Cuban cardinal visits U.S. for award
Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega will travel to Washington to receive an
award -- and possibly talk with U.S. officials.
By JUAN O. TAMAYO
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com
Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega is making a second visit to Washington, this
time to accept an award and give a speech at the annual conference of
the Knights of Columbus.
But Ortega, who engaged in unprecedented talks with Cuban leader Raúl
Castro, also is trying to meet with U.S. government officials and trade
and business groups based in the capital, Cuba analysts said.
During Ortega's previous visit to Washington, he informed U.S. officials
about the status of the talks that led to a promise to free 52 political
prisoners.
A Knights of Columbus statement said the Catholic organization would
award Ortega its highest award, the Gaudium et Spes Award, during a
dinner Tuesday. The Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus runs
from Tuesday to Thursday.
Cuba analysts, who asked for anonymity because they received the
information in confidence, said they were told Ortega would be in
Washington Monday through Wednesday and has been trying to arrange
meetings with officials at the State Department and the White House's
National Security Council.
He also has been trying to arrange meetings with major trade and
business groups based in the Washington area, the analysts added.
``He's definitely trying to make the rounds, trying to make the best of
his time here,'' one analyst said.
Ortega last visited Washington June 22, just days before he announced
that the Castro government had agreed to free political prisoners jailed
since a 2003 crackdown on dissent.
Officials in Washington last month confirmed to El Nuevo Herald that
Ortega had met with Arturo Valenzuela, assistant secretary of state for
Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., chairman
of the House Foreign Affairs committee.
Berman, who like Valenzuela has not confirmed the meeting, has endorsed
a bill before Congress that would lift the ban on U.S. tourism travel to
Cuba and ease restrictions on U.S. food sales to the island.
The Ortega-Castro talks, with support from the Spanish government, began
in March after government-organized mobs harassed the Ladies in White
during their Sunday marches to demand the release of male relatives
jailed since the 2003 crackdown.
On July 7, Ortega announced that Castro had agreed to free 52 political
prisoners over the next three to four months. Twenty have already been
freed and left Cuba for Spain, along with more than 100 relatives.
Cuba has not released any of the 10 or so political prisoners who have
vowed to remain in Cuba and continue opposition activities.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/03/1758438/cuban-cardinal-visits-us-for-award.html
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