Mixed signals from Cuba cool hopes for quick thaw

Mixed signals from Cuba cool hopes for quick thaw
Fidel Castro: Obama 'misinterpreted' brother's comments

By Doreen Hemlock | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
April 23, 2009

MIAMI - The Obama administration is reaching out to Cuba, but Havana is
sending back mixed signals, raising questions about how to re-engage the
communist-led island in such regional groups as the Organization of
American States.

Complications surfaced Wednesday, when Fidel Castro said Obama had
"misinterpreted" his brother Raul's willingness to discuss "everything"
with Washington and when OAS chief Jose Miguel Insulza said it will take
more than revoking a 1962 suspension order to bring Cuba fully into the
OAS and the hemispheric fold again.

Debate came after Obama last week lifted restrictions for
Cuban-Americans to travel to their homeland and send money back, calling
for a new beginning for long frosty U.S.-Cuba relations. Cuban President
Raul Castro responded he was willing to discuss "everything," including
human rights, freedom of the press and political prisoners, news reports
said.

Heartened by the exchange, leaders at the 34-nation Summit of the
Americas last weekend said they hoped to discuss Cuba's re-engagement in
the OAS at the group's annual meeting in June in Honduras.

But chances for a quick thaw appeared to dim Wednesday.

Fidel Castro bristled in an essay over U.S. suggestions Cuba free
political prisoners and cut taxes on dollars as a way to improve
relations. He said Obama "without a doubt misinterpreted Raul's
declarations" and defended Cuba's taxes on dollars, for example, as a
way to fund free education for Cubans.

Insulza told a Miami conference that he's not sure Havana will want to
re-engage with the OAS, even if members revoked a 1962 resolution that
suspended Cuba for being Marxist-Leninist and part of a "Chinese-Soviet"
alliance. While the resolution no longer makes sense – the Soviet Union
is dead, Havana may not embrace a group where members have backed a
democratic charter and pledge to support human rights, the Chilean
diplomat said.

The OAS is studying the process to possibly re-integrate Cuba and likely
will present a report to members before the June meeting, Insulza said
in an interview.

Thomas Shannon, the State Department's top official for the Americas,
said the Obama administration recognizes that the 1962 OAS suspension
order against Cuba is a Cold War anachronism.

But Washington also wants to make sure the OAS won't give Cuba a "pass"
on respecting democracy and human rights, Shannon said at a conference
organized by the University of Miami's Center for Hemispheric Policy.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a House panel Wednesday that
while Fidel had "contradicted" his brother, it shows "there is beginning
to be a debate" inside Cuba about how to move forward with U.S. relations.

Many regional neighbors would like greater discussion within the United
States, too. Caribbean leaders have asked Obama to lift the 47-year-old
embargo on Cuba.

Insulza also suggested Washington consider talking to Cuba without
pre-conditions for regime change, a stance less likely to raise hackles
in Havana.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5009.

Mixed signals from Cuba cool hopes for quick thaw -- South Florida
Sun-Sentinel.com (30 April 2009)

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