CONGRESISTAS DE EEUU LEVANTAN RESTRICCIONES DE VIAJES A CUBA
La Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos votó el miércoles para levantar la prohibición a la
mayoría de los viajes a Cuba, derrotando una medida que pretendía mantenerlas hasta que La Habana
libere a los presos políticos y entregue a fugitivos de la justicia norteamericana. La cámara, liderada por
los republicanos, aprobó por 240 votos a favor y 186 en contra levantar la prohibición a los viajes, como
hizo en 2000, cuando la medida fue derrotada en el Senado. No obstante, el embargo comercial de 40
años contra la isla, ubicada a 144 kilómetros de la costa de la Florida, fue aliviado el año pasado para
permitir las ventas de alimentos y medicinas. Los demócratas han dicho que presionarán para un mayor
alivio a las sanciones, alegando que no han logrado derrocar al gobierno del presidente cubano, Fidel
Castro.
Sin embargo, numerosos republicanos conservadores y la comunidad de exiliados cubanos
anticastristas se oponen a la iniciativa, diciendo que el comercio con Estados Unidos fortalecería al líder
comunista.
Washington
AP
Reuters
Yahoo Noticias
Julio 26, 2001
CONGRESISTAS DE EEUU LEVANTAN RESTRICCIONES DE VIAJES
A CUBA
Washington
Reuters
Yahoo Noticias
July 25, 2001
La Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos votó el miércoles para levantar la prohibición a la
mayoría de los viajes a Cuba, derrotando una medida que pretendía mantenerlas hasta que La
Habana libere a los presos políticos y entregue a fugitivos de la justicia norteamericana.
La cámara, liderada por los republicanos, aprobó por 240 votos a favor y 186 en contra levantar la
prohibición a los viajes, como hizo en 2000, cuando la medida fue derrotada en el Senado.
No obstante, el embargo comercial de 40 años contra la isla, ubicada a 144 kilómetros de la costa
de la Florida, fue aliviado el año pasado para permitir las ventas de alimentos y medicinas.
Los demócratas han dicho que presionarán para un mayor alivio a las sanciones, alegando que no
han logrado derrocar al gobierno del presidente cubano, Fidel Castro.
Sin embargo, numerosos republicanos conservadores y la comunidad de exiliados cubanos
anticastristas se oponen a la iniciativa, diciendo que el comercio con Estados Unidos fortalecería al
líder comunista.
Contact your elected official and express your concern: Contact Congress
Friends of the Medical Sentinel:
Although President Bush has just declared that he opposes removing the travel restrictions to Cuba, I think that we should
keep the pressure on the administration to remain firm on Cuba for reasons that should become obvious in the article that
follows, which was published in NewsMax.com this weekend.
Helen Faria
Managing Editor, Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)
**********************
Reprinted from NewsMax.com
U.S.-Cuba Policy: Betraying Friends for Fool's Gold
Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D.
Friday, July 27, 2001
On April 22, 2000, the Miami home of a Cuban-American family was raided by heavily armed INS agents, and the child Elián
González was forcibly removed from the loving home and delivered to the hands of his communist father. The child was then
taken back to the living hell of communist Cuba, one of the last remaining Stalinist bastions in the world. The forced
repatriation was carried out by the Clinton administration in accordance with the wishes of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
The Cuban-American community, not only in South Florida but also all over the United States, was demoralized by this sad
ending to the saga. But the Cuban exiles, peaceful and law-abiding, swallowed the bitter pill of disappointment and vowed to
get revenge, American style, via the ballot box - and they got it. In the highly contested presidential election of November
2000, they went to the polls in droves and voted heavily for the Republican candidate, George W. Bush, carrying the state of
Florida by a razor-thin margin that decided the election.
After the inauguration, the disappointments began anew. President Bush continued the Cuba policies of Bill Clinton and the
repatriation of Cuban refugees who escape communism on the high seas. This was the continuation of the Immigration
Accord of 1995, which Bill Clinton decreed and is known as "the wet feet, dry feet" refugee policy.
This policy continues, not merely with the blessings but the support of the Maximum Leader, Fidel Castro. This accord
virtually places the U.S. Coast Guard at the disposal of Castro, enforcing the wishes of the communist dictator. After four
decades in power, the aging autocrat still insists that Cubans must remain within the confines of his totalitarian island prison.
Thus this egregious immigration accord effectively continues to circumvent the intent of Congress and what formerly had
been the law of the land, the Cuba Adjustment Act of 1966, that had granted automatic asylum to Cuban political refugees
seeking liberty in the United States.
In May, on the centenary of Cuban independence, President Bush solemnly proclaimed in a White House ceremony, "The
sanctions our Government enforces against the Castro regime are not just a policy tool; they are a moral statement. My
administration will oppose any attempt to weaken sanctions against Cubas government - and I will fight such attempts until
this regime frees its political prisoners, holds democratic, free elections, and allows free speech."
These words turned out to be somewhat hollow. Although President Bush has not weakened the sanctions already in place,
on July 16, to the chagrin of all citizens who yearn for Cuban freedom, he suspended Title III of the Cuban Liberty and
Democratic Solidarity Act (Helms-Burton law).
As Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe explained, "After seizing power in 1960, Fidel Castro nationalized - that is, stole - foreign
owned private property in Cuba. According to the Justice Departments Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, the property
confiscated from American owners - houses, banks, mines, real estate - was valued at more than $1.8 billion in 1960."
Indeed, the Maximum Leader began to sell this property to Mexicans, Canadian, Spanish and other European companies,
amassing a personal fortune, which has been estimated by Forbes magazine to approximate $1.4 billion.
Title III of Helms-Burton was intended by Congress to punish those dealing in stolen property, U.S. stolen property. If Title III
had been enforced since its inception in 1996, it would have been more difficult for foreign firms to do business in Cuba. It
would also have been very difficult for Fidel Castro to remain in power and amass his vast personal fortune, particularly after
the collapse of the Evil Empire in 1991, which had been keeping him afloat. Title III would have given teeth to the law, but
Clinton, and now Bush, have suspended this provision, so that the law has never been in effect.
And then on Wednesday, on the eve of the anniversary of the most sacred date of the revolution, July 26, the anniversary of
the Moncada Barracks attack, the attack that initiated the insurgency against Fulgencio Batista in 1953, the U.S. House of
Representatives voted to lift restrictions on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens. The measure goes now to the U.S. Senate.
Travel restrictions, like the embargo, are porous but have served their purpose: To isolate the dictatorship. U.S. citizens can
already travel to Cuba by getting a special visa from the Treasury Department, which provides access for journalists,
government officials, members of academia, people traveling on humanitarian missions, etc., to the workers paradise.
While it is true that the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba has failed to oust the dictator, it has been the only weapon the
U.S. has been willing to use in recent years against the regime of the Maximum Leader. The embargo has forced Castro at
times to let up on the persecution of dissidents, accept some minimal economic reforms, such as allowing campesinos
(peasants) to sell a few extra crops and families to open a few restaurants, and allowing U.S. dollars to circulate in the island.
And perhaps, most importantly, the embargo has curtailed resources and limited the amount of subversion and revolution
that the Cuban dictator has been able to export in recent years to Latin America.
Title III of the Helms-Burton law must be allowed to take effect, the embargo must continue, and the U.S. House of
Representatives ill-conceived easing of sanctions and travel restrictions at this critical time must be reconsidered. Fidel
Castro, aging and ailing, may not be around for long. Ending the embargo and easing restrictions will only permit the next
generation of Cuban communists to consolidate power and perpetuate totalitarianism after Fidel and Raul Castro are gone.
The cause of liberty should not be sacrificed on the altar of a ruthless communist dictatorship for Fools Gold - namely,
monetary gain for a few large commercial enterprises, which are willing to place profits ahead of Cuban freedom and human
dignity.
Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D., is editor-in-chief of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
(AAPS), author of "Vandals at the Gates of Medicine" (1995) and "Medical Warrior: Fighting Corporate Socialized Medicine"
(1997), and a contributor to NewsMax.com and a columnist for LaNuevaCuba.com. Advance copies of his book, "Cuba in
Revolution - Escape From a Lost Paradise," will be available in the fall 2001. Web site: http://www.haciendapub.com.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Castro/Cuba
A product that might interest you:
Find out the truth about communists in America
(Cortesía de la Dra. Zorinda Cornejo)
U.S.A. President George Bush
Washinton D.C.
President@whitehouse.gov
Dear Mr. President I'm shocked to see what the republicans are doing in the
House of Representatives and I hope you would veto the that law if it passed
by the Senate.
Getting soft with Kastro is like if U.S.A is giving up .
Castro sympathizers are jumping for joy that the Republican-controlled
House voted by a wide margin to lift the travel ban to Cuba. No doubt
they see this as the first step to an outright lifting of the embargo
against this anachronistic communist regime.
Please help the cubans by not allowing the Kastro regime to get the dollars
they need to help guerrillas all over the latinamerica.
You promised to be hard on Kastro and now we ask you to prove it.
Thanks
Please copy this letter and mail it to
President@whitehouse.gov
La Libertad tarda, pero llega.
Esperemos
Direcciones electrónicas de los Senadores de los EU. Copielas y envíe este mensaje a otras personas
que se oponen a la penetración comunista de Cuba en Colombia, Venezuela y en otros países.
These senators have websites with response forms instead of email:
http://boxer.senate..gov/contact/webform.html
http://landrieu.senate.gov/newsite/feedback.cfm
http://torricelli.senate.gov/webform.html
http://santorum.senate.gov/emailrjs.html
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