U.S. considers punishing Cuba for dissident crackdown*** WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is considering a series of steps to punish the Cuban government for its recent crackdown on dissidents, officials said Wednesday. Among the more drastic are the possibility of cutting off cash payments to relatives in Cuba -- a mainstay for millions of Cubans -- or halting direct flights to the island, the officials said.
President Bush is likely to make a public statement soon about the crackdown, which has stirred grave concern among Cuba policy experts here and dampened the hopes of lawmakers and others seeking to ease the current trade sanctions. At the same time, the president is expected to issue a stern warning to the Havana government that the United States will not tolerate another exodus of rafters, the officials said. Several times during Castro's 44-year tenure, most notably in 1980 and 1994, he has relieved internal tensions by allowing mass migrations to Florida. ***
HUMAN RIGHTS: Cuba on Tenterhooks in U.N. Commission***GENEVA, Apr 16 (IPS) - The outcome of the vote on the Cuban situation by the United Nations maximum human rights body was postponed Wednesday, though it is evident that it will take place amidst high diplomatic tensions. Cuban dissidents say that regardless of the vote results, little will change on the island. The debate in the U.N. Commission on Human Rights underwent a radical shift within a matter of hours as a result of reactions from Latin American and European delegations to the recent crackdown on dissidents and the execution of three hijackers on the Caribbean island.***