Cuban News December 18 2006

QUESTION: Just a quick one on Cuba. When Fidel Castro finally dies, the United States Government will have its first opportunity in more than four decades to deal with at least a different leader or leadership -- a different leader in Cuba. What do you plan to do to seize that opportunity?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the first thing we are going to make clear is that the Cuban people deserve to have free and fair elections just like every other country in the Western Hemisphere has, and that the United States does not expect to support the transfer of power from Fidel to another member of his regime as if somehow you can skip what is, I am quite certain, the desire of the Cuban people to have a free choice. That's going to have to be supported by the international community, and I think there's a general sense that that is the case. We have a compact that we -- with the Cuban people that the Commission on Transition to a Free Cuba issued. It makes very clear what the United States would be prepared to do in the event of Fidel Castro's death, including humanitarian assistance, including recognizing that the future of the Cuban political system rests with Cubans on the island, but most importantly also being very clear that this has to be a democratic transition, not one long-serving strongman to another strongman.

QUESTION: And if it's not, do things simply stay frozen?

SECRETARY RICE: Sorry?

QUESTION: If it's not a democratic transition, if it is indeed, you know, one member of his leadership to another, nothing changes from your point of view?

SECRETARY RICE: I wouldn't assume that that is a configuration -- an outcome that's necessarily stable. I think you're going to have pressure in Cuba for change. And I think you're going to have the best way to express that in a peaceful way is through a democratic process.

Now, obviously, it's a process that will have to be prepared and that the international community has done this for any number of people -- Liberia, the DROC, all kinds of -- Haiti, where you have a period of time to prepare a transition for democratic elections. I think that would be an ideal role, for instance, for the Organization of American States, for the UN to be involved in that kind of preparation. But the goal has got to be very clear. There have to be free elections in Cuba.

QUESTION: I was going to ask do you have anything new on the state of Fidel Castro's health?

SECRETARY RICE: I don't, no.

Okay, thank you very much.

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Daily Briefing Index

Friday, December 15, 2006

Briefer: Sean McCormack, Spokesman

~CUBA~

^^ Congressional Delegation in Cuba

^^ Embargo on Cuba / Long Lasting Debate

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2006

QUESTION: Does that same policy apply to the congressional delegation that’s heading to Cuba?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes. They're down there. It's not -- I know there's one down there today -- and it's not the first one. There have been several that have gone to -- gone down to Havana over the past several years and they are there to talk about a variety of different issues. We certainly hope that they would take the opportunity while they are down there to underscore the fact that it is important that the transition that is underway in Cuba, and we all know that there is a transition underway in Cuba, that it not be a transition from one dictator to another dictator and that the Cuban people have an opportunity to realize the same sort of democratic freedoms that every other country in the hemisphere is able to enjoy.

QUESTION: Is it something that you encourage or discourage?

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, they make their own decisions about traveling -- traveling down, particularly to places like this. I think that this isn't the first time you've had a Codel go down to Havana. So it's not unusual. I think it's a little bit -- I think the situation is a little bit different than going down to Havana and going down to Syria, especially where you have the issue of Syria really on the front pages and we made quite clear our position that now is not the moment to engage Syria; they have to demonstrate a change in behavior.

QUESTION: It's different with the situation in Cuba right now?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don't think -- look, you know, the situation with respect to Cuba and the various positions with respect to the embargo or not the embargo are well known. We understand those. So I think the situations are a little bit different.

QUESTION: But this delegation is advocating an easing of sanctions and this seemed to fly in the face of current U.S. policy. I mean, Shannon was saying earlier this week that the Bush Administration won't deal with Cuba until, you know, there's some semblance of democracy. So is this -- isn't this a problem for you? They're delivering a different message.

MR. MCCORMACK: Like I said in answer to Kirit's question, this divide over whether or not to have an embargo on Cuba or to lift it, it's a debate that's been going on for some time. We understand that there are some in Congress who have a very different view. As a matter of policy, we of course have an opposite view from the folks that are down there today. It's a reasonable difference. We understand the difference. But there's no change to our policy, U.S. Government policy.

Joel.

QUESTION: Sean, similarly -- this isn't necessarily a congressional or senate delegation, but at that Holocaust conference in Tehran --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: -- there are some Americans attending. Outstanding is David Duke. Does he get some fines when he returns? And also he's embroiled with CNN and Wolf Blitzer because he appeared in the Situation Room on CNN. What's your feelings? Are there any specific guidelines, especially when some of these celebrities are going overseas and embroiling in activities you may not condone?

MR. MCCORMACK: Joel, Joel, our view on that conference is well known. We talked about it.

QUESTION: Real quick one more time before -- so you don't think that the senators are in any way circumventing U.S. foreign policy by going and talking to these people?

MR. MCCORMACK: Where?

QUESTION: In Syria or in Cuba.

MR. MCCORMACK: This is our government. There are three branches of the government. They represent a branch of the government. The Executive Branch is responsible for the foreign policy of the United States. Senators and congressmen will travel overseas. We encourage them to do that to get an appreciation for what the situation is on the ground. And of course we hear back from them. That's a positive thing. We want to understand what their views are. They certainly have a role in the foreign policy process, but it is the Executive Branch that is responsible for formulating and implementing our foreign policy.

-----------------------

Statement of Representative Jeff Flake of Arizona
Havana, Cuba, December 17, 2006

on behalf of the delegation

It is time for the United States to enter a dialogue with Cuba.

America has important interests in Cuba and strong disagreements with the Cuban government. At a time when Cuba is changing and the opportunities to advance our interests and values in Cuba are not known, we unanimously believe that the United States should respond positively to the proposal made by Raul Castro in his speech of December 2.

No one should be under the illusion that a negotiation with Cuba would be easy, or that results would be guaranteed.

But if we refuse to engage in normal diplomacy, we are guaranteed to produce no results at all.

We should be consulting regularly about migration issues, to protect national security and to save lives. We should see if more can be done to fight drug trafficking. We should be talking right now about Cuba's offshore oil exploration, given its potential impact on our own marine environment. We know there are fugitives from American justice here, and there are some in U.S. custody who are of interest to Cuba. Perhaps there is the basis of an agreement there.

There may be other areas of opportunity. Only by probing Cuba's proposal is it possible to find out.

Our visit provided the first official American contact with senior Cuban officials since the delegation of executive powers last July 31. We appreciate the time and courtesies that our hosts extended throughout our visit.

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U.S. lawmakers: Cuban officials say Castro to return to public life

By VANESSA ARRINGTON

Associated Press Writer

17 December 2006

HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro does not have cancer or a terminal illness and will eventually return to public life, Cuban officials told visiting U.S. lawmakers in the communist government's most comprehensive denial of rumors about the ailing leader's health.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, said all the Cuban officials they spoke to during the three-day trip that ended Sunday told them the 80-year-old leader's "illness is not cancer, nor is it terminal, and he will be back."

Acting President Raul Castro did not meet with the 10-member U.S. delegation and lawmakers said his absence was evidence of the political uncertainty created by Cuba's insistence that Fidel Castro will return to power.

"The party line is that Fidel is coming back, which ... creates a sort of vacuum," said Rep. Jane Harmon of California.

U.S. officials have said they believe Fidel Castro suffers from some kind of inoperable cancer and will not live through the end of 2007. Some U.S. doctors have speculated he could have a colon condition called diverticulosis, which is relatively common among older people.

Castro has not been seen since July 26, five days before he temporarily ceded power to his younger brother to recover from surgery from intestinal bleeding. His failure to show up at his own delayed birthday celebrations earlier this month sparked rumors that he was on his deathbed.

Vice President Carlos Lage has previously shot down reports that the leader was suffering from stomach cancer, but officials had not publicly denied rumors that he could have another type of cancer or some other terminal illness.

On Friday, the Communist Party daily newspaper reported that Castro telephoned a meeting of provincial legislative leaders and talked to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the first news in 11 days about the convalescing leader.

The 75-year-old Raul Castro has appeared increasingly confident in his new role since July. The younger Castro has called on two occasions for normalized relations and improved dialogue with the United States. The visit by the U.S. lawmakers was a response to that call, said William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat.

"It's incumbent on us, representing the first branch of our democracy, to come here and to state that we are willing to engage in a sincere and open dialogue, and that everything is on the table," he said.

The trip "underscores the desire for a change in policy that we believe is embraced by most Americans," he said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday the lawmakers' trip would have no effect on official U.S. policy toward Cuba.

"This divide over whether or not to have an embargo on Cuba or to lift it, it's a debate that's been going on for some time. We understand that there are some in Congress who have a very different view. As a matter of policy, we of course have an opposite view from the folks that are down there today," he said.

The United States has maintained a trade and travel embargo against Cuba for more than four decades. The representatives were united in their call for that embargo to be lifted, calling U.S. policy toward Cuba "an abysmal failure" and "a relic of the Cold War."

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has steadily intensified the embargo and other policies aimed at squeezing the island's economy and undermining its communist leaders. Bush administration officials have rejected both of Raul Castro's offers to talk since the elder Castro fell ill, saying that the country must first hold free and competitive elections and release all political prisoners.

The U.S. lawmakers in Havana said issues of human rights and economic freedom are important to them too, but that it is time for the two countries to find creative ways to solve their differences. In a joint statement released Sunday they suggested some specific issues to negotiate, such as migration, drug trafficking and the environmental impact of Cuban oil explorations in the Gulf of Mexico.

"I think this is the golden opportunity (for talks) ... especially as we make a transition in Washington," said Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, referring to his party's upcoming takeover of Congress.

But the U.S. representatives from Kansas, Texas, California, Tennessee, Arizona, New York and Massachusetts also said they were surprised at what they called the rigidity of some Cuban officials, who said they have no plans to make changes in the island's political or economic system in the future.

"Basically we're being told it's the same menu, different waiter," said Jim McGovern of Massachusetts.

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Castro to Recover but Not Return, Cubans Say

By JULIA PRESTON

18 December 2006

The New York Times

Cuban officials told lawmakers from the United States House of Representatives visiting Havana yesterday that President Fidel Castro did not have cancer or any terminal illness and that he would be making a public appearance shortly, according to Rep. William Delahunt, one of the legislators.

But Mr. Delahunt, Democrat of Massachusetts, said he concluded from the delegation's discussions with senior Cuban officials and diplomats that Mr. Castro would not return to running Cuba on a day-to-day basis.

Mr. Delahunt said he understood that government administration had been definitively passed to Mr. Castro's brother, Raul. ''The Cubans were emphatic, and I believe them, that Fidel does not have cancer, and that the illness he does have is not terminal,'' Mr. Delahunt said in a telephone interview last night after he returned to Washington.

He said Cuban officials assured the delegation that Mr. Castro was planning to re-emerge shortly. Mr. Castro, 80, who has controlled Cuba since he took power after a revolution in 1959, has not been seen in public since July 26, and Cuba has guarded the details of his medical condition as a state secret. Cuban officials announced that he underwent intestinal surgery in late July. He did not appear at celebrations of his 80th birthday earlier this month, prompting a new rush of rumors that he had died.

If Mr. Castro re-appears, ''this will not be Fidel sitting at his desk,'' Mr. Delahunt said. ''This will be Fidel Castro is alive and recovering.'' He said he anticipated that if Mr. Castro did resume a political role, it would be setting broad policy. ''The functioning of the government, that transition has already occurred,'' he said.

The bipartisan delegation of 10 representatives, which Mr. Delahunt described as the largest Congressional delegation to visit Cuba during Mr. Castro's rule, arrived Friday and spent 48 hours in Havana. It was led by Mr. Delahunt and Rep. Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, the leaders of the Cuba Working Group in the House.

The lawmakers met with the foreign minister, Felipe Perez Roque, the National Assembly president, Ricardo Alarcon, and Yadira Garcia, an economic minister, among others.

They did not have any contact with Mr. Castro or meet with Raul Castro. The Communist Party newspaper reported Saturday that Fidel Castro had telephoned several Cuban lawmakers on Friday. He has also spoken recently to President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Mr. Chavez has said.

The Cuban officials did not disclose what illness Mr. Castro had, but they insisted he was recovering, and said he had avoided public appearances to hasten his recuperation, Mr. Delahunt said. Mr. Castro passed his political authority to his brother before his surgery.

''It seems that the Cuban government may not be ready to say that a new era has begun,'' Mr. Flake said when asked why Raul Castro had not met with the lawmakers, The Associated Press reported from Havana.

Photo: President Fidel Castro in a photograph the government said was taken on Oct. 28. (Photo by Juventud Rebelde/Estudios Revolucion)

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Castro not terminally ill, said unlikely to govern

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Fidel Castro is not terminally ill and would make a public appearance shortly, but is unlikely to return to governing Cuba on a day-to-day basis, Cuban government officials told a visiting delegation of members of the U.S. Congress.

"The party line is that Fidel is coming back. He does not have cancer," Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat, told reporters on Sunday.

But Rep. William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat and one of the leaders of the delegation, told The New York Times that he had concluded after discussions with officials that the 80-year-old Cuban leader, who has undergone intestinal surgery, would not return to running his country on a day-to-day basis.

"The Cubans were empathetic, and I believe them, that Fidel does not have cancer and that the illness he does have is not terminal," Delahunt told the Times after returning to Washington.

Castro, who has not been seen in public since July 26, was planning to make a public appearance shortly, and if he did resume a political role, it would probably be setting broad policy, Delahunt told the newspaper.

"The functioning of the government, that transition has already occurred," it quoted him as saying.

If Castro reappears, "this will not be Fidel sitting at his desk," Delahunt told the Times. "This will be Fidel Castro is alive and recovering."

Castro did not appear at celebrations of his 80th birthday this month, prompting rumors that he had died or was near death.

The 10-member U.S. congressional delegation, was the largest to go to Cuba since Castro's 1959 revolution.

The three-day visit was aimed at improving ties between Havana and Washington. But the delegation's efforts to launch a new dialogue with Cuba on the assumption that Castro was out of the picture were rebuffed by officials who insisted he was recovering.

"What dialogue?" one Cuban official told Reuters. "The ball has been in the U.S. court for a long time."

The American legislators also failed to get a requested meeting with acting President Raul Castro, who took over the government temporarily on July 31 after his brother's surgery.

Cuba has closely guarded information on Fidel Castro's medical condition. But his closest ally, Venezuelan President Hugo, has said that although Castro does not have cancer, he is fighting a "great battle" against a "very serious" illness.

The Communist Party newspaper reported on Saturday that Fidel Castro had telephoned several Cuban lawmakers.

The visiting U.S. legislators, who favor easing restrictions on trade and travel to Cuba, said they were told that with or without Fidel Castro, the island nation would continue to be a one-party communist state.

"Cuban officials made every effort to convince us that ... the potential demise and health issues of Fidel Castro do not change the nature of the government or the policies of this country," said Rep. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican.

The delegation met separately with the three most senior Cuban officials in charge of policy toward the United States -- Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, the ruling Communist Party international relations secretary Fernando Remirez de Esternoz and Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly.

McGovern said that, despite assurances that Fidel Castro is recovering, the Cuban leader's advanced age meant that even if he did return it would only be for a short time.

"It would be a mistake to sit around and not do anything," to change U.S. policy, which he called a "Cold War relic" that had failed to bring change to Cuba in almost half a century.

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US lawmakers assured Castro does not have cancer

HAVANA, Dec 18, 2006 (AFP) -

Cuban officials have assured visiting US lawmakers that Fidel Castro does not have cancer and is not dying, despite his failure to appear in public since July, members of the US delegation told reporters.

Democratic Representative Jane Harman of California said Sunday the lawmakers had been told that Castro was expected to return to power.

The ailing Cuban revolutionary leader failed to show up at a December 2 military parade organized in honor of his 80th birthday.

Castro, handed over the reins of power on July 31 to his brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, after undergoing intestinal surgery. He has not been seen in public since July 26.

Rumors about his health escalated after US Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte told the Washington Post earlier this month that Castro was very ill and close to death.

"Everything we see indicates it will not be much longer ... months, not years," Negroponte told the Post.

The visiting lawmakers also called on Washington to take up Raul Castro's invitation to talks with the United States.

"We unanimously believe that the United States should respond positively to the proposal made by Raul Castro in his speech of December 2," said a joint the statement read by Arizona Republican Jeff Flake.

"America has important interests in Cuba and strong disagreements with the Cuban government," the statement said.

"No one should be under the illusion that a negotiation with Cuba would be easy, or that (there will be) results at all," the lawmakers said. "There may be other areas of opportunity. Only by probing Cuba's proposal is it possible to find out."

But the United States so far has said it is not interested in negotiating until there is a sign of political liberalization in Cuba.

The United States and Cuba do not have full diplomatic relations, and the US government has maintained an economic embargo on the only one-party communist state in the Americas for decades.

The bipartisan delegation arrived here Friday and has pressed for the US government to lift the embargo and resume a dialogue with Havana, a move opposed by the Republican administration of President George W. Bush unless Cuba takes steps toward democracy.

Flake and William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat, are members of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations and leading members of the Cuba Working Group, which aims to foster better political, economic and cultural ties.

The others in the delegation are Democrats Harman, Hilda Solis, James McGovern, Gregory Meeks and Lincoln Davis; and Republicans Jo Ann Emerson, Mike Conaway and Jerry Moran.

They also proposed continuing dialogue on immigration, drug trafficking, capture of fugitives, the environment and oil exploration.

The ten reportedly met the head of the US Interests Section in Havana, Michael Parmly, ahead of a news conference about their visit.

The group met Friday with Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba's National Assembly and the top official for US affairs.

Among Saturday's round of events was a reception with Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, and meetings with central bank governor Francisco Soberon and Basic Industries Minister Yadira Garcia, an influential member of the Politburo of Cuba's Communist Party.

They had hoped to meet Raul Castro or Vice President Carlos Lage, organizers of the visit said privately.

Cuba's media, all under state control, did not announce the visit prior to the arrival of the American delegation, who traveled on a US military jet, US sources said.

Raul Castro, who is also the defense minister, has reached out to Washington more actively in his four months in interim power than his brother did in more than four decades as Cuba's leader.

Wednesday, the top US diplomat for Latin America, Tom Shannon, indicated that Washington had yet to see any reformers in the Cuban government. But he did not flatly rule out dialogue with Havana.

Shannon said any US engagement with Cuba must be "part of a change process that facilitates a democratic transition."

Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since he July 26, the day before his intestinal surgery.

cb/kd/mk/ns

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Bipartisan pitch can't sway Cuba on rights issues; 10 U.S. lawmakers hoped to ease embargo

By Gary Marx, Tribune foreign correspondent

18 December 2006

Chicago Tribune

PHOTO: Arizona Republican Jeff Flake (center), head of the congressional delegation, is joined at Sunday's news conference by Massachusetts Democrats William Delahunt (left) and James McGovern. AP photo by Javier Galeano

HAVANA

The largest U.S. congressional delegation in years ended talks here Sunday without a commitment from Cuban authorities to release political prisoners or make other concessions that could bolster those seeking to ease U.S. sanctions against Cuba.

Cuban officials were amenable to discussing with the U.S. such issues as immigration and anti-narcotics cooperation, but they refused to concede any changes in internal policy as a way to further talks.

"The Cuban officials made every attempt to convince us [and] to demonstrate that there is no change of policy in Cuba," said Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), one of 10 American lawmakers visiting Cuba.

"They made a very strong effort to convince us that the ball was in the United States' court. They've done all they were going to do."

Moran is among four Republicans of a bipartisan delegation visiting Cuba that, as a whole, supports easing the four-decade U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. During three days of talks, delegation members met with several top Cuban officials but not with the ailing Fidel Castro or his younger brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, who is acting as Cuba's interim leader.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the head of the U.S. delegation, said Cuban officials told the group that Fidel Castro does not have cancer and his condition "is not terminal."

"The party line is that Fidel is coming back," said Jane Harman (D-Calif.), another delegation member.

But Havana-based diplomats and many Cubans believe the 80-year-old Castro is dying and will likely never return to power.

Castro has not been seen in public since July 26, and Cuban authorities have released few details about his illness.

The visit by the U.S. delegation comes as President Bush has intensified sanctions against Cuba in an effort to topple the island's one-party government.

Cuba also is going through a period of uncertainty as Fidel Castro steps aside after 47 years in power and Raul Castro tries to consolidate his authority in an effort to sustain Cuba's communist system.

The Democratic takeover of Congress coupled with Fidel Castro's illness have raised hopes among embargo opponents that the political dynamics have shifted in Washington and Havana.

Despite being rebuffed by Cuban officials, several delegation members expressed optimism that restrictions against Americans traveling to Cuba and other measures could be eased by the new Congress. They urged continued dialogue with Cuban officials as a way to ease tensions.

"It is time to change course," Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said in Havana. "The course we have been on for the last 48 years has not yielded any success."

As interim president, Raul Castro has said he is willing to negotiate with the U.S. as long as it is on a fair and equal footing.

But Thomas Shannon, the top U.S. official for Latin America, said the Bush administration has no interest in negotiating with Cuba until it moves toward democratic elections.

The U.S. lawmakers met with Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, along with Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Michael Parmly, the top U.S. diplomat in Cuba.

A meeting with Raul Castro did not materialize.

"It would have been nice to meet with Raul," Flake said. "It would have been a big signal that a new era had begun. They just weren't ready for that."

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gmarx@tribune.com

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Visiting lawmakers see watershed in U.S.-Cuba relations

By Jose Luis Paniagua.

Havana, Dec 18 (EFE).- U.S. lawmakers who formed the biggest such delegation to visit Cuba in almost a half century said their trip was the beginning of a new and promising phase in the ever-difficult bilateral relationship even if Havana, in light of Fidel Castro's illness, is not ready to acknowledge that yet.

The 10-person party had requested a meeting with Raul Castro, the younger brother of Fidel, who has been sidelined since late July after undergoing intestinal surgery, but that encounter did not take place.

Authorities of the 48-year-old Communist regime have treated Castro's ailment as a "state secret." The 80-year-old leader has not been seen in public since shortly before the July 31 announcement of the "temporary" transfer of power to Raul, the longtime defense minister and Fidel's desginated heir.

Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, who headed the U.S. delegation, insinuated that it was perhaps out of respect for the ailing "maximum leader" that those currently running the country declined to herald any sort of watershed moment in the relationship with Washington.

The absence of a meeting with Raul "is interpreted by us that the Cuban government is not ready to concede the new era or that a new era has begun," he told a press conference Sunday after the three days of talks with other high-ranking officials wound up.

"But the dialogue has begun, with this the biggest (congressional) delegation in a half-century," said Flake. "And there will be more visits and more dialogue."

California Democrat Jane Harman, like Flake, reported that authorities here insisted to the lawmakers that Fidel does not have cancer or any other terminal illness, that he is recovering and will return to power.

She said the legislators got the impression that that pending matter - the eventual resumption of his office by the indisputable chief of the Revolution - made Raul and his inner circle reluctant to innovate.

Raul, 75, early this month made a speech including comments interpreted as conciliatory to Washington and expressive of a desire to pursue detente.

Speaking Dec. 2 on the occasion of a massive military parade to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the revolutionary armed forces, Raul said: "This is a suitable opportunity to again declare our willingness to resolve at the negotiating table the prolonged dispute between the United States and Cuba."

He said Havana was open to dialogue based on "the principles of equality, reciprocity, non-interference and mutual respect."

The United States severed diplomatic ties with Fidel Castro's government in 1961, imposing an economic embargo on Cuba the following year. The two countries established interests sections in their respective capitals in 1977.

On Dec. 4, the Bush administration rejected Raul's overture, describing the younger sibling as "a dictator-in-waiting."

"The dialogue that should be taking place is not between Raul Castro and any group outside or any country outside of Cuba. It's the regime, with the Cuban people, talking about a transition to a democratic form of governance," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The U.S. delegation here issued a statement calling on the two governments to start talks on making ties less tense, mentioning as an area of possible progress the easing of travel restrictions.

"No one should be under the illusion that negotiations with Cuba would be easy, or that results would be guaranteed," the declaration said. "If we refuse to engage in normal diplomacy, we are guaranteed to produce no results at all."

The lawmakers called for increased bilateral contacts on migratory issues, combatting drug trafficking, exploration for oil off Cuban shores and the environmental consequences that may have and increased collbaroation between the two nations' judiciaries.

William Delahunt, Democrat of Massachusetts, said no one expected drastic change to come quickly in Cuba. But he said the will exists on both sides of the Florida Strait to take advantage of this "historic moment."

New York Democrat Greg Meeks said it was time for "a change of course."

"Every piece of evidence that I look at tells me that the course we have been on for the last 48 years has not yielded any success," said Meeks. "We in the United States of America, I believe, have to take the moral high ground and the moral high ground is dealing with the people of Cuba."

"I think this is a golden opportunity and a right time as we transition in Washington, D.C., to have a different dialogue -- a dialogue in which we talk to one another, as opposed to at one another," he said.

Jim McGovern, another Massachusetts Democrat, said the policy practiced to date by a succession of U.S. governments is "a relic of the Cold War" and should be changed.

Several of the U.S. visitors said the upcoming shift in power in Congress - Republicans took a drubbing in November's midterm elections and lost control of both houses to Democrats - could help spur a policy shift.

The delegation met with Cuban congressional chief Ricardo Alarcon, Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and bishops of the local Roman Catholic Church, among others.

They did not meet with representatives of the island's dissident movement comprising advocates of democracy and human rights, independent journalists and others. EFE

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U.S. Delegation Is Denied a Meeting with Cuba Leader

17 December 2006

NPR: Weekend All Things Considered

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Debbie Elliott.

We have much to report this weekend, with tensions boiling over in Gaza, more violence in Iraq, and talk about how to stop the bloodshed there. We'll have updates on those stories in a few moments.

But first, with Fidel Castro reported in his last days, ten members of the U.S. Congress have been in Cuba this weekend to pave the way for closer ties with the Communist nation.

The delegation is led by Republican Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrat William Delahunt of Massachusetts. The two chair the bipartisan Cuba Working Group, which has pushed for an easing of U.S. sanctions against Cuba.

I'm joined now by Congressman Flake on the line from Havana.

Hello.

Representative JEFF FLAKE (Republican, Arizona): Hi.

ELLIOTT: Thank you. Two weeks ago, Raul Castro, Fidel's brother and now the acting president of Cuba, said in a speech that he is open to dialogue with the U.S. government. Did you meet with him?

Rep. FLAKE: We did not. Today is our final day and it doesn't look like that meeting will happen.

ELLIOTT: I assume you had requested a meeting with him.

Rep. FLAKE: We did. And we wanted to meet with him, but it seems the Cuban government at least is not ready to move on at this point. I think a meeting with him would signal that the Fidel era is over, and I'm not sure they're ready for that yet.

ELLIOTT: Did anyone you met with talk about Fidel's condition? You know, there are reports here that he is terminally ill and will not be returning to power. Did anyone address that?

Rep. FLAKE: Yes, in fact they did. The government officials we met with, one even said this is not cancer and it is not terminal and he will be back.

I can say that that view is not shared by others outside of the government, but that's certainly the government line.

ELLIOTT: Given that context, who were you able to meet with and what kinds of progress do you think you made?

Rep. FLAKE: Well, we met with the foreign minister, Felipe Roque. Also Fernando Ramirez of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. And also the head of the National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcon, and many of these we've met with on prior visits.

As far as dialogue, I think that it's important that whether or not the Cubans believe that the transition is here, a lot of people do. And I think that it's a time where we as a government - the U.S. government - should change our policy and have some dialogue.

ELLIOTT: Were these officials open to that dialogue with the U.S.? What did they tell you?

Rep. FLAKE: Yes, I believe they are. Sorry for the - you may be hearing background as I'm walking in Havana. But yes, I think they're open to dialogue. Whether or not it will be actual negotiations, as Raul Castro said on December 2nd, is another thing.

ELLIOTT: Did anyone you meet with talk about changes that might come to Cuba after Fidel?

Rep. FLAKE: You know what, as far as the government officials, no. They were very guarded there. I kind of had the sense that they were extra guarded, given the transition, almost as if they were auditioning for a role in the new regime, as it were, and being careful not to say something that would disqualify them. That's just simply my sense. They certainly were not open to any change in policy, and we didn't get that at all.

ELLIOTT: So if you get the sense that they're auditioning for a new regime, it sounds like a very similar regime to Fidel Castro's.

Rep. FLAKE: If we had hoped, and I think there were a number of people who had false hope, that as soon as Fidel is gone or too ill to come back, that there would be, you know, riots in the streets or people demanding immediate change, that's simply not happening. It's quiet here. I think for the most part, Cuban people have accepted that Fidel will not come back, and little will change unless there are pressures from without. The problem with U.S. policy, in my view, is we have very little leverage.

ELLIOTT: President Bush's position has always been that can't happen until Cuba becomes more Democratic. Where do you disagree with the president?

Rep. FLAKE: Everyone wants Cuba to become more democratic. I think we simply have a differing opinion on how to achieve that goal. It just seems rather strange to us that we don't approve of the human rights record in China, or to some extent in Vietnam or elsewhere in the world or even during the Soviet era, but we never cut off contact. We never prohibited Americans from traveling there and we always had diplomatic contact, with very few exceptions, throughout that period.

And with regard to the Cuban government, I've never been convinced that they really want the travel ban lifted. I know they want to make it - they want to make us think that, but I have a feeling that if we did lift it, that they would maybe move to restrict travel, because I simply don't believe that they can control it, and I think they fear that more than anything.

I think the people wonder if the Cuban people fear change. I don't think they do, but I sure think the Cuban government fears change. And if we have a lifting of the travel ban allowing unfettered access, I think that they might move to clamp down. But it ought to be them that does that, not us.

ELLIOTT: Republican Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona speaking with us from Havana. Thank you so much, sir.

Rep. FLAKE: Thank you for having me.

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REPORTING FROM CUBA For U.S., it's close but no cigar Delegation fails to meet with Castro's brother but believes door is open to further dialogue, trade, travel

BY J. JIONI PALMER. NEWSDAY WASHINGTON BUREAU; This story was supplemented with a wire report.

626 words

18 December 2006

Newsday

HAVANA - A contingent of U.S. lawmakers left here yesterday without meeting with the nation's leader, but in agreement that a possible U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap might open a way to improve relations.

The 10-member bipartisan contingent - the largest delegation of U.S. Congress members to visit this country since the socialist revolution in 1959 - met Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, Parliament Speaker Ricardo Alarcon and Basic Industries Minister Yadira Garcia over the course of their three-day visit.

They had not been promised a meeting with Raúl Castro, who assumed control when his brother Fidel ceded power after falling ill, but had hoped until the end that arrangements might be made.

The delegation leader, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, said the failure to achieve a meeting was "interpreted by us that the Cuban government is not ready to concede the new era or that a new era has begun." Nonetheless, he said, the dialogue had.

As part of an effort to facilitate further talks between Washington and Havana, the delegation was in agreement a possible future deal on a prisoner swap could provide a way forward for further dialogue.

"We know there are fugitives from American justice here, and there are some in U.S. custody who are of interest to Cuba," Flake said. "Perhaps there is the basis of