CUBA-UNITED STATES: The Heat is On

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Jul 28 1997 (IPS) - Friction is moving onto the edge of animosity between the Cuba and the United States, steadily pushing the battle to resolve the island’s economic crisis onto the backburner.

Cuba’s government turned the heat up further Saturday by converting the central speech of the “National Rebellion Day” celebrations into a pointed message directed at the United States.

July 26 is one of the most important dates on the Cuban political calendar, as it marks the beginning of the fighting led by Fidel Castro against the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship (1952 to 1958) in 1953.

“Eight US administrations have passed through the White House since the triumph of the Cuban revolution. They have all been hostile, they have all supported the blockade on Cuba,” and some even approved “terrorist plans against our country,” said minister of the armed forces, General Raul Castro.

Raul Castro, who is also second in command of the governing Communist Party, gave the main speed on National Rebellion Day this year, a space normally reserved for his brother, President Fidel Castro.

The authorities appealed for the population to unite against “the enemy threat” by keeping silent on the state of the national economy, which fell into the worst crisis since the communist take over, seven years ago.

General Castro made public declarations of the strong government protest against “interference in the internal affairs” of the country by the US Department of State Cuban affairs secretary.

This official, Michael Rannenberger, carried out a working visit to the island in early June, meeting with foreign ministry officials, members of the Communist Party and representatives of the Catholic Church.

But Rannenberger also held meetings in Cuba with “leaders of small illegal counter-revolutionary groups,” according to Raul Castro, in a show of “frank and inadmissible interference.”

The former armed forces minister stated Rannenberger had called on these small groups to work for internal subversion against the institutional order, “promising economic aid and material and logistic support for such ends to a value of more than a million dollars.”

He added the US official had “called for acts of civil disobedience, and for the presence of international observers in order to assess” the electoral process which will be held in Cuba between October and the early months of next year.

Washington’s latest accusations followed the explosion of two bombs in the Capri and Nacional hotels on July 12, in the central region of the island, causing slight injuries to three people, and little other damage.

The Interior Ministry said the government had proof those responsible for the terrorist acts and the materials used had all come from the United States, and Raul Castro stated the bombings were “no isolated action.”

However, US requests to be shown the evidence have still not been answered, and the Cuban government announced it would provide this when it suited them best.

The long list of charges railed against Washington by the Cuban government include ideological, political, diplomatic and biological aggression, as well as a complete and permanent rejection of the Helms-Burton law.

This legislation, approved in 1996, strengthened the 34 year long US economic blockade on Cuba, establishing obligatory rules for a change of government on the island, to be supervised by Washington.

The law, classed as “blatant interference” by the Cuban authorities, includes sanctions against companies in third countries working with former US property confiscated during the revolution in Cuba.

The approval of this law and the downing of two US civilian aircraft in February 1996 by Cuban fighter planes put an end to the incipient relaxation of bilateral relations.

“Under the current US administration, 43 people involved in attacks on Cuba have been judged, and only three of them have been sentenced, all with such light sentences that they are already free,” said Raul Castro.

Foreign ministry representative, Miguel Alfonso, said history has shown that whenever Cuba is concerned, no evidence is enough to convict terrorists in the United States.

Havana reacted strongly to the verdict of a US court which found three Cubans accused of diverting a Cuban plane on an internal flight to Florida not guilty of hijacking on July 17.

The same date marked the close of a new round of Cuba-United States migration talks in New York, where the two sides said they were happy with how the established bilateral agreements were being fulfilled.

It seems only the aim to put an end to the uncontrolled illegal emigration of Cubans to the United States can form a point of agreement between Washington and Havana, which were publically at loggerheads over a possible military conflict on July 23.

Cuba said it would take all “necessary measures” to avoid armed conflict with the United States denying a military intelligence report that the Cuban army had fired a barrage of rockets towards the US naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba, cited by The Washington Times.

State Department representative, Nicholas Burns, refused to comment on the issue.

The confrontation between the two States began early this year when Clinton came up with his “Transition Plan” for Cuba on January 28, where he offered funding for a post-Castro government, calling on the Cuban military to take part in the change process.

Havana responded with a national demonstration based on a declaration rejecting the “Transition Plan” which was signed by millions of men and women.

In the last seven months, Havana has blamed Washington for the plague of “thrips palmi” insects destroying Cuban agricultural production, a blight affecting potatoes and the appearance of the dengue transmitting mosquito on the island.

It also suspended a planned eight city tour of the United States by the national baseball team.

High-ranking officials in the Cuban government undertook a diplomatic offensive to 20 countries, presenting a personal letter from President Castro complaining of the US policy towards the island.

Cuba said the United States was “secretly” preparing a legislative package to toughen up the Helms-Burton law.

It also objected to declarations by a high-ranking US official saying the planned ninth Iberoamerican Summit planned to be held in Cuba in 1999 was an “insult to democracy.”

While the United States reached an agreement with the European Union, making the latter withdraw charges against the Helms-Burton law presented to the World Trade Organisation, it also revealed plans to get Latin America involved in its policy to isolate the Castro government.

Cuban observers warned the increased tension with Washington was drawing attention away from solving the nation’s more urgent problems, which are seen in the falling standard of living of the population.

For the experts, the atmosphere of greater hostility between Havana and Washington and the stepping up of the economic blockade could put off even further the application of more of the internal reforms considered “undesirable” but “necessary” by the Cuban authorities.