The United States and Cuba
Secretary Colin L. Powell
Op-Ed
Diario Las Americas
April 7, 2002
The nations of the Western Hemisphere met in Washington in late January to approve an ambitious plan of action and cooperation to combat terrorism in our region and in the world. Only one hemispheric country was missing - Cuba. Our island neighbor continues to isolate itself from participation in the vital concerns of our day and to resist the movement toward democracy, human rights and free-market economics that has swept the Hemisphere. U.S. policy is to promote and support a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba.
Cuba has made several public relations overtures to the United States in recent months but, unfortunately, the Cuban fundamentals remain the same. The personal, political and economic freedoms that have found a home in countries throughout our Hemisphere have yet to find a welcome in Cuba. The Cuban government still maintains an iron grip over its own people. The government of Cuba also has made some inaccurate and inflammatory statements about the United States since September 11. Cuba's Foreign Minister, speaking at the UN General Assembly, said that the U.S. deliberately targeted civilians in Afghanistan. Official government statements also suggested that we brought the September 11 attacks on ourselves. The Cuban media repeated these and other baseless accusations daily for several months. In the wake of Hurricane Michelle, the United States Government's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance offered to do a humanitarian damage assessment in Cuba. The Cuban government declined the assistance. It also suggested that its decision to purchase U.S. agricultural products after the hurricane had opened the way toward normalization of relations with the United States. This spin confuses American humanitarian sympathy for the people of Cuba with acceptance of a government that denies them the basics of freedom and opportunity. In recent years, the U.S. government has sought to expand people-to-people contact with Cuba and to make it easier for food and humanitarian supplies to reach the Cuban people. But we would not be true to our own ideals if we ignored the continued denial of basic human rights that the Cuban government inflicts on its own people. The people of Cuba have no freedom of speech, freedom of movement, or right to private property. They continue to be jailed arbitrarily for criticizing their government. It is on these issues that an improvement in Cuba's relations with the United States must wait. Meantime, there are courageous individuals in Cuba who are working daily and heroically against great repression to bring about the institutions and practices of a civil society. The United States will do all it can to encourage them and to promote a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. President Bush has said, "America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law; limits on the power of the state; respect for women; private property; free speech; equal justice; and religious tolerance."A much better future waits for Cuba, one marked by a respect for human rights, the rule of law, open markets and greater prosperity. We look forward to the day when Cuba's people can breathe free and their country joins the large and vital family of democracies.
[End]
Released on April 7, 2002
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