President Criticized Over Past Pledges About Cuba

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer

President Bush met yesterday with a group of former Cuban political prisoners and relatives of newly imprisoned dissidents to mark the anniversary of Cuban independence from Spain and renew his pledge to work toward the end of Cuba's communist dictatorship.

The 11 Cubans, who spoke to reporters after the meeting, said they appreciated Bush's gesture. "Our suffering is not important, compared to the suffering of those [Cubans] who have never emerged into the light of liberty," said Ana Lazara Rodriguez, a doctor who spent 19 years in a Cuban prison.

Isabel Roque, whose economist sister Marta Beatriz Roque was among 75 human rights and political activists given long prison terms in Cuba last month, wept as she said they had "come to talk to our president to ask him to help."

But the hastily arranged meeting did little to assuage the ire of Cuban Americans in Congress and activists in Florida who have accused Bush of failing to act on promises he made to crack down on Cuba during Independence Day speeches last year, the year before and during his campaign.

A terse statement issued by Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, all Florida Republicans, said they had recommended that Bush meet with the Cuban group after "we were informed that the White House had not yet completed its ongoing review of U.S. policy toward the Cuban dictatorship." None of them attended.

Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was more direct, saying that Bush, after "relentlessly" attacking Clinton policy as soft on Cuba, has done no better. "Shame on you for not living up to your promises; shame on you for your deceptions; and shame on you for playing on the emotions of the Cuban American community," he said in a statement.

Although the four Cuban Americans in Congress believe Bush has not been tough enough, a bipartisan majority in Congress has asked Bush to ease an economic embargo and travel restrictions that have been imposed on Cuba through nine U.S. administrations. They argue that the sanctions have not accomplished their goal of hastening the fall of Cuban President Fidel Castro, and that a U.S. opening would stand a better chance.

Political dissidents in Cuba generally advocate lifting sanctions, and not all the relatives appreciated Bush's efforts. The daughter of imprisoned independent journalist Raul Rivero said she thought the expulsion of 14 Cuban diplomats for alleged spying was unhelpful. "I think it is playing a game," Cristina Rivero told reporters.

Bush is widely seen as sincere in averring that the United States should squeeze Castro until his government topples or he opens Cuba's totalitarian political and economic systems. But while a hard-line policy on Cuba could once ensure a reliable majority of votes in Florida, and brought little argument from Congress, the political landscape on the issue has become much murkier in recent years.

Last year, Bush delivered his Cuban Independence Day speech on the White House lawn, and then flew to Miami for a rally packed with cheering Cuban Americans. He announced an "Initiative for a New Cuba," saying normalized relations would require free elections. In the meantime, he pledged measures to "directly benefit the Cuban people, including a scholarship program for Cuban students; modernization of TV and Radio Marti, the U.S. broadcasting system into Cuba; and stepped-up enforcement of sanctions.

Although restrictions on travel to Cuba have been toughened, the administration has been unable to prevent the sale of more than $200 million in food and agricultural products to Cuba under a law passed before Bush took office. Neither the scholarship program nor the broadcasting enhancements have gotten off the ground.

Cuban Americans who oppose easing the sanctions differ on the precise crackdown measures that should be taken. But they join in criticizing Bush for not making good on campaign promises to directly fund dissidents inside Cuba; to fully implement sanctions against governments and companies that trade with Cuba; and to end President Bill Clinton's policy of sending migrants apprehended at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard back to Cuba.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

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