Rivero was one of many arrested. Fifty-seven-year-old Rivero
was sentenced to 20 years for "mercenary activities and other acts against
the independence and territorial integrity of the Cuban state." Following
sentencing, his wife lamented to the press, "This is so arbitrary for a man
whose only crime was to write what he thinks. What they found on him was a
tape recorder, not a grenade." The Cuban regime has already sentenced more
than seventy- ive such peaceful members of Cuba's civil society to lengthy
prison terms in secret, summary trials.
Castro has long tried to argue that there is no authentic opposition, only
that "created" by the U.S. government working through the United States
Interests Section (USINT) in Havana. The regime has sought to blame us for
its actions, saying that USINT support for the opposition "provoked" the
Cuban regime and crossed "red lines." In fact, USINT's outreach activities
are a logical and incremental progression of our contacts with Cuba's
growing civil society. Castro's argument asserts arbitrary boundaries that
place absurd limitations on the activities of diplomatic personnel.
The real reason that the Cuban security apparatus acted now is because the
homegrown opposition is losing its fear of the regime and growing in
strength and credibility. Oswaldo Payá's insistence on peaceful change and
his use of the right of petition won him support at home and abroad; backing
for Project Varela grew exponentially in 2002, and Varela organizers
constitute a nationwide political operation. Other civil society groups,
such as the "Asamblea" and "Todos Unidos" seek to create nationwide
organizations with political reform agendas. The Catholic Church in Cuba
spoke out in late February, denouncing the "vengeful state" and attacking
the Cuban government's political, economic, and educational policies. The
regime recognized that there was a nascent independent civil society taking
shape, and moved to crush it.
The scope and nature of the repression reveals this intent. Payá was not
arrested, but his subordinates throughout Cuba were. Prominent independent
journalists have been sentenced. Cuba's most prominent independent labor
leader, Pedro Pablo Alvares, was given twenty-five years. The "Asamblea" was
left leaderless with the detention and sentencing of Marta Beatriz Roque to
twenty years' imprisonment. Oscar Elias Biscet, an Afro-Cuban Catholic who
advocates peaceful resistance to the regime, received twenty-five years.
This repression goes well beyond the 1996 dismantlement of the "Concilio
Cubano" structure. The intimidation factor clearly increased as the regime
announced the draconian sentences of up to twenty-eight years. Yet Payá --
whose international stature provides him protection -- has called upon all
"people of good will" to let their voices be heard and denounce the
repression. Moreover, five other leading human rights activists still at
liberty courageously released a communiqué denouncing the Cuban government's
actions.
The Cuban government hoped that world attention would be distracted by the
war in Iraq. However, numerous human rights organizations, governments, and
media outlets have expressed their condemnation of the repression. You will
have noted the Secretary's very strong statement on the arrests of these
prisoners of conscience, which followed two earlier Department statements on
this act of repression. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights raised
the arrests with the Cuban Foreign Minister. The EU denounced the detentions
and termed those sentenced "prisoners of conscience." A number of
governments in this hemisphere, including Mexico, Canada, Chile, and
Nicaragua, have also condemned these acts. The Inter- American Commission on
Human Rights issued a statement calling for a halt to the "wave of
repression." A similar statement by the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) expressed concern over this "serious
infringement of rights."
The Cuban decision to initiate this crackdown just as the annual meeting of
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was getting underway
in Geneva underscores the Castro regime's complete disregard for human
rights and fundamental freedoms. However, this is nothing new. The
government of Cuba has yet to accept a visit from the Personal
Representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights -- a visit
called for in last year's UNCHR Cuba resolution. We are hopeful that the
international community will once again condemn the human rights situation
in Cuba by adopting a 2003 UNCHR Cuba resolution, again calling on the
government of Cuba to accept a visit by the High Commissioner's Personal
Representative for Cuba.
For our part, we continue to execute the president's policy of encouraging a
rapid, peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. Our work with truly
independent Cuban civil society helped us move toward that goal. Castro's
repression will not change our focus or diminish our energy. The president
outlined a flexible and innovative new policy in 2002, his Initiative for a
New Cuba. This Initiative presents the Cuban regime with a challenge to
undertake political and economic reforms. Should such reforms be enacted,
the Administration is prepared to work with Congress to change the embargo
and the travel restrictions. Unfortunately, Castro's reaction was the most
sweeping repression of peaceful dissent in Cuba in decades. Our dedication
to helping the Cuban people remains undiminished.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to end my testimony with a question, one that
admittedly I can't answer. Perhaps the representatives of the Cuban
Interests Section who I suspect are here today, witnessing and ironically
participating in the democratic process that the Castro regime denies to its
own people, can answer it. What is the Castro regime afraid of? Perhaps it
is the fear of its own demise? Or fear of its international isolation? Or
perhaps fear of facing and admitting to its own failures? Or fear of the
realization that as with all bankrupt dictatorships, the Cuban regime is
sliding into historical irrelevance?
This is a question that ultimately I cannot answer. However, there is one
thing that I am sure of, Mr. Chairman. The Cuban people have lost their fear
of the repressive apparatus that is the Cuban regime. They are not afraid,
and they will continue their work. And the United States will stand with
them, working toward a common goal: a rapid, peaceful transition to a
democratic and free Cuba.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) |
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