POPE URGES CLEMENCY ``In the face of these facts, His Holiness charged me with asking Your Excellency to give full consideration to a significant gesture of clemency toward those convicted, with the assurance of knowing that such an act will contribute to create a climate of greater detente to the benefit of the real Cuban people.'' In an introduction to the letter released by the Holy See, the hijackers were described as dissidents, not criminals.
In his speech on Friday night, Castro said his administration was aware of the political consequences it would face but had no choice in adopting ''the measures,'' referring to the arrests and executions. The three-hour speech explained the government's action by detailing alleged provocations incited by the top U.S. diplomat in Havana, and U.S. support for a democratic reform initiative known as the Varela Project and another dissident movement known as the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba.
Citing the war in Iraq as an example of U.S. aggression, Castro warned that Cuba could not be conquered with soldiers, military tanks or aircraft. He said that ''principal leaders'' in the country would never surrender and that even if they were killed, thousands of other ``combatants would occupy their posts . . . and generation after generation would fight for Cuba and against occupying troops.'' ''When our country is occupied,'' Castro said, ``The war will not end; rather, it will just begin.''
Castro said that the Bush administration ``is seeking an inevitable mass exodus [out of the island] . . . to serve as a pretext for military aggression against Cuba.'' Cuba always has blamed U.S. immigration policy for spurring illegal departures because U.S. law allows most Cubans who reach U.S. soil to qualify for permanent residence. But in his speech, Castro suggested that a string of hijackings over the last year is part of a U.S. plot that began to unfold nearly eight months ago with the arrival of James Cason, chief of the U.S. Interests section in Havana.***
The cash sent to families in Cuba by relatives in the United States is estimated to total as much as $1 billion a year and is vital source of income for many Cubans coping with economic hardship in Cuba since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Powell told the Council of the Americas that Castro had condemned himself by refusing to let a U.N. human rights envoy visit the island to investigate. "Why would Castro reject scrutiny if he has nothing to hide? We know the reason. He has everything to hide," he said.***