Sister of Cuban activist 'Antúnez' to deliver letter to Congress
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON -- With efforts to open Cuba to travel and trade heating up
on Capitol Hill, the sister of a prominent Cuban democracy activist
plans Wednesday to deliver a letter from her brother decrying three
members of the Congressional Black Caucus for meeting with Fidel and
Raúl Castro -- but no dissidents.
Berta Antúnez is also asking to meet with California Democrats Barbara
Lee and Laura Richardson and Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush to tell them
her brother was ''outraged that these members of Congress would not take
the time while in Cuba to meet with any of the island's human rights and
pro-democracy activists.'' The delegation spent five days in April in
Cuba, talking with government officials and said on their return that
Havana is interested in talking to the United States.
But Jorge Luis ''Antúnez'' Garcia Perez questions the trip in the
letter, charging that while the lawmakers met with the Castros, ``our
home and the five protesters who remain within it were subject to a
brutal siege by the combined forces of the national and political police.
''When one is fighting for liberty and human rights within a
totalitarian society like the one that exists in Cuba, it is hurtful and
offensive that citizens of a free society who have access to uncensored
information visit our island and lack the courage to inquire about the
unjustly imprisoned political prisoners,'' wrote ''Antúnez,'' who began
a hunger strike on Feb. 17 to protest the Cuban government's treatment
of political prisoners.
''There are brave men and women within Cuba that need to be heard,''
Berta Antúnez said in a news release. ``I hope that these members that
traveled to Cuba to meet for hours with Castro will take a few minutes
to listen to the pleas of the victims of Castro's repression.''
The visit comes as advocates for increased trade and travel to Cuba amp
up a campaign to relax restrictions, saying current U.S.-Cuba policy is
a Cold War relic that has failed to work. U.S. Chamber of Commerce
President Thomas Donohue joined lawmakers at a Capitol Hill press
conference Tuesday to push for access to Cuba's markets. A bill to lift
all travel to the island has been introduced in the House and one of its
sponsors predicted Tuesday he'll have the votes to see it passed. An
influential senator is expected to soon introduce legislation that would
relax restrictions on trade.
''Lifting the embargo will remove Cuba's excuse for economic failure,
promote a transition to democracy and offer significant economic
opportunities to American farmers, businesses and workers,'' Donohue
said, noting ``there's so much opportunity there and it's being taken by
our trading partners.
''Hotel people will tell you today that they know it's eventually going
to open, but they need years to get down there and figure out how
they're going to take on the foreign hotel guys that are eating up all
the good spots,'' Donohue said.
Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley criticized the effort in a
conference call with reporters, saying Cuba's political situation needs
to improve before the United States relaxes sanctions against the regime.
''The present political situation has deprived the Cuban people of any
standard of living,'' Grassley said. ``Every other country in the world
has had open trading with Cuba and in 40 years it hasn't changed
Castro's mind either. . . . I think we ought to keep the pressure on."
Sister of Cuban activist 'Antúnez' to deliver letter to Congress -
Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com (6 May 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1034631.html
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