Former State Dept. Official: Inspect Cuba

newsmax.com ^ | July 30, 2002

[Tailgunner Joe]

There is every reason to believe that Fidel Castro is manufacturing and exporting deadly biological weapons, and the U.S. should take advantage of Castro's offer made to President Carter to allow full inspection of Cuba's key biotech facilities, says a former State Department official who once headed the Department's Cuban Affairs section.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Dennis Hays, a former U.S. ambassador to Suriname, says, "We need to know if a nation 90 miles from our shores is experimenting with deadly biological agents."

Hays spelled out the reasons for believing that Cuba is involved in biological warfare research and development, specifying what the U.S. knows:

- Cuba has spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing a biotechnology industry, and has imported equipment and invested in containment technology far beyond what is needed for traditional medical research. It has hundreds of scientists who were trained in biotechnology in the former Eastern Bloc. No one, Hayes says, questions the technical capability of Cuba to produce biological agents.

- "Cuba is a hostile state. Castro's enmity toward the United States is a lifelong obsession." Hayes recalls that Castro urged the Soviets to launch a nuclear first strike on us during the Cuban missile crisis. Moreover, he has harbored fugitives from U.S. justice and supported an alphabet soup of revolutionary, subversive and narco-terrorist groups for more than 40 years.

- "Cuba has exported technology and provided training to other terrorist states" and has been selling its expertise in biotechnology to Iran and others.

Hays says there is also reason to suspect that

- Alvaro Prendes, a former colonel in the Cuban air force, smuggled documents out of Cuba "that describe in detail the biotechnology facilities that may serve as fronts for the production of deadly toxins."

- Carlos Wotzkow, a leading Cuban scientist now exiled in Switzerland, says the early phases of Cuba's biological-warfare program were carried out within the Institute of Zoology. Another scientist-defector, Luis Roberto Hernández, described Castro's "interest in finding nontraditional ways to deliver pathogens, such as via migratory birds. While such methods would have seemed farfetched before Sept. 11, they now must be considered seriously."

- Ken Alibek, the former Soviet scientist responsible for hiding the Russian biological warfare program from international scrutiny, has noted the striking similarity between what the Soviets did to avert suspicion in the 1970s and 1980s and what the Cubans are doing now.

Hays says the question that must be answered is whether the Cubans have biological or chemical weapons that threaten the United States.

The only way to know for sure, he explains, is to have qualified experts conduct unannounced inspections. Because Cuba is a signatory to both the 1992 Biological Weapons Convention and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, it must submit to such inspections when challenged by another signatory state.

But that, writes Hays, may not be necessary, because Castro offered Carter, during the former president's recent visit to Cuba, "completely free and total access, along with any specialists whom you may choose, to inspect any of our prestigious scientific research centers."

"Castro may well have thought that we would not call his bluff," Hays writes. "But we should. It is in everyone's interest, even Castro's, to resolve this question - unless, of course, he has something to hide. He opened the door to scrutiny when he offered Carter total access."

Hays' comments echoed those of Undersecretary of State John Bolton, who bluntly accused Castro and Cuba of building weapons of mass destruction - and having in place a program for developing lethal biological weapons - in a speech to The Heritage Foundation revealed by NewsMax on May 12.

Bolton also accused Cuba of helping other rogue states build such weapons.

And, NewsMax noted, Bolton's demand is not new.

In March, Assistant Secretary of State Carl Ford appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and although the media largely ignored Ford's comments about Cuba, he said almost exactly what Bolton said.

Ford told the committee that Cuba has an "offensive biological warfare research and development project" and added that Cuba was providing its technology to rogue states. He then issued a demand for Cuba to cease such weapons programs.

[Enemy Of The State]

wow..it's starting to sound like the US government has pulled so much crap on other countries that its just paranoid now.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

.

[mlocher]

and i thought that that great cuban cigar only had nicotine in it that was hazardous to my health...

[Dqban22]

REPUBLICANS WAKE UP CALL


Por Liliana Quincoses
Texas
La Nueva Cuba
Agosto 4, 2002

---

Some members of the Republican party have left me no alternative than to be indignant due to their desire to change the US policies towards Cuba. I feel like I have been stabbed in the back by members of my own family. Recently, I received a form to join the National Republican Committee and I ask myself, should I do it?

It is beyond believe that farm states Republican Party members want to ease restrictions on travel to Cuba. In particular, representatives Jeff Flake, George Nethercutt, Jo Ann Emerson, and Jerry Moran to name a few. Flake even stated “I feel at some point that the farm state politics will overwhelm the Florida politics” this is from a member of our own party! To which Nethercutt added “There are people from all regions of the country who don’t think Florida should set the policy, that it ought to be a national policy.” Listen Nethercutt I am not from Florida!

Several members of congress want the US taxpayers to subsidize the payments of the goods they want to sell to the Dictator Castro. He has defaulted all his loans, and paid for the recently purchased goods with money destined to pay debts to European countries. The European Union cancelled all further credit to the regime. Therefore, the congressmen pushing the issue want me to pay when Castro defaults in his payment! We might as well give money from the treasury to these members of Congress.

It is most disturbing that these members of congress, belonging to the Republican Party, have not in the least requested democratic changes in the Island. All they see is the almighty dollar for their constituents. Nothing wrong for looking out for your constituents, but not using the suffering of other people.

Jeff Flake thinks flooding the Island with American vacationers will hasten dictator Castro’s downfall or produce windfall profits for U.S. businesses. There are many Canadian and European tourists that visit the Island for a budget vacation or for what it has become known “sex-tourism”. Such tourism has not helped release political prisoners, nor force the regime to change its totalitarian policies. So where is Flake’s logic? I tell you where. It is in dollars and cents!

Are you aware that Cubans have no access to the hotels and beaches reserved for tourist?. This congressmen surely must have seen that, the regime wines and dines US representatives. This is called tourism apartheid!! I am sure these congressmen were against the apartheid of South Africa and supported the policies of not trading with that country.

It is amazing that the aforementioned members of congress belong to the Republican party which is the Party that advocates freedom and liberty. It is as if they have joined the democratic party who have members of congress advocating the same agenda. I thank Karl Rove, President Bush’s senior adviser, for trying to make this people come to their senses. It hurts to see how the integrity in this country is disappearing little by little. Frankly, it looks like they would do anything for a dollar.

How can members of our government want to establish business with one of the biggest enemy this country has. Castro hates the United States with passion and he does not hide it. He never misses any opportunity to openly talk about Yankee imperialism. He assisted in the planning of the terrorist attacks on September 11. Four months before the attacks he toured Syria, Libya, Iran, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia with the purpose of strengthening ties with radical Islamic movements and to share biotechnology to use in bio-terrorism. In Iran, President Khatami welcomed him with open arms.

Castro and Bin-Laden were united in planning the big massacre of 9-11. We can not forget the thousands of innocents that lost their life due to a barbarian act conducted by sick and evil people. How can I forget. My cousin’s wife sister perished in the Twin Towers. She worked on the 84th floor and left two little girls, six and three. As of this date, every morning the toddler asks where is my mommy?

If members of the Congress and Mr. Jimmy Carter don’t stop catering to Castro, this country is going to be in a serious situation and will be lost before we know it. God help us.

With sincere affection

Liliana Quincoses

Weatherford, TX 76087

[Tailgunner Joe]