Posted on 06/25/2002 11:55:41 PM PDT by kattracks
WASHINGTON, Jun 26, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The Bush administration is planning to offer scholarships to Cuban students and professionals, hoping the skills they acquire will be useful if and when the island embarks on a democratic path.
When the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba passed word of the plan recently, long lines formed outside the building, causing traffic problems. The Cuban Foreign Ministry held the mission responsible and lodged a diplomatic rebuke.
President Bush mentioned the plan in a speech last month, indicating some scholarships would go to relatives of Cuban political prisoners.
Adolfo Franco, a top official at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said the initiative is a "wonderful vehicle for introducing young Cuban people to the United States and to give them a taste for academic freedom."
The Cuban government will have no role in the process until those selected for scholarships need permission to leave the country.
U.S. officials said they are pushing ahead with the program even though there is no certainty that exit visas will be granted. The spokesman at Cuba's diplomatic mission was unavailable for comment.
It will be up to U.S. diplomats in Havana to screen all applicants to ensure that no Cuban agents get visas.
During the Clinton administration, Cuban President Fidel Castro expressed keen interest in allowing Americans trained in computer technology and other fields to teach at Cuban schools. But Washington showed little interest.
The goal of the scholarship program is to have the first 20 Cuban students enrolled at five or six community colleges in late August. They would study for two years at a cost to the taxpayer of about $20,000 per year per student.
Students from Central America and the Caribbean, Cuba excepted, have been using the program for years.
After intense English language training, the Cuban students would study political science, economics, U.S. and Latin American history, agribusiness, computer business application and small business management.
As part of the agreement, the students will be required to return to Cuba after two years.
Bush announced the initiative in a May 20 policy address.
"Our government will offer scholarships in the United States for Cuban students and professionals who try to build independent civil institutions in Cuba, and scholarships for family members of political prisoners," Bush said.
The Cuban revolution generally has forbidden the establishment of institutions outside state control. As U.S. officials see it, this has left the island ill-prepared for a democratic transition.
Castro's response to talk in Washington of a transition is to say that Cuba had its transition in 1959 when he took power. He maintains that another transition is not necessary.
Responding to dissidents' pressure for an evolution to democracy, the Cuban government is preparing a constitutional amendment declaring that the country's socialist system is "untouchable."
Meanwhile, Cuba has been providing free medical training to disadvantaged Americans for the past year, but some have rebelled against the island's austere conditions.
Of the original eight Americans who went to Cuba in April 2001, only two remain, according to a recent article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Fifty others have gone since then, 14 of whom have dropped out and returned home, the newspaper said.
By GEORGE GEDDA Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
Yes, why mess with perfection?
Of the original eight Americans who went to Cuba in April 2001, only two remain, according to a recent article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Fifty others have gone since then, 14 of whom have dropped out and returned home, the newspaper said.
<< Disadvantaged?????? Who bought their tickets?
Send them to Harvard, they will feel like at home with all those commies around.
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