|
Cuba
says Gov. Bush urging attack |
A top Cuban official charged in an
interview broadcast Sunday that Gov. Jeb Bush is pressing
his brother, President Bush, to bring down the government
of Fidel Castro.
Appearing on ABC's This Week, Ricardo
Alarcon, the leader of Cuba's National Assembly, said
Florida's governor was urging President Bush to invade
the island.
''You
have, first of all, those in Miami that are calling
for even a military action against Cuba, including the
governor,'' Alarcon said.
Later
in the interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Alarcon
said: ''I am convinced that not very far from President
Bush and his entourage are people that are not just
willing, but actively working toward that . . . [Jeb
Bush] was very open, calling publicly in Florida to
do in the neighborhood, in the nation of Cuba, what
you just did to Iraq.''
In
recent weeks, U.S.-Cuban relations have reached a low
point over the arrests and trials of 75 Cuban dissidents,
who were given lengthy prison terms, and the expulsion
on orders from the State Department of 14 Cuban diplomats
from Washington and New York.
Following
the broadcast of the ABC interview, a spokeswoman for
Gov. Bush dismissed Alarcon's charges.
Alia
Faraj, Gov. Bush's press secretary, said that the governor
has not changed his views on Cuba. ''Gov. Bush has been
very clear in his position that he does not condone
Castro's repressive regime,'' she said, according to
a report from The Associated Press.
''Americans
should continue to show their support for the brave
men and women who continue to seek change through continued
support of an economic embargo and travel restrictions.''
Gov.
Bush was reported to be in Austin for the graduation
of his son, George P. Bush, from law school.
In
the interview, Alarcon also pointed to a March 28 demonstration
in Miami that featured some members of Congress and
included a banner that read, ''Iraq now, Cuba next.''
FITTING
'PATTERN'
Joe
Garcia, spokesman for the Cuban American National Foundation,
said Sunday that Alarcon's statements fit a pattern
used in times of stress by the Castro government. ''This
is a regime that for the last 44 years has been preparing
for a U.S. invasion,'' Garcia said.
''Anytime
they are suffering a crisis, they externalize it. It
is someone else's fault -- the Miami mafia, the U.S.
or puppet leaders in Latin America.''
Garcia
said Alarcon's harsh rhetoric and his claims that the
United States is seeking a pretext to invade Cuba is
an attempt to find a way to negotiate with the Bush
administration on several issues, including migration
and trade.
''The
problem is that Fidel Castro negotiates with human lives,''
Garcia said.
EXPELLED
DIPLOMATS
Alarcon's
accusation follows statements by Cuba's Foreign Ministry
characterizing the U.S. expulsion of 14 diplomats on
Tuesday as an effort to provoke conflict.
The
State Department said it had ordered the diplomats to
return to Cuba for various transgressions, including
monitoring and surveillance, association with known
criminals, and the attempted recruitment of spies.
Cuba,
meanwhile, has been criticized internationally for the
recent sentencing of 75 dissidents to prison terms ranging
from six to 28 years on charges of collaborating with
U.S. officials to undermine Cuba's communist government.
Cuba
has also been widely condemned for the April 11 execution
of three accused hijackers of a ferry boat they seized
in effort to reach the United States.
Castro
said the executions were necessary to stem further hijackings.
This
report was supplemented with material from the Associated
Press.
A
top Cuban official charged in an interview broadcast
Sunday that Gov. Jeb Bush is pressing his brother, President
Bush, to bring down the government of Fidel Castro.
Appearing
on ABC's This Week, Ricardo Alarcon, the leader of Cuba's
National Assembly, said Florida's governor was urging
President Bush to invade the island.
''You
have, first of all, those in Miami that are calling
for even a military action against Cuba, including the
governor,'' Alarcon said.
Later
in the interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Alarcon
said: ''I am convinced that not very far from President
Bush and his entourage are people that are not just
willing, but actively working toward that . . . [Jeb
Bush] was very open, calling publicly in Florida to
do in the neighborhood, in the nation of Cuba, what
you just did to Iraq.''
In
recent weeks, U.S.-Cuban relations have reached a low
point over the arrests and trials of 75 Cuban dissidents,
who were given lengthy prison terms, and the expulsion
on orders from the State Department of 14 Cuban diplomats
from Washington and New York.
Following
the broadcast of the ABC interview, a spokeswoman for
Gov. Bush dismissed Alarcon's charges.
Alia
Faraj, Gov. Bush's press secretary, said that the governor
has not changed his views on Cuba. ''Gov. Bush has been
very clear in his position that he does not condone
Castro's repressive regime,'' she said, according to
a report from The Associated Press.
''Americans
should continue to show their support for the brave
men and women who continue to seek change through continued
support of an economic embargo and travel restrictions.''
Gov.
Bush was reported to be in Austin for the graduation
of his son, George P. Bush, from law school.
In
the interview, Alarcon also pointed to a March 28 demonstration
in Miami that featured some members of Congress and
included a banner that read, ''Iraq now, Cuba next.''
FITTING
'PATTERN'
Joe
Garcia, spokesman for the Cuban American National Foundation,
said Sunday that Alarcon's statements fit a pattern
used in times of stress by the Castro government. ''This
is a regime that for the last 44 years has been preparing
for a U.S. invasion,'' Garcia said.
''Anytime
they are suffering a crisis, they externalize it. It
is someone else's fault -- the Miami mafia, the U.S.
or puppet leaders in Latin America.''
Garcia said Alarcon's harsh rhetoric
and his claims that the United States is seeking a pretext
to invade Cuba is an attempt to find a way to negotiate
with the Bush administration on several issues, including
migration and trade.
''The
problem is that Fidel Castro negotiates with human lives,''
Garcia said.
EXPELLED
DIPLOMATS
Alarcon's
accusation follows statements by Cuba's Foreign Ministry
characterizing the U.S. expulsion of 14 diplomats on
Tuesday as an effort to provoke conflict.
The
State Department said it had ordered the diplomats to
return to Cuba for various transgressions, including
monitoring and surveillance, association with known
criminals, and the attempted recruitment of spies.
Cuba,
meanwhile, has been criticized internationally for the
recent sentencing of 75 dissidents to prison terms ranging
from six to 28 years on charges of collaborating with
U.S. officials to undermine Cuba's communist government.
Cuba
has also been widely condemned for the April 11 execution
of three accused hijackers of a ferry boat they seized
in effort to reach the United States.
Castro
said the executions were necessary to stem further hijackings.
This
report was supplemented with material from the Associated
Press.
.
.
.
