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Reich vows to defend Cuba embargo
'Murderous regime' criticized in wide-ranging policy statement
By Tim Johnson. tjohnson@krwashington.com. Posted on Wed,
Mar. 13, 2002 in The Miami
Herald
WASHINGTON - The State Department's new point man for Latin America pledged
Tuesday to stave off any attempt to relax a U.S. trade embargo that would throw
''a lifeline to a failed, corrupt, dictatorial, murderous regime'' in Cuba.
Using hard-charging language in his first speech since taking office in
early January, Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Otto J.
Reich warned of the ''extremely violent terrorist'' groups loose in Colombia,
and noted that discontent with democracy is growing in some corners of Latin
America.
Striking a new chord in U.S. policy toward the Americas, Reich said
Washington views corruption as a major obstacle to progress, and has mounted an
aggressive campaign to yank U.S. visas of corrupt officials.
While touching on a variety of regional issues, Reich, who was born in Cuba
and fled the island for the United States shortly after the 1959 revolution, was
most emphatic about retaining the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
''We're not going to help Fidel Castro stay in power by opening up our
markets to Cuba,'' he said. "We're not going to do it.''
Reich said the Bush administration goal is ''a free and democratic Cuba as
rapidly and peacefully as possible.'' Relaxing trade restrictions and
''providing economic succor'' to the Castro government would only delay
achieving the goal, he said.
''Cuban people are no different than other people in Latin America. They
just want to be free,'' Reich said.
Reich said the Castro regime ''makes a mockery of freedom and imposes
tyranny on its people.'' He noted that a broad review of U.S. policy toward Cuba
is under way, and said the Bush administration wants to bolster "the
growing pro-freedom movement inside Cuba.''
Reich, who ran a consulting and lobbying firm with lucrative contracts with
the Bacardi distillery and other companies prior to his appointment, rejected a
suggestion that he may have a conflict of interest in dealing with U.S. policy
toward Cuba.
THE CUBA ISSUE
''I am not recused from the Cuba issue,'' he said during a
question-and-answer session following his speech, which was sponsored by the
Center for Strategic and International Studies, a policy research institute in
Washington.
Reich said the Bush administration is determined to help Latin citizens
fight graft.
''Corruption is the single biggest obstacle to economic development in the
developing world,'' Reich said. "The wealth of the people has been stolen
by too many people in power. . . . I know I'm making a generalization, and I
hope that people won't believe that I am accusing everyone of being corrupt, but
the fact is that there is a lot of corruption in many countries of the region.''
REVOKED VISAS
U.S. consular officials have already revoked ''more than one'' visa, and
will target other corrupt individuals when U.S. officials are ''100 percent sure
that we have the facts,'' he said.
''They are not going to retire to Key Biscayne. They're not going to go to
Disney World. And their spouses are not going to shop on Fifth Avenue,'' Reich
said. "And if they're sick, they're not going to go to Houston to have
their hearts examined.''
Reich rejected a suggestion that U.S. policies may be partly to blame for
the recent collapse of Argentina's economy.
''There are myriad reasons why Argentina is in the condition it's in,'' he
said. "It is because of mismanagement and a lot of corruption over many,
many decades.''
Reich said President Bush has talked to ''at least 10 different heads of
state in the region'' to help find a solution to Argentina's crisis.
He called Haiti ''the most vexing challenge in the hemisphere'' because of "the
cumulative effects of 200 years of bad leadership commanding a predatory
state.''
The Bush administration supports efforts by the Organization of American
States to find a way around a political impasse between President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide and his political opposition, and would like to ''mitigate humanitarian
distress'' in the nation, he said.
On Colombia, Reich cited a ''solemn obligation'' to help the nation restore
security and defend its democracy. He dismissed Colombia's outlaw armed bands on
the left and right as criminal groups financed by narcotics trafficking.
''These are not insurgents. These are criminals. These are terrorists,'' he
said.
Reich said the Bush administration will continue to push for a free-trade
region across the hemisphere even though "many citizens and some leaders
are beginning to question the wisdom of the political and economic reforms on
which they have embarked during the past 10 to 15 years.''
He identified root problems as ''poor governance and incomplete reforms''
rather than fundamental flaws in the free-market economic model. ''There are no
credible alternatives on the horizon,'' he said.
Cubans seek asylum in Spain
From Herald Wire Services
MADRID - Government officials Tuesday were investigating the political
asylum claims of 212 Cubans who arrived at the Madrid airport over the weekend.
The number represents the largest wave of Cuban arrivals to seek asylum or
humanitarian refugee status here, according to Spanish officials. The mass
influx appears to have come in response to rumors spread in Havana suggesting
the Spanish government would begin asking for transit visas on all flights from
Havana to Moscow with layovers in Madrid after March 15.
Without such visas, travelers could not enter the airport.
According to a leading Spanish newspaper, El País, the Spanish
Ministry of the Interior gave 32 Cubans the right to stay on humanitarian
grounds on the day of arrival; 60 more were accommodated under this policy
Monday; and by today, police sources at the Madrid airport said, all the Cubans
were being processed for conditional entry into the country.
Most are expected to find shelter at the Red Cross Refugee Center or reunite
with Cuban exiles already living in Spain.
Most of the travelers arrived on a traditional Havana-Moscow flight with a
layover in Madrid.
On Sunday afternoon, 123 Cubans disembarked from their plane at Barajas
International Airport and immediately applied for refugee status.
Although few Cubans are granted political asylum, most are allowed to remain
in the country on humanitarian grounds.
''In theory, all refugees are allowed to enter Spain, but in practice, few
other nationalities receive the same treatment,'' said Madrid-based immigration
lawyer Juan Ramón Rodríguez. "Spain is much more permissive
with the Cubans.''
He said Cubans are believed to receive preferential treatment due to
strained relations between Spain's moderately conservative government and the
government of Fidel Castro.
Several Cubans at Barajas airport in Madrid told the Spanish newspaper El
Mundo that they had come for economic reasons. They stated that the economy has
sunk under the Castro regime.
Herald special correspondent Julienne Gage in Madrid contributed to this
report.
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