09 June 2003
Powell Applauds EU Decision to Restrict Travel of Officials to Cuba
(Says world is more aware of Cuba's human rights record) (480)
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Secretary of State Colin Powell has applauded the
decision of the European Union (EU) to restrict travel of its
officials to Cuba.
In a June 8 press briefing, Powell said the EU's action recognizes
"that the rest of the world is now starting to take note" of Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro's "increasingly poor human rights behavior."
The EU announced the day before in Brussels, Belgium, that it would
reduce its contacts with the Cuban government and increase ties with
Cuba's internal opposition. News reports said 15 EU nations decided
unanimously on the measure. The move, according to EU Foreign Policy
Chief Javier Solana, will provide "visibility" to Cuban dissidents and
a "clear message" to Castro's regime.
The EU said it regrets that the Cuban authorities had broken the
country's "de-facto moratorium on the death penalty," and also pointed
to "recent deplorable actions by the Castro regime aimed not only at
violating fundamental freedoms in Cuba, but also at depriving
civilians of the ultimate human right, that of life." The EU
reiterated its call that the Cuban authorities "release immediately
all political prisoners."
Cuba recently arrested and handed out long prison sentences to 75
dissidents, and also carried out the execution of three hijackers, who
in April had attempted to escape the country by seizing boats and
aircraft.
Powell said he intends to discuss how to help Cuban dissidents with
his EU counterparts at a scheduled U.S.-EU meeting later in June.
The secretary told reporters that the Castro regime's human rights
"behavior has deteriorated in recent years, especially in recent
months." Powell said that 34 of the 35 nations of the Western
Hemisphere "are moving in the right direction" on human rights, "at
different rates and with occasional setbacks, but Castro's Cuba
remains the anachronism of the hemisphere, and it's not getting
better."
Meanwhile, in a June 9 speech to the General Assembly of the
Organization of American States (OAS) in Santiago, Chile, Powell said
the "people of Cuba increasingly look to the OAS for help in defending
their fundamental freedoms against the depredations of our
hemisphere's only dictatorship."
The United States deplores the "crackdown of recent weeks against
Cuban citizens seeking to act upon their basic human rights," Powell
said. "We protest the harsh [prison] sentences that are being meted
out to them."
At the same time, the United States looks forward to working with its
partners in the OAS to find ways "to hasten the inevitable democratic
transition in Cuba," Powell added. "If our experience over the last
quarter-century in this hemisphere and across the globe has taught us
anything, it is that dictatorships cannot withstand the force of
freedom."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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