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Saturday, June 14, 2008

Cuba 'chokes' dissident support

CUBA
Cuba 'chokes' dissident support
The Cuban government is putting the squeeze on dissidents, citing Bush
administration rules to keep them from receiving aid from U.S. groups.
Posted on Sat, Jun. 14, 2008
BY FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com

Apparently abusing Bush administration rules that restrict who can send
money to the island, the Cuban government is cutting off resources to
human rights activists who had been receiving cash from exile groups in
Miami.

Dissidents who get money wired to them every month from the Cuban
American National Foundation via Western Union say they are now being
asked: Is the sender your direct relative?

At least a dozen dissidents could not pick up their money this month and
had to try several Western Union locations in Havana before finding one
that would release the funds, according to the foundation.

'I went to Western Union, and the woman looked at me and said, `Is this
from a brother, sister, parent or child of yours?' If not, I can't give
you the money,' '' Berta Soler, whose husband Angel Moya is serving a
20-year prison sentence, said in a telephone interview from Havana. ``I
found that strange, because I get money there every month -- and from
that same girl at the counter.''

The Bush administration restricted remittances to Cuba in 2004, changing
the rules so that Cuban Americans in the United States could send $100 a
month only to immediate relatives.

The rules still allow organizations such as CANF to request special
licenses from the Treasury Department to send money to dissidents.

It appears that now the Cuban government is using those stricter family
rules as a vehicle to cut off the cash supply to the opposition movement.

Many exile organizations support dissidents and the families of
prisoners because most of them cannot get work. The money goes for
things such as transportation to visit prisoners in far-flung
penitentiaries or to pay for office supplies.

`CHOKING US'

''The government is trying to choke us,'' Soler said. ``If it weren't
for that money, we would not be able to bring food and milk to our
husbands in prison. We are not terrorists trying to topple the
government. We spend it in stores in Cuba -- government stores.''

The move comes a month after the Cuban government publicly denounced
several high-profile dissidents for receiving cash from a group called
the Legal Rescue Foundation, which was founded by a militant Cuban exile
activist Santiago Alvarez. The Cuban government accuses Alvarez of
funding terrorist activities in Cuba, and used the money he sent to
dissidents to portray them as ``mercenaries.''

The Cuban press published e-mails that showed Washington's top diplomat
in Havana sometimes served as a courier to carry the funds to the island.

Although the dissidents say the Cuban government is putting up the
obstacles, the CANF places the blame squarely on the Bush
administration. CANF chairman Jorge Mas Santos sent a letter to
President Bush saying the restrictions are stifling the organization's work.

''The 2004 regulations imposed by your administration have crippled the
ability of organizations such as ours to help further the cause of Cuban
freedom,'' he wrote. ``. . . On many occasions you have invoked the
names of dozens of Cuba's political prisoners and dissidents, stating
the importance of helping them further their work, yet in practice the
policy you have imposed ironically deprives them of the resources to do
just that.''

The U.S. State Department referred questions about the matter to the
Treasury Department.

Treasury spokesman John Rankin declined to comment on Mas Santos'
letter, but noted that the department does have a process in place for
people to send money to dissidents.

Western Union declined to comment.

NO COMMENT

''In accordance with the laws of the U.S. Treasury Department, Western
Union is licensed to send money from the U.S. to Cuba under limited
circumstances through the Office of Foreign Assets Control,'' the
company said in a statement. ``Western Union is dedicated to providing a
reliable service for U.S. consumers sending money from the U.S. to their
families in Cuba, and to more than 200 countries and territories around
the world. The issue at hand appears to be between a nongovernmental
organization and the U.S. government, and Western Union is not in a
position to comment.''

The dissidents said they get about $50 a month from the foundation.

Soler eventually picked up $300, which she shares with five other
families of political prisoners.

''It's all very strange and a little arbitrary,'' said dissident Jorge
Olivera, who said he was refused his funds at one Western Union location
but eventually got his money by going someplace else.

``I view this very suspiciously. They are trying to drive us into a
situation of extreme poverty. Prices are very high in Cuba. We have no
salaries and need this help.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/570022.html

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