U.S. Diplomat Says Transition Under Way in Cuba (Let US Hope and Pray!)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration has stepped up support for a growing dissident movement in Cuba in an effort to speed up a peaceful transition to democracy, the top U.S. diplomat on the island said on Thursday.

The momentary collapse of the 75-year-old leader in June as he gave a speech under blistering sun reminded Cubans that he was mortal and a "biological solution" was possible, she said.

When a minister cried "Long live Raul" to the crowd, referring to Castro's brother and army chief Raul Castro, Cubans realized a political succession was planned that involved more of the same, "Fidelismo without Fidel," she said.

"The people of Cuba don't want a succession, they want a transition. There is so much pent-up frustration," she said.

The United States, which broke off relations with Cuba after Castro seized power four decades ago, wants rapid change but in any event is laying the groundwork for transition to democracy after Castro's death.

Reflecting stepped up U.S. pressure on Cuba under President Bush (news - web sites), Huddleston has become more vocal in recent weeks in criticizing the island's communist-led government.

The State Department said on Thursday that the U.S. government had denied visas to several officials of the Cuban state food-importing agency Alimport under 1985 legislation barring entry to Cuban Communist Party and government members.

The Cubans had requested visas for a trip to contact U.S. agribusiness firms. A Cold War-era trade embargo was relaxed last year at the request of farm groups to allow food sales to Cuba, whose economy was battered by Hurricane Michelle.

"We are abiding by the law, but we don't favor or encourage these sales," a State Department spokesman said.

Cuba says the Bush administration has taken the anti-Castro hard-line of the Cuban exile community in Florida, rewarding them for their support in the pivotal 2000 presidential race in that state.

Huddleston said Cuba's economic troubles have stirred up discontent among the Caribbean island's population of 11 million, particularly among the young who see no future.

Human rights activists have grown in numbers and become the voice of the Cuban people, persuading them to lose their fear, she said.

Dissidents have collected more than 10,000 signatures calling for an unprecedented referendum on political reform of Cuba's one-party state. Their Varela Project has been publicly backed by the U.S. government.

The plebiscite, which some observers believe Havana will never allow, would call for freedom of speech and assembly, the release of political prisoners and the opening of the country to private enterprise.

Huddleston said intimidation of Cubans associated with the Varela Project has grown, with 30 dissidents detained in the last two weeks and the reemergence of the government's "rapid response brigades," used in the past to disperse protests.

The Bush administration has added the word "rapid" to the existing U.S. policy of encouraging peaceful democratic reforms in Cuba, Huddleston said.

The United States is trying to foster the process by increasing the flow of information to the Cuban people, mainly in books and magazine to independent libraries that have mushroomed across the island.

"The information flow, outreach to the Cuban people, is ... not only going to prepare the Cuban people for a democratic, peaceful transition, it is going to speed it up," she said.

Information on the transition from Soviet rule in Eastern European nations and self-help books on how to set up and run a small business have been most popular with Cubans, she said.

Thank you for the ping.

Vicki Huddleston Q&A: speaks about dissidents, Castro and the U.S. role

[Excerpts] Q: What does the average Cuban on the island think of the Cuban exile community?

A: That's hard for me to answer. It depends on the education level. If they are not very educated, if they live in a rural area, they probably believe what they hear in the state-run media and in the rallies, which is not good. But if they are more sophisticated and listen to Radio Martí, or if you're at the university or work at a hospital, then you're likely not going to believe the negative propaganda. You're probably aware the Cuban American community does not represent a threat to you. But if you're a farmer in a rural area, or a teacher or a guard placed outside my house, you might believe what the Cuban government tells you. There is a billboard in Cuba that says ``There are a million children who will sleep in the street tonight. Not one is Cuban.''

……….. Q: Should Cuba be removed from the list of terrorist states?

A: Cuba knows what it has to do to get off the list of terrorist states, and that is simply not to give safe haven to terrorist groups as it has in the past. We suspect, and in some cases we know, that they have provided safe harbor to members of the ETA [Basque separatists], other leftist movements of Latin America, the macheteros [pro-independence radicals in Puerto Rico] and the 70-some fugitives from the United States [the FBI believes that 77 federal fugitives are in Cuba, including former CIA agent Frank Terpil, a convicted arms trafficker, and Robert Vesco, indicted in a multimilliion dollar fraud]. Those are not terrorists, but they are still fugitives from justice. Cuba is not the player it once was on the world stage. Ten or 15 years ago, Cuba was a major player and Fidel had a large platform. It's much smaller now. . . . I don't see Cuba even as a leader on the Caribbean stage. I see more democratic Caribbean countries taking leadership roles.

………….Q: Should travel restrictions to Cuba be lifted?

A: The problem with the lifting of travel restrictions is that the Cubans control it because they issue the visas. They can put quotas. They can decide to allow only the tourists going to Varadero and Cayo Coco and ensure they have very little contact with the Cuban people. And all that will do, initially, is fill the government coffers and build up the regime. It's ironic because what you need is for the government to respond to the current economic crisis by opening up, by letting Cubans own and operate their own businesses, by letting them invest, letting them stay at hotels. [In Cuba,] the economy is shrinking. It is too dependent on tourism and remittances. Their way of fixing the problem is to fill up the hotels. A far preferable way . . . would be to grow the economy by letting the people invest in their community by starting small businesses -- not just restaurants and taxis and services, but also . . . creating products. You have natural capitalists in Cuba, and the proof of that is in the cars they have and how they take care of them. If allowed to work independently, they would create wealth through their own labor . . .[End Excerpt]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.