Senate rejects cut in Cuba aid

Senate rejects cut in Cuba aid
Posted on Thu, Sep. 06, 2007
By PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON --
The Senate agreed Thursday to restore President Bush's requested $47
million funding for Cuban opposition groups in a foreign operations
spending bill.

Until now, the Senate had not made any pronouncements on Cuba policy.
With the House and Senate in agreement on the levels of dissident aid
for Cuba, the increase in funding is almost certain to become law.

Earlier this year, senators in charge of appropriations cut the aid to
$15 million, only a modest improvement from the $10 million a year Cuba
democracy programs got in the past.

The Senate approved an amendment to increase the funding by unanimous
consent.

It was presented by Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez and
co-sponsored by Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada and Democratic
Sens. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Bill Nelson of Florida.

The increase is the latest setback for opponents of U.S. policy toward
Cuba, who argue that the aid is ineffective in bringing democracy to the
island and that more engagement with the Castro government stands a
better chance of producing democratic changes.

The House defeated a similar measure before the summer recess in a sign
that Democrats in control of Congress were not eager to change U.S.
policy toward Cuba as Cuban-American lawmakers and their allies stepped
up their lobbying efforts.

Menendez, speaking on the Senate floor, said Cuba's democracy activists
deserved more support as their work was ''powerful and meaningful.'' He
cited a rise of ''civil resistance'' actions in Cuba as evidence that
groups there were more active.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/228147.html