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Posted on Sun, May. 02, 2004
Report to offer U.S. guidance on
Cuba policy
President Bush is expected to review a
500-page document with recommendations for hastening the arrival of
democracy in Cuba.
By Nancy San Martin
A 500-page report on U.S. policy toward
Cuba due at the White House on Monday recommends limiting
Cuban-Americans' visits to the island, significantly cutting remittances
and drastically reducing the money that U.S. visitors can spend there,
activists familiar with the document said.
The recommendations by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba are
the result of a six-month review ordered by President Bush to hasten and
prepare for a democratic transition in communist-ruled Cuba.
The report from the panel, headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell,
was the result of meetings with some 60 people and included suggestions
from Cubans on the island who sent their contributions via e-mail.
State Department officials have been tight-lipped about the contents of
the report, which Bush requested by Saturday but is not expected at his
desk until Monday.
The White House announcement on which of the report's recommendations
Bush will embrace is expected late this week.
Washington and Miami activists familiar with the document said it
recommends putting ''more teeth'' into U.S. sanctions on Cuba but
doesn't present any major new initiatives.
''Is there anything out of the box, that will blow people away? Not
really,'' said a Washington official who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
''I think a lot of people in Miami are going to jump up and down and
applaud, but then the issue becomes: Are they really going to follow
through?'' the official said of the administration.
The report is divided into five sections, the first dealing with
hastening democracy and the others focusing on assistance once change
occurs, according to the activists.
The first section outlines ways to strengthen the internal opposition on
the island, disseminate news and other information to Cubans, and
enforce economic and travel restrictions already on the books.
More hard-hitting recommendations are outlined in classified sections of
the report, the activists said, though those suggestions did not include
military action.
Commission members considered the idea of appointing a ''czar'' to
oversee Cuba's democratic transition, the activists said, although it
was not clear whether that will be be included in the report sent to the
White House.
The Bush administration has been accused of trying to tighten sanctions
on Cuba as a way to earn Cuban-American votes. But even the exile
community has accused Bush of not following through on earlier promises
to take a harder stance against President Fidel Castro.
The commission, though veiled in secrecy, already has earned some
support by those seeking an end to Castro's rule.
''They've taken it very seriously,'' said Ana Navarro, a well-connected
Republican lobbyist in Miami. ``What their main focus is is hastening
the transition.''
The administration ''recognizes there is a lot of skepticism in this
community regarding the commission,'' she said. ``Despite the
environment of skepticism, they are working with great seriousness and
care.''
Source: The Miami Herald
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