What would it be like to live in a tropical paradise, but to be banned from using its most beautiful beaches; live blocks away from fine restaurants, but not be allowed to eat in them? To be required to get government permission to buy a car, to rent an apartment, or leave the province in which you live? To be spied on by your neighbors and made to participate in group “acts of repudiation” against neighbors who flouted the government’s restrictions? Welcome to Cuba.

Vaclav Havel, former political prisoner, leader of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, and eventual president of an independent republic, once argued that totalitarian regimes fear and imprison dissidents because they represent the potential of human freedom. Regimes that govern through lies, fear, and intimidation cannot abide individuals who remain true to themselves and their aspirations. Individuals who dare to question such regimes find themselves in prison. In Cuba today, over 300 political prisoners languish in its jails.

In March 2003, the Cuban regime arrested and imprisoned 75 members of Cuba’s democratic civil society for such “crimes” as organizing seminars on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, running a library, and writing uncensored articles, essays and poems about life in Cuba. In June 2005, others were arrested for organizing a protest outside the French embassy.

Some of these prisoners have been given “conditional releases” (for health reasons) dependent on their behavior. While out of prison, many have been subject to harassment, intimidation, and violent attack. In recent weeks, the regime has released some well-known dissidents, while other activists have been beaten and arrested. The message is clear: The regime will not tolerate independent political activity that undermines its ability to control Cuba’s future.

The systematic repression of dissent should be unacceptable in a hemisphere that, through the Inter-American Democratic Charter, declared, “The peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it.” It should be unacceptable in a larger community of democratic nations that has committed itself to fundamental freedoms and political liberty. The Cuban people deserve to elect their leaders just like everybody else in the hemisphere.

The U.S. does not seek to impose its model on Cuba. To paraphrase Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, you cannot impose democracy, but you can impose tyranny. As she said recently, “If you ask people, ‘Do you want to live in a society in which you have some say in who will govern you, in which you can educate your children, both boys and girls, in which you can speak your conscience, in which you can worship freely, in which you can associate to promote your interests, the sort of basics of democracy,’ most people will say yes.” Asking that in Cuba can land you in jail.

When Fidel Castro became ill, he transferred power to his brother and a small group of individuals who represent the bureaucracy and institutions of Cuba’s totalitarian state. They have prepared for this moment for years by improving their internal policing, increasing censorship, blocking foreign access to Cuba’s democratic civil society, and further closing any independent spaces existing in Cuba.

At this uncertain moment, Cuba sits between hope and fear. Hope for a political opening that would lead to a free and democratic Cuba ready to regain its place among the democratic nations of the Americas. Fear that the regime will attempt to perpetuate itself, and the privileges of its elites, through increased repression and jailings, deepening the isolation of the Cuban people.

Now is the time for the international community to tell the Cuban people that it stands in solidarity with their democratic aspirations, and will provide the political and economic support necessary to make those aspirations real.

The first step is for the international community to call on the regime to free its political prisoners, stop the persecution, restore individual political and economic rights and start down a path that leads to free elections. The dialogue that needs to take place is one between the Cuban authorities and the Cuban people about the democratic future of the island. We look forward to the day when the people of Cuba will enjoy the same freedoms as citizens of democracies everywhere.

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Excerpts)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Spokesman

For Immediate Release December 19, 2006

2006/1131

Interview

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Roundtable with Press

December 19, 2006 Washington, D.C.

QUESTION: On Cuba, I think you've said you don't want to see a transition from one strong man to another, but a lot of folks have suggested the U.S. might do something. Congressman Flake, who just came back from Cuba, would like to see the U.S. ease a little bit the ban on Cuban Americans visiting the island. As you recall, the Bush Administration tightened those restrictions. And he said its put Cuban Americans in a terrible situation and it hasn't done anything to change the Cuban regime. Are you considering any gesture that might suggest a slight change in policy now that Fidel Castro appears not to be coming back to power?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, there's clearly a transition underway in Cuba. But I think that our energies need to go into making very clear to the Cuban people that we believe, first of all, that the future of Cuba is with the Cubans on the island, that -- you know, they will have to make their choices. But secondly, that we're going to support a democratic future and democratic elections and I think that's the gesture that needs to be made; not gestures to potentially continue the regime.

The sense that Cuba -- Cubans somehow need a transition; well, all right, fine. Everybody understands that -- you know, elections wouldn't be held on day one, but we have a lot of experience with this in places where the international community has stepped in, has been able to help a society to get to free and fair elections. That's what the Cuban people deserve and so that's where we are spending our efforts.

QUESTION: So nothing before elections?

SECRETARY RICE: In all of these years there has been an assessment -- and by the way, you know, yes, the Bush Administration tightens on this, but this policy has been pretty steady for the United States. In all these years, the day has been wished for when the Cuban people were going to have a chance to have a democratic choice and I think the worst betrayal would be to hand, in any way, a sense of outreach to someone who may think that he's just going to succeed and go to another -- you know, one dictator to another. I just don't see the value of that.

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Raul Castro calls for more policy debate in Cuba

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Cuba's interim leader Raul Castro, signaling a different style of government from his ailing brother Fidel Castro, on Wednesday called for greater debate on public policies in the communist-run country.

"Sometimes people fear the word disagree, but I say the more debate and the more disagreement you have, the better the decisions will be," he told students in Havana.

Raul Castro said he was delegating more responsibilities and making fewer speeches than his famously verbose brother, and running the country of 11 million in a more collegial way.

He did not mention the health of his 80-year-old brother who has not been seen in public since emergency intestinal surgery forced him to relinquish power on July 31 for the first time since Cuba's 1959 revolution.

The bearded leader's absence has fueled uncertainty about the future of the Western hemisphere's only communist state, amid speculation that he may be close to death.

His designated successor Raul Castro, 75, said Cuba's one-party political system, or the "Revolution" as its backers call it, will continue with or without his brother.

"Fidel is irreplaceable, unless we all replace him together," he said, repeating a statement he made in June that Fidel Castro's only possible heir is Cuba's Communist Party.

"Fidel is irreplaceable and I don't intend to imitate him. Those who imitate fail," Raul said in the short speech to a conference of Cuba's Federation of University Students.

The younger Castro had the 800 delegates in stitches with humorous stories about his childhood, including one about getting thrown off a horse the day he tried to copy a peasant and ride bareback.

Looking relaxed even though he was dressed in his army uniform, Raul said Cuba was at an "historic" moment.

"I say historic because, like it or not, we are finishing the fulfillment of our duty and we have to give way to new generations," he said.

Cuba watchers believe Raul Castro does not have the ambition to run Cuba indefinitely and would govern for only a few years before handing over to a younger successor.

Since Raul took over from his brother in July, Cuban newspapers have published rare stories exposing theft and corruption in Cuba's socialist society. He is said to favor relaxing state controls over the economy.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque gave the final address to the student meeting, filling a role traditionally played by Fidel Castro.

Perez Roque announced increases in grants and reductions in bus fares for the students.

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Raul Castro calls his brother, Fidel 'irreplaceable'

HAVANA, Dec 20, 2006 (AFP) -

Cuba's interim leader Raul Castro said Fidel Castro was "irreplaceable" and that he had never tried to imitate his ailing brother in the five months since he was deputised.

Fidel Castro has been recovering in hospital since undergoing intestinal surgery on July 27, and has not been seen in public since.

"Fidel is irreplaceable," Raul Castro said of his 80-year-old brother. "I ought to know. I've known him since I've had the use of reason. We've not always had the best of relations, because, as he says, I am who I am."

Serving also as defense minister, Raul Castro has been known as a no-nonsense, hardline military leader.

Fidel Castro "is irreplaceable, unless he is replaced by all of us, together, each taking his corresponding place," Raul Castro told a meeting of the University Student Federation in Havana.

Only Cuba's communist party could replace Fidel Castro for "obvious reasons," he said.

In the five months since he was deputised by Fidel Castro, Raul said he has not tried to imitate his brother.

"From the first moment it was established that I would not be giving all the speeches," he said.

"On this we must be clear," said Raul Castro, saying he respected the role and the charisma of the leader of the Cuban revolution and that the president's various duties had been distributed among different officials.

The interim leader's comments came two days before the communist Caribbean nation's legislature meets Friday amid speculation about Fidel Castro's health and the country's political future.

It will be only the second time in its 30-year history that Fidel Castro will miss a session of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP).

Raul Castro also told the student audience that the revolutionary generation had a duty to pass the torch to a younger generation, whether "we want to or not."

He urged the students to debate current issues during what he called a "historic" moment in Cuba.

He described his brother as "perseverant, talented and guided by solid principles." mis/fgf/ddl/mac

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Raul says Party the only legitimate heir of Fidel

Havana, Dec 21 (EFE).- Raul Castro, who is heading Cuba's government "provisionally" for his ailing brother, says neither he nor any other indvidual can take the place of Fidel and that the supreme commander's only legitimate heir is the Communist Party.

In an address Wednesday night to the congress of the University Students' Federation, the longtime defense minister and No. 2 man of the regime also spoke of his differences of style with his brother, acknowledging that the elder sibling cannot be imitated.

"Fidel cannot be substituted for, unless it is all of us together that substitute for him, each one in the place that belongs to them," said Raul. He said the way must be "gradually" cleared for the younger generation to assume more power.

Authorities of the 48-year-old Communist regime have treated the ailment of Fidel, who underwent intestinal surgery in July, 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, 75.

John Negroponte, head of U.S. intelligence, was quoted last week as saying Fidel has only months to live. Cuban authorties have denied that, saying the top commander does not have cancer or any other terminal illness, though they have not said what his affliction is.

Raul, in his speech Wednesday night, underscored that he feels obliged to pursue his own style.

"Because from the first moment I determined that it wasn't me who had to be summarizing everything and speaking at every event," alluding the near ubiquity that has characterized the extraordinarily energetic Fidel over decades of rule.

He noted that principal speaking roles have been taken in recent months by several high-ranking government and party officials.

"That's the line we must follow," he said. Referring to the oratorical skill of his elder brother, he said: "When somebody just tries to imitate, they fail."

The provisional president told the students, "this is an historic moment." Without elaborating and perhaps referring only to his advanced age and that of Fidel, he said: "We at this time are concluding the fulfillment of our duty."

"We must make way for the new generations, or continue to open the way for new generations, gradually," he said.

He prompted repeated laughter from the audience by relating anecdotes from his childhood with Fidel, especially bickerings or rivalries they had at school and elsewhere, a product, he said, of the trait of hard-headedness they share.

Raul then ceded the microphone to Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, a former president of the student federation and one of the relatively few younger men in a top position in the regime.

Raul declined to meet last weekend with a delegation of visiting U.S. lawmakers, the biggest such party to make a trip to the island in nearly a half-century.

The legislators, who held three days of talks with authorties just below the rank of the provisional president, said their trip was the beginning of a new and promising phase in the ever-difficult bilateral relationship.

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.

"But the dialogue has begun ... and there will be more visits and more dialogue," he said. EFE

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Cuba's Raul Castro signals more openness to debate of divergent ideas than brother Fidel

By ANITA SNOW

Associated Press Writer

21 December 2006

HAVANA (AP) - Cuban provisional leader Raul Castro said in comments published Thursday he will delegate more duties and give fewer speeches than his "irreplaceable" brother Fidel, and further signaled a new leadership style that includes more openness to divergent opinions.

The Communist Party newspaper Granma said Raul Castro told about 800 university leaders they should "fearlessly" engage in public debate and analysis -- expressing a different leadership style than that of his 80-year-old brother.

The elder Castro, who stepped aside almost five months ago after emergency intestinal surgery, for almost five decades was Cuba's "Maximum Leader," characterized by meandering, hours-long speeches, unquestioned decisions and micromanagement of government programs and policies.

The younger Castro said that as Cuba's long-serving defense minister he had learned to listen to and discuss differing ideas, without offering any hints about what those divergent opinions might be.

Raul Castro is largely seen as a pragmatist more likely to embrace limited free enterprise than his brother, and in the past has expressed interest in China's model of capitalist reform with one-party political control.

"The first principle in constructing any armed forces is the sole command. But that doesn't mean that we cannot discuss," he said. "That way we reach decisions, and I'm talking about big decisions."

Raul Castro also echoed his earlier insistence that neither he nor any individual could replace his brother. Although some Cuban officials have insisted Fidel Castro will return to power, they privately acknowledge that it is unlikely he will come back in the same all-powerful role.

"Fidel is irreplaceable, save that we all replace him together, each one in his place" Granma quoted Raul Castro as telling the closing session of Cuba's University Student Federation annual congress. "The only substitute for Fidel can be the Communist Party of Cuba."

The 75-year-old Raul Castro also spoke of the need to promote younger people to start taking over for Cuba's aging leaders, many of whom are now in their 70s.

"We are finishing up the fulfillment of our duties and there has to be a slow opening up to the new generations," he said.

When Fidel Castro addressed the same congress last year, he also spoke of the need to nurture younger leaders for the future.

Cuba's unchallenged leader for 47 years, Fidel Castro announced on July 31 that he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was temporarily ceding power to his younger brother while he recovered.

Last seen in public on July 26, his medical condition has been kept as a state secret. The government has occasionally released official photographs and videos of him since then, and he appeared thin and frail in the last one seen in late October.

Cuban authorities have denied speculation by many, including U.S. intelligence officials, that Fidel Castro is suffering from cancer or some other terminal illness.

Some U.S. doctors have said that Castro might have diverticular disease, which can provoke bleeding in the lower intestine, especially in people over age 60. In severe cases, emergency surgery may be required.

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Cubans seem resigned to life without Castro; While the Cuban government maintains leader Fidel Castro is recovering, on the streets of Havana there already is talk of a new era. CUBA

BY FRANCES ROBLES

frobles@MiamiHerald.com

21 December 2006

The Miami Herald

After nearly half a year of Fidel Castro sidelined by illness and government stalwarts insisting that he will make a comeback, a new feeling has swept over Cuba: acceptance.

''We know he's human just like all of us,'' said José, a 63-year-old Havana teacher. ``Life ends for all of us one day.''

The Cuban government maintains that Castro is recovering. A U.S. congressional delegation that visited Cuba last week said that was clearly the message that the Cuban leaders they met with sought to put forward.

The fact that interim president Raúl Castro did not meet with the delegation only reiterated the point: Fidel, who announced on July 31 that surgery for intestinal bleeding had forced him to temporarily turn over power to his brother, will return.

But on the streets of Cuba, the sense was different.

''What was perhaps a little surprising is that now it seems everyone is so accepting that Fidel is gone,'' said one of the delegation heads, Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. ``Not the government -- they went through extreme lengths to say he'll be back. But out on the street, people seemed to express that a new era has begun, and it's going to look a lot like the old one.''

Even if Cubans have accepted that Castro's presidency has essentially ended, speculation about his health has only grown. Castro has not made any public appearances since his surgery, and photos released by the government show a shrunken 80-year-old in his pajamas.

RAMPANT RUMORS

Castro's health is a closely guarded state secret, yet rampant rumors spread in Cuba and abroad last week, apparently fueled by the Dec. 2 military parade in Havana which Fidel, who was to have been the guest of honor, did not attend.

The rumor that Castro had in fact died were so widespread last week that the Miami Police Department issued a statement saying the department didn't know whether it was true.

Within days, National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte told the Washington Post that Castro had ''months, not years'' to live. Meanwhile more rumors that Castro had suffered a setback, had been transferred to a different medical facility or reacted badly to his anesthesia made the rounds.

''The truth is that everybody is dying to know how he is, but nobody knows exactly,'' Castro's sister Juanita told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. ``I haven't talked directly with him, but my relatives in Cuba assure me that he is recovering and, thanks to a first-rate medical team, he will recover.''

Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, after first saying that he worried about his friend and prayed for him, announced that he had talked on the phone with Castro about trade and other bilateral issues. Chávez also said the Cuban leader does not have cancer.

The next day, Cuba's Granma newspaper published

an article saying that Castro had spoken by telephone to a work session of provincial Communist Party leaders, and that his words were met with applause.

But the U.S. congressional delegation left unconvinced of Castro's return, saying that all signs point toward a government running smoothly under Raúl.

''If he does come back, I can't imagine it would be in any serious role,'' Flake said. ``I can't judge Fidel's health from pictures on TV, but I do get the sense Cuban people are just ready to move on.''

Increasingly, the mood appears to be one of wait-and-see by Cubans as they also express growing uncertainty over whether life will be better or worse under Raúl.

''Everyone knows Raúl doesn't have the same ability as Fidel,'' said Pedro, 57, a statistician. ``But Fidel and Raúl are the same.''

SOMBER MOOD

While street parties held for Fidel around the time of his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 had the feel a celebration, the Dec. 2 military march had the eerie feel of a wake.

''The mood there is that the succession has taken place,'' said Cuba analyst Phil Peters of the Lexington Institute, a Washington-based think tank, who coordinated the congressional visit. ``Nobody knows what the status of Fidel's health is, but if it turns out he isn't coming back, the pieces seem in place for this government to take his place.''

Miami Herald translator Renato Pérez and a Miami Herald staff writer in Havana contributed to this report.

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Cuba opens first mill, looking for sugar recovery

By Marc Frank

HAVANA, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The Cuban sugar harvest began this week with the first of 51 mills grinding toward a hoped-for comeback to take advantage of higher world prices and increased ethanol demand, local media said on Wednesday.

Authorities have said there is at least 25 percent more cane than the previous harvest that produced an estimated 1.2 million tonnes of sugar.

"The Paquito Rosales mill in eastern Santiago de Cuba began milling on Tuesday," state-run television said, announcing the start of the harvest.

"Local specialists announced there was 37.7 percent more cane in the province and raw sugar output would increase 51.2 percent" over the previous harvest's 90,000 tonnes, Santiago's Sierra Maestra weekly said Wednesday in its online edition.

Sugar Minister Ulises Rosales del Toro said in October the painful process of downsizing the industry was over.

Since 2003, he said, Cuba has reduced the number of mills from 156 to 66, of which 51 will participate in the harvest that runs through April, with most mills opening in January.

Above average rainfall since May has broken a long drought that hit sugar hard as most plantations do not have adequate irrigation, and the island was spared hurricanes this season.

However, there is concern that the El Nino phenomenon could produce out-of-season rainfall during the December to April dry season, lowering yields and slowing mechanized harvesting.

Optimism prevails in the sugar-producing central and eastern Cuba. Las Tunas province reported it would produce 50 percent more raw sugar than last season's 118,000 tonnes and Granma 30 percent more than 90,000 tonnes, while central Camaguey forecast a 50 percent increase over 100,000 tonnes.

Cuba consumes a minimum 700,000 tonnes of sugar per year and 400,000 tonnes are destined for a toll agreement with China.

Cuba has imported some low-grade white sugar over the last few years, but is not expected to do so in 2007, unless it proves less expensive than refining on the island.

Higher sugar and ethanol prices led to a decision in 2005 to invest once more in the decapitalized and aging industry where all but eight mills pre-date the 1959 revolution.

This year's planting was doubled to 120,000 hectares, Rosales said in October. Most of the new cane was slated for cutting in 2008, and for the first time in a number of years larger amounts of fertilizer, herbicides and other inputs were made available.

Some 500,000 hectares were harvested this year, the National Statistics Office reported, with yields averaging 26 tonnes of cane per hectare according to Rosales, compared with the 40 tonnes the ministry hopes to achieve by 2008.

Prices the state-run mills pay for cane have increased significantly.

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All Eyes on Cuba's Ailing Castro

20 December 2006

NPR: News & Notes

FARAI CHIDEYA, host:

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is back in the news. Earlier this week, John Negroponte, director of National Intelligence, said Castro is very ill and close to death, that claim is denied by Cuban authorities.

A 10-member congressional delegation, the largest to ever visit Cuba just wrapped up a trip last weekend. They were unable to meet with either Fidel Castro or his brother, Raul. Raul’s been the interim leader since Castro’s surgery for internal bleeding last July. There’s no word on Castro’s physical ailment this time.

Gary Marx is the Havana bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune. He says Cubans aren’t hearing U.S. claims that Castro may be near death.

Mr. GARY MARX (Chicago Tribune): Generally speaking, the Cubans have been very upset about it. I mean they are insisting that, you know, Fidel is recuperating from an unnamed illness. And so I think word coming out of Washington that he has months and not years to live has infuriated the Cubans. But they’re in a position now, where they’re just providing no information about his health condition and therefore, you know, rumors are just flying free right now.

CHIDEYA: Can you give us a little recap of the Cuban leader’s health over the past few months?

Mr. MARX: At the end of July, he announced that he had undergone a major intestinal surgery. It was not specified what exactly he had and that he was handing over power temporarily to his brother, Raul Castro, the nation’s long- time defense minister. But since then there’s been very little information about him; we’ve seen a couple of videos.

But the last pictures we saw, the last images was October 28th, and it was a video that showed him very weak, and in fact, disoriented. And since then we see nothing.

CHIDEYA: Tell us who Raul Castro is in terms of temperament, power. At this point, is Fidel Castro, despite these videos and images of him being very ill, is he still really in power or is Raul Castro in power?

Mr. MARX: Well, the general feeling is Fidel is still there, but he’s really more of a check on any changes. And the power is really passed to Raul and some generals that are loyal to him. Raul really is a military guy and he’s very much an organizational person. You have to understand though, Farai, he’s 75 years old. How much longer is he going to last? So the feeling is Raul Castro, even if he takes over, is really a transitional figure.

CHIDEYA: Now, I visited Cuba several years ago on a reporting trip and people on the island seemed to have a very different view of Fidel Castro than Cuban immigrants in the United States.

So even when Cubans in Cuba were critical of the president they saw him as a force resisting international imperialism. How do Cubans, these days, assess their leader?

Mr. MARX: There are some Cubans on the island who absolutely hate him. There’s a small percentage that absolutely love him. Most have a very, very mixed feeling. I mean Fidel Castro is a towering figure in the world. He has put Cuba on the map, and at least, in the first several decades of the revolution made major changes in education and healthcare, and things like that.

But over the last several decades the country really has gone downhill, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union. And I think a lot of people are very disappointed that he hasn’t made the sort of economic changes that would make lives easier for most Cubans.

CHIDEYA: If Cuba goes through a transition of leadership, will there be any talk of Cubans in the U.S. returning to Cuba and making a play for power?

Mr. MARX: You know, I think that’s a non-starter. People here are very united in that sense. They feel like this is their island, the immigrants have made their lives somewhere else, and they do not have a say in the future of this country.

CHIDEYA: Well, on that note, Gary Marx, thank you so much.

Mr. MARX: Thanks, Farai. It was a pleasure.

CHIDEYA: Gary Marx is the Havana bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune. He joined us from Cuba.

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EDITORIAL: CUBAN MARKET RIPE FOR KANSAS FARMERS; Open up

21 December 2006

Wichita Eagle (KS)

opinion

Four decades after imposing an embargo on Cuba, America has very little to show for it. With Fidel Castro's health failing, and the end of the Castro era in sight, it's time for America to begin a new era of diplomatic engagement and trade with Cuba.

Kansas farmers would be among the big winners.

Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Hays, was among a 10-member bipartisan congressional delegation that traveled recently to Cuba to promote agricultural trade -- the most high-profile official visit in decades.

In 2000, Moran helped pass legislation that partially opened Cuba to U.S. drug and agricultural exports, resulting in Cuba buying $1.4 billion worth of U.S. ag products from 2001 to 2005.

He's now working to roll back Bush administration rules imposed last year that once again thwarted Cuba trade.

And there's a change in the air, not just in Cuba but in Congress.

Many GOP lawmakers now recognize that trade with Cuba would provide a boost for struggling Midwestern farmers, hungry for markets for their products.

A 2002 study by Texas A&M University found that the United States was losing $1.2 billion annually in agricultural sales because of the Cuba trade ban.

President Bush, though, remains firmly opposed to ending the embargo or opening a diplomatic dialogue with Cuba. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice restated this week that any overture to the regime would be "the worst betrayal" of Cubans.

But the embargo betrays the Cuban people, by keeping them dependent on the Castro regime. Flooding Cuba with American visitors, products and ideas is the best way to promote political and economic reforms in the island nation.

Opening Cuba to trade would give America greater influence over that country's future and help send the Castro regime into well-deserved oblivion.

As Moran said Monday after returning from the trip, "personal freedom follows economic opportunity. The larger trading relationship we have, the higher standard of living that Cuban people have, the more demands they will make upon their government for change."

Besides, the United States trades with several politically oppressive countries, including Russia, China and Vietnam, arguing that trade promotes political reforms.

Why the double standard for Cuba?

For decades, the United States' Cuba policy has been more about winning votes in Miami than benefiting the Cuban people or the American economy.

It's time for a change of course.

For the editorial board, Randy Scholfield

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Never lose sight of a Cuba that has room for all of us; AFTER CASTRO

BY MARIFELI PEREZ-STABLE

mps_opinion@comcast.net

21 December 2006

The Miami Herald

F idel Castro is on the final stretch. Would he have missed the pharaonic commemoration of his 80th birthday otherwise? For almost six decades, Castro has been a fixture of Cuban politics. With the year and his life winding down, my heart and my mind are set on Cuba more than ever.

Let's put Castro's shadow over Cuba in perspective. In 1948, Cubans last voted in a free-and-fair presidential election. Four years later, the 50th anniversary of independence was observed, and Fulgencio Batista overthrew President Carlos Prío. In 1953, the ill-fated attack against Moncada Barracks -- and Batista's wanton repression against the young men -- ushered Fidel Castro onto national prominence. The citizenry -- which had resigned itself to the coup -- was taken with the Moncadistas for acting against the dictator. Fidel never looked back.

Castro's reign looms larger in Cuba's history than absolute monarchies do in Europe's, communism in Russia's or Mao in China's. Cubans have an arduous trek ahead.

Historical revisionism, which highlights bygone moments of compromise, is well under way. On both sides of the Florida Straits, not a few look askance at the effort: glorifying the intransigence of our past is stubbornly equated with patriotism. But, the time for mere intellectual debate is running out.

Unless we think -- and feel -- outside the box, we won't untangle the knotted threads that bind us to the present. There are no straight lines to a democratic Cuba. The road map will be drawn in fits and starts, stumbling into dead ends while also making progress. We will need a different kind of courage, one rooted in the unbending conviction that the ends simply do not justify the means. We should ask ourselves, what would Fidel Castro do, and then find another path, never losing sight of a Cuba that has room for all of us.

Máximo Gómez -- a Dominican at the forefront of Cuba's independence wars -- used to say that Cubans either fall short or overreach. Unfortunately, the old general's insight has been more on the mark than not. Dwelling on details is tempting -- for instance, the recent trip of a U.S. congressional delegation to Havana. Since Raúl Castro did not meet with the representatives, was their visit a waste of time? If so judged, then we better be prepared to entertain many more useless journeys before the back-and-forth yields concrete results. How can it be otherwise with relations so long entrenched in confrontation?

More sensitive is the issue of Havana's violation of rights. Augusto Pinochet's passing renewed comparisons to Fidel Castro. Well-meaning individuals on the Left scoffed at the suggestion. Yet, Castro in the 1960s had many more thousands killed than Pinochet did in the 1970s. Only the Comandante was leading a revolution, and the General crushed democracy. Both deserve a place in the human-rights hall of infamy.

The context in which each acted -- Castro in a society that longed for social justice and national sovereignty, Pinochet in one that had descended into chaos -- needs to be understood. Still, lofty ends pursued with brutal means are debased, no ifs, buts or maybes. When the truth comes out in a democratic Cuba, the world will acknowledge the atrocities perpetrated by a revolution which, at the time, stood tall among most Cubans and offered hope to so many elsewhere.

Last November, I traveled to Nicaragua as an electoral observer with the Organization of American States. I went with Cuba on my mind and came back wonderfully heartened. Since the 1980s, the OAS has organized dozens of electoral missions throughout the region. In Nicaragua, the OAS also worked with Enrique Bolaños' government for 18 months to fend off a constitutional crisis. Fully appreciative of its work in Nicaragua, I look forward to the OAS doing the same in Cuba.

What most moved me were the Nicaraguans who lined up for hours to cast their ballots. My Christmas and New Year's wish is to see similar lines everywhere in Cuba. I'm certain our day will come, but we must get it right. We've paid dearly for falling short or overreaching.

Marifeli Pérez-Stable is vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C., and a professor at Florida International University.

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Gov. Bush tells Cuban-Americans he shares wish for free Cuba

By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau, Sun Sentinel
December 21, 2006

CORAL GABLES · Gov. Jeb Bush expressed wishes for democratic change in Cuba at a gathering Wednesday of Cuban-American political action committee members.
"My hope for next year is that all of us who want to can go to Cuba to see the results of a free Cuba," he said in Spanish to those gathered at the Biltmore Hotel for the annual luncheon of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC.
His remarks came as many in the Cuban-American community hope there soon will be a democratic transition in Cuba. Serious illness has forced Cuban leader Fidel Castro to hand over power to his brother, Raul.
The political action committee contributes to candidates who support strong measures against communist Cuba and an "unconditional" transition to democracy on the island. It was Bush's last scheduled public event outside of Tallahassee as governor.
"What better way to go out than supporting democracy in Cuba?" he said to reporters afterward.
Other politicians attending the gathering included governor-elect Charlie Crist, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas. Among the speakers were Miami Republicans U.S. Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston.
Several praised Bush for his interest in bringing about change in Cuba. Martinez jokingly referred to Bush, a longtime Miami resident who speaks fluent Spanish, as Florida's "first Cuban-American governor."

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Bush praised as state's 'first Cuban-American' governor; Hailed as Florida's first 'Cuban-American' governor, Gov. Jeb Bush was praised by the exile community's power brokers at a swank luncheon. GOVERNOR'S FAREWELL

BY CASEY WOODS

cwoods@MiamiHerald.com

21 December 2006

The Miami Herald

A crush of the Cuban-American community's power brokers honored outgoing Gov. Jeb Bush Wednesday in a loving farewell to a leader the exile community sees as the most staunch champion of their cause -- a free Cuba -- in the state's history.

''As a Cuban American, I want to thank you for being what I would call in my mind, the first Cuban-American governor,'' U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez said. ``Not only with his language, but also with his understanding and intrinsic love for the Cuban people . . . he has been an immense help to the cause of freedom.''

Bush responded with equal affection. 'If Bill Clinton can be the first `African-American' president, I can be the first Cuban-American governor,'' he said during his address to hundreds of supporters.

The event, an annual lunch of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee, drew a who's-who of the exile community and its supporters, including Republican U.S. Reps. Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat. The political group has lobbied heavily in Congress to quash efforts to weaken elements of the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

In his remarks to more than 800 people gathered at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Bush referred to the controversial comments of Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, who last month called Miami a ``Third World country.''

''Miami is the most beautiful place in the world,'' he said in Spanish. ``The congressman from Colorado doesn't know anything about Miami.''

Bush did not directly opine on another controversy roiling the Cuban-American community, one over the possible congressional investigation of the government-funded Radio and TV Martí, though he did express support for the Martís' efforts.

''The people that want more truth to come [to Cuba] because they believe that will hasten the transition to freedom in Cuba believe we've got to find out ways to get Radio and TV Martí into Cuba, and I'm on that side,'' he said in an interview afterward.

With a $37 million budget, the Martís, which were created to promote democracy in Cuba, have been dogged by political cronyism and mismanagement, according to audits in 2003 and 1999. Another government audit is underway. TV Martí also has struggled to expand its audience, which a government study estimated at 9,000 last year, because of jamming by the Cuban government.

On Tuesday, Martí officials announced that they will spend $377,500 to air certain programs over South Florida broadcast stations, using a loophole in the law that bans the dissemination of propaganda in the United States.

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., announced Wednesday that he will move to hold hearings next year on the alleged problems at the Martís. Delahunt is slated to head the oversight and investigations subcommittee for the House International Relations Committee.

Martinez was openly critical of the investigation.

''We'll have to see what the [investigations] say, but it is important to recognize that when there was Radio Free Europe, they didn't do these [investigations],'' he said.

He also criticized the recent legislative delegation to Cuba, which included Delahunt, calling it a ``colossal failure.''

''They were not considered important enough for Raúl Castro to take his time to meet with them,'' he said.

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Congressional Delegation Returns from Cuba
10-Member Bipartisan Contingent Met With Cuban Officials

Reps. Mike Conaway (R-Tex.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.)
U.S. Congress
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; 11:00 AM

Reps. Mike Conaway (R-Tex.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) were online Wednesday, Dec. 20, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the recent bipartisan congressional delegation to Cuba, where members of Congress met with Cuban government officials to discuss ways to improve relations between the two countries.

The transcript follows.

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Burke, Va.: What will happen, realistically, after Castro passes in respect to our relationship with Cuba?

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.): I hope our relationship with Cuba will improve even before Castro passes on. The ball really is in the US government's court. It is my belief that more trade and lifting the travel restrictions will promote better relations between our two countries and result in more political space in Cuba. Current US policy is a relic of the Cold War. The US needs to show more imagination and maturity in our relations.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex,): I believe that the leadership of the government of Cuba has moved on even though Castro is still alive. This trip is a good example of the U.S. trying to move the relationship with Cuba forward. The leadership in Cuba is very nationalistic and does not want to be seen a "giving in" to the U.S.

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Raleigh, N.C.: What efforts did your delegation make to meet with long-standing political prisoners such as Dr. Oscar Biscet, an Afro-Cuban physician incarcerated for years for the crime of opening a lending library in his home? Did you press for the release of political prisoners or at least for an amelioration of their deplorable "living" conditions? Or would such overtures spoil the "make nice" theme of your visit? It should be noted that, along with our embargo, Castro's gulags are also a "relic" of the Cold War. But, perhaps one beneath our notice--as Shakespeare put it, "He jests at scars who never felt a wound."

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex,): We did not specifically ask to see Dr. Biscet. We did address release of the dissidents jailed in 2003. Throughout the visit, the ministers we met with were markedly not interested in addressing human rights issues.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.): I have met with countless dissidents during my many trips to Cuba. I have always raised the issue of human rights with every Cuban official I have ever met with, including, in the past, Fidel Castro. Our group raised these issues during this trip and passed on names of many people who have been jailed and who we believe should be free.

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Alexandria, Va.: Can you describe what you saw in Cuba? Were you mostly in Havana being escorted by officials, or did you make it to other towns? I've heard Cuba is almost reminiscent of the '50s in terms of its cars and styles because of its restricted economy. Please comment on what you observed on the streets.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex,): This was my first trip to Cuba. We stayed in the city of Havana. We were not escorted by government officials and were free to go where we wanted. The city looks like it has 50 years of neglect. Most of the buildings are in need of exterior maintenance and repair. However, if you use your imagination you can see what a jewel the city must have been in its heyday. The majority of the cars are vintage U.S. that have been kept running by some really good Cuban mechanics because they do not have access to replacement parts. The streets are clear of litter but the overall look is very shabby.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.): I've been to Cuba many times. My first visit was in 1979. Clearly you can see the effects of the US embargo by the fact that the Cubans cannot, by law, receive goods and services from the US. Over the years, I have traveled the entire island. On this current trip, unfortunately, I only had time to venture out of Havana twice. There were no restrictions imposed on me by Cuban officials. I have a great respect for the people of Cuba and I look forward to the day when US citizens can travel to Cuba and Cuban citizens can travel to the US. We can learn a lot from each other.

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Melbourne, Australia: As the post Castro era approaches, is it not now time for the U.S. to soften its hard line policies towards Cuba and its inhabitants? Australia recognizes Cuba and could it not be an important player in opening dialogue with Cuba's new generation of leaders. Isn't continued isolation simply delaying the inevitable dialogue and rebuilding of Cuban society.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex,): I went to Cuba supporting the administration's policy toward Cuba. I went to observe, learn and listen to help me make informed decisions as we go forward. I came away from the trip still supporting most of the current policy. I do not believe that lifting the embargo and tourist travel restrictions will change any of the policies in Cuba that we want changed. This trip does show however, that those of us who support the current policy are willing and want to continue building relationships with the leaders in the Cuban government to work toward solutions.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.): I have long felt that US policy toward Cuba defies common sense, makes the US look ridiculous, and hurts average Cuban people. I have also felt that US policy has been used as an excuse to justify all the shortfalls of the Cuban government and their crackdown on political dissidents. When all is said and done, I think there are many in the current Cuban government who are nervous about a possible change in US policy. Among other things, it will mean that the US will not be able to be blamed for everything.

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Washington, D.C.: Why were the two of you, personally, interested in going to Cuba? Did you choose to join the delegation or were you picked?

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex,): I asked to go on the trip. Two of my staffers have been to Cuba on Ag related trips and they wanted me to go. One of the staffers supports the current policy and the other is in favor of lifting all restrictions.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.): I've been to Cuba many times. I am part of the Cuba Working Group in the Congress, which is a bipartisan group of Members dedicated to changing our policy. The group of Congresspeople is the largest official Congressional Delegation to visit Cuba since before the revolution.

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Washington, D.C.: Do you believe that our current stance toward Cuba, essentially blocking all American personal and commercial interaction with the island, is helping to promote democracy? Is it actually meeting its goals or is there a bit of stubbornness the U.S. has when dealing with Castro? If that's the case, will his eventual death harken a new U.S. strategy toward Cuba?

Thanks!

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.): I believe our policy toward Cuba, to put it bluntly, is dumb. It is self-defeating and reflects a double standard. The embargo hurts the Cuban people, not the Cuban government. When Fidel Castro dies, absent a major shift in US policy, there is no reason to believe anything will change.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex,):