16 April 2003
U.S. to Continue Working Toward Peaceful Change in Cuba, Says Official
(State Dept.'s Struble testifies on crackdown against Cuban citizens)
(1480)
The Bush Administration's work with "truly independent Cuban civil
society" is helping the United States move toward the goal of
encouraging rapid, peaceful transition to democracy in the island
nation, says Curtis Struble, the State Department's acting assistant
secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.
In April 16 congressional testimony, Struble said the Cuban regime's
most recent repressive actions against its citizens will not change
the U.S. focus or diminish U.S. energy in moving toward a free Cuba.
Struble reiterated that if the reforms outlined in President Bush's
"Initiative for a New Cuba" are enacted, the administration will work
to change the U.S. travel restrictions and embargo that have been in
place against Cuba.
However, Struble said that the Cuban regime, with its "harsh" actions
against Cuban citizens seeking democratic change on the island, is
committing "the most serious act of political repression in the
hemisphere in decades."
Despite the Cuban government's crackdown on dissidents, the Cuban
people "have lost their fear of the repressive apparatus that is the
Cuba regime," Struble told the House International Relations
Committee. Cubans "are not afraid, and they will continue their work"
to bring about reforms in Cuba, he added.
The United States, Struble pledged, "will stand with them, working
toward a common goal: a rapid, peaceful transition to a democratic and
free Cuba."
Following is the text of Struble's prepared remarks:
(begin text)
Committee on International Relations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515-0128
STATEMENT BY ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE
FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS
J. CURTIS STRUBLE
BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS,
HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
April 16, 2003
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this Subcommittee today to
discuss the Cuban government's harsh crackdown against Cuban citizens
seeking a peaceful transition to democracy on the island. We are
witnessing the most serious act of political repression in the
hemisphere in decades. We greatly appreciate the House of
Representatives' overwhelming bipartisan support for the
freedom-loving Cuban people, as exemplified most recently in passage
of House Resolution 179. I'm sure that if the Cuban people could speak
freely they would extend to you and your colleagues their thanks for
this symbol of support for their aspirations to regain their human
rights.
Since March 19, the Cuban government has carried out its most
significant act of political repression in decades, arresting over 100
opposition and independent civil society members. Dissidents were
imprisoned for writing "counter-revolutionary articles," running
independent libraries, and belonging to "illegal" groups of
independent journalists. Poet and journalist Raul Rivero was one of
many arrested. Fifty-seven-year-old Rivero was sentenced to 20 years
for "mercenary activities and other acts against the independence and
territorial integrity of the Cuban state." Following sentencing, his
wife lamented to the press, "This is so arbitrary for a man whose only
crime was to write what he thinks. What they found on him was a tape
recorder, not a grenade." The Cuban regime has already sentenced more
than seventy-five such peaceful members of Cuba's civil society to
lengthy prison terms in secret, summary trials.
Castro has long tried to argue that there is no authentic opposition,
only that "created" by the U.S. government working through the United
States Interests Section (USINT) in Havana. The regime has sought to
blame us for its actions, saying that USINT support for the opposition
"provoked" the Cuban regime and crossed "red lines." In fact, USINT's
outreach activities are a logical and incremental progression of our
contacts with Cuba's growing civil society. Castro's argument asserts
arbitrary boundaries that place absurd limitations on the activities
of diplomatic personnel.
The real reason that the Cuban security apparatus acted now is because
the homegrown opposition is losing its fear of the regime and growing
in strength and credibility. Oswaldo Payá's insistence on peaceful
change and his use of the right of petition won him support at home
and abroad; backing for Project Varela grew exponentially in 2002, and
Varela organizers constitute a nationwide political operation. Other
civil society groups, such as the "Asamblea" and "Todos Unidos" seek
to create nationwide organizations with political reform agendas. The
Catholic Church in Cuba spoke out in late February, denouncing the
"vengeful state" and attacking the Cuban government's political,
economic, and educational policies. The regime recognized that there
was a nascent independent civil society taking shape, and moved to
crush it.
The scope and nature of the repression reveals this intent. Payá was
not arrested, but his subordinates throughout Cuba were. Prominent
independent journalists have been sentenced. Cuba's most prominent
independent labor leader, Pedro Pablo Alvares, was given twenty-five
years. The "Asamblea" was left leaderless with the detention and
sentencing of Marta Beatriz Roque to twenty years' imprisonment. Oscar
Elias Biscet, an Afro-Cuban Catholic who advocates peaceful resistance
to the regime, received twenty-five years. This repression goes well
beyond the 1996 dismantlement of the "Concilio Cubano" structure. The
intimidation factor clearly increased as the regime announced the
draconian sentences of up to twenty-eight years. Yet Payá -- whose
international stature provides him protection -- has called upon all
"people of good will" to let their voices be heard and denounce the
repression. Moreover, five other leading human rights activists still
at liberty courageously released a communiqué denouncing the Cuban
government's actions.
The Cuban government hoped that world attention would be distracted by
the war in Iraq. However, numerous human rights organizations,
governments, and media outlets have expressed their condemnation of
the repression. You will have noted the Secretary's very strong
statement on the arrests of these prisoners of conscience, which
followed two earlier Department statements on this act of repression.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights raised the arrests with
the Cuban Foreign Minister. The EU denounced the detentions and termed
those sentenced "prisoners of conscience." A number of governments in
this hemisphere, including Mexico, Canada, Chile, and Nicaragua, have
also condemned these acts. The Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights issued a statement calling for a halt to the "wave of
repression." A similar statement by the U.N. Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) expressed concern over this
"serious infringement of rights."
The Cuban decision to initiate this crackdown just as the annual
meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was
getting underway in Geneva underscores the Castro regime's complete
disregard for human rights and fundamental freedoms. However, this is
nothing new. The government of Cuba has yet to accept a visit from the
Personal Representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
-- a visit called for in last year's UNCHR Cuba resolution. We are
hopeful that the international community will once again condemn the
human rights situation in Cuba by adopting a 2003 UNCHR Cuba
resolution, again calling on the government of Cuba to accept a visit
by the High Commissioner's Personal Representative for Cuba.
For our part, we continue to execute the president's policy of
encouraging a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. Our
work with truly independent Cuban civil society helped us move toward
that goal. Castro's repression will not change our focus or diminish
our energy. The president outlined a flexible and innovative new
policy in 2002, his Initiative for a New Cuba. This Initiative
presents the Cuban regime with a challenge to undertake political and
economic reforms. Should such reforms be enacted, the Administration
is prepared to work with Congress to change the embargo and the travel
restrictions. Unfortunately, Castro's reaction was the most sweeping
repression of peaceful dissent in Cuba in decades. Our dedication to
helping the Cuban people remains undiminished.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to end my testimony with a question, one
that admittedly I can't answer. Perhaps the representatives of the
Cuban Interests Section who I suspect are here today, witnessing and
ironically participating in the democratic process that the Castro
regime denies to its own people, can answer it. What is the Castro
regime afraid of? Perhaps it is the fear of its own demise? Or fear of
its international isolation? Or perhaps fear of facing and admitting
to its own failures? Or fear of the realization that as with all
bankrupt dictatorships, the Cuban regime is sliding into historical
irrelevance?
This is a question that ultimately I cannot answer. However, there is
one thing that I am sure of, Mr. Chairman. The Cuban people have lost
their fear of the repressive apparatus that is the Cuban regime. They
are not afraid, and they will continue their work. And the United
States will stand with them, working toward a common goal: a rapid,
peaceful transition to a democratic and free Cuba.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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