Carter, Castro to seek common ground (hardly a stretch)

HAVANA - One is a former Georgia peanut farmer who rose to the U.S. presidency. The other is a dogged revolutionary who snatched power in Cuba in 1959 and has held it ever since.

On Sunday, the two will meet. Former President Jimmy Carter will be the first American president - in or out of office - to visit Cuba in more than six decades, and when he shakes hands with Fidel Castro it will mark a clash of ideals.

Mr. Carter made human rights the cornerstone of his 1977-81 presidency. Mr. Castro, on the other hand, has been described by his critics as the "greatest human rights violator in the hemisphere."

But although the two leaders may be at odds over human rights, they have much in common. They oppose the American ban on trade with Cuba. They see themselves as defenders of the poor. They've worked to wipe out disease in the developing world. And they're both tireless - indeed, some call them workaholics.

Among Mr. Carter's plans during his six-day stay are two dinners with Mr. Castro, a walking tour of Old Havana, and trips to a medical school, an agricultural cooperative, a biotech institute, an AIDS clinic and a psychiatric ward.

Mr. Carter, 77, also will do something no current or former U.S. politician has done since at least 1959: He will address Cubans live on national television.

Vicki Huddleston, the top American diplomat in Havana, said she hopes Mr. Carter tells Cubans about the Varela Project, a petition drive aimed at bringing democracy to the country.

Cuban officials dismiss the project and say it has no support. But others call it the most important opposition campaign they've seen in more than 40 years.

"Already it is a success because over 10,000 Cuban citizens have risked their futures by signing a petition that calls for free speech ... private enterprise, release of political prisoners and an opening to democracy," Ms. Huddleston said.

"Unfortunately the government has already begun to try to discredit the project by falsely claiming its organizers are paid by the U.S. government. This is untrue. Project Varela is a homegrown project born of frustration with the present and hope for the future."

A security guard watches as Cuban activists, left to right, Oswaldo Paya, Andres Regis Iglesias, and Antonio Villa Sanchez, arrive to deliver more than 11,200 signatures to Cuba's National Assembly on Friday, May 10, 2002, in Havana. Known as Project Varela, the signature-gathering campaign is seen as the biggest homegrown, nonviolent campaign to force reforms in the government established by Fidel Castro 43 years ago. The petitions propose a referendum that would ask voters if they favor civil liberties like free speech, an amnesty for political prisoners, the right to start their own businesses. Spanish on box reads "Project Varela." (AP Photo/Jose Goitia)

While in Cuba, Mr. Carter is expected to meet with members of the political opposition, including Osvaldo Payá, head of the Varela Project; Vladimiro Roca, a human rights activist just released from jail - some say as a gift to Mr. Carter; and Elizardo Sánchez, director of the nongovernmental Cuban Commission of Human Rights and National Reconciliation.

However, in announcing his trip, Mr. Carter said he does not expect his visit to change the Cuban government.

"It is an opportunity to explore issues of mutual interest ... and to share ideas on how to improve the relationship between the United States and Cuba," he said.

Jennifer McCoy, director of the Americas Program at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Mr. Carter "is looking forward to a full discussion" of the human rights situation in Cuba. But he "has no intention of entering into negotiations with the government of Cuba."

Mr. Carter and wife Rosalynn founded the Carter Center in 1982, and since then the nonprofit operation has pushed for better government, housing and medical care in more than 65 countries.

The former president travels to Cuba at a time of greater than usual tension between the United States and Cuba.

U.S. officials a week ago said they were concerned that Cuba was developing germ weapons and sharing its technology with "other rogue nations."

Cuban officials vehemently denied the charge and recently accused the State Department's new chief of hemispheric affairs, Otto Reich, of being an "unscrupulous and cynical ... liar."

Mr. Castro's supporters say they want to mend fences with the United States and believe that Mr. Carter can help in that cause.

It was Mr. Carter who pushed for normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries in the 1970s. His administration began by relaxing laws preventing Americans from traveling to the island.

But negotiations between the countries fizzled after Mr. Castro allowed 125,000 Cubans to leave the island in what became known as the Mariel boatlift, named for the Cuban port city. Among the Cubans were criminals and mentally ill people, the State Department said, although Mr. Carter welcomed the refugees.

Mr. Carter lost his re-election bid - some say Mariel certainly hurt him - and President Ronald Reagan quickly clamped down on Cuba, tightening economic sanctions.

Still, Mr. Carter has continued to oppose sanctions against the country, and that has given him a certain bond with Mr. Castro.

The Cuban president formally invited Mr. Carter to travel to Cuba in October 2000 when the two attended the funeral for Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Jorge Mas Santos, a Cuban-American leader in Miami, said he worries that Mr. Carter's trip will hurt the Cubans more than it will help them.

But Mr. Mas, chairman of the board of the anti-Castro Cuban American National Foundation, went to Atlanta this month and told Mr. Carter that he's willing to make a concession: He would support an immediate lifting of the embargo if Cuba frees all political prisoners, allows a free flow of information in and out of the island and holds free and fair elections by multiple political parties within 12 months.

Mr. Castro, 75, has said he will not negotiate any conditions for an end to the trade ban and resents U.S. efforts to interfere in Cuba's affairs.

The Cuban president also has denied violating basic rights and says his country's low infant mortality rate, free schooling and free medical care prove that his government has expanded, not restricted, freedom on the island.

Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, said he believes that Cuba is not free but that Mr. Carter may be able to help bring change to the island.

"Jimmy Carter is the guy in America who put human rights on the map," he said. "I hope that he won't let his legacy be tarnished" by not pushing the issue with Mr. Castro.

A former senior State Department official with expertise in Latin America said he believes that Mr. Castro will get the best of the former Georgia governor.

"Of course Castro will use Jimmy. He is the master," the official said. "Jimmy Carter never had the rural slyness and urban malice of Fidel."

The logan act does not apply here. Carter is going with approval and in fact encouragement of the white house. (I think they need drug testing with some of these guys). Carter is an idiot. I actually had a leftist teacher who loves him, but was honest enough to admit "he wasn't an effective president". She however defends him by saying he was ahead of his time, and everything that went wrong was the worlds fault. God some of these people are truely delusional. They honestly believe that the cause and purpose is more important then the results which cost american lives.

"Carter is going with approval and in fact encouragement of the white house."

Please provide evidence of this claim.

Citations, newspaper articles, WH press releases, that sort of thing.

--Boris

Vicki Huddleston, the top American diplomat in Havana, said she hopes Mr. Carter tells Cubans about the Varela Project, a petition drive aimed at bringing democracy to the country.

maybe its crazy, but if the top American diplomat is saying she hopes Carter talks about it. That is tactic approval and encouragement.

"maybe its crazy, but if the top American diplomat is saying she hopes Carter talks about it. That is tactic approval and encouragement."

The top American diplomat where?

She is presented with a fait accompli--what is she to do?

I want to see evidence of pre-approval of his trip by the State Dept., and/or the White House. Bush has already expressed his dismay with the trip.

If Carter is without authority of the United States, he is guilty of a violation of the Logan Act. Period.

--Boris

Vicki Huddleston has been identified as the top United States Diplomat in Cuba. Any statement a U.S. diplomat makes regarding policy must be assumed as a statement from the White House unless they deny such. Sort of a I hire you to speak for me, you do so, and if you'r wrong, then I say so, or you spin it. Vicki Huddleston has shown support for carter and has encouraged him in the news to make statements for certain issues. Since she is the top U.S. offical in Cuba (see post again). Then Carter is being condoned by the white house. The Logan Act does not apply, especially since the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba is saying she wants Carter to speak of certain issues.

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